The day went like any other, although I couldn’t shake the feeling that
there was something inherently wrong about it all.
Maybe it was the headache I found myself suffering all morning and
afternoon. My head hurt so much
that I was tempted to skip my last class and just go home so I could curl up in
my bed and die.
I endured, though, and when I finally stumbled into my room that
afternoon, it was to find it dark. Jude
wasn’t there – she usually was. My
head hurt too much for me to think of why she might not be there. I simply found my way into my bed and passed out.
Or, at least, I tried to pass out. Something
kept me awake and staring at the ceiling as my head pounded.
My imagination began to run rampant, and I began to see images on the
ceiling as I lay there.
I saw a man that looked like Lance, mounted on a horse. He drew the string of a bow back to his ear and let an arrow
fly toward a soldier who seemed intent on killing someone.
That someone, I saw, was me.
It was weird. I’d never
found myself looking down on a scene with Shai of Clellan without being
Shai of Clellan. She looked like
me, I noticed, although she was a little leaner, more muscular. Her hair was long and hung down her back in a thick braid.
She was wearing what appeared to be some sort of leather armor over a red
shirt and dark leather pants. I saw
her lips move, but I couldn’t hear any sound.
Blood trickled from a cut across her cheek.
I closed my eyes for a moment, and suddenly I was there.
“—appreciate the help, sir archer, but I’d appreciate it more if
you’d leave and forget you saw any of this.”
The man that looked like Lance grinned at me, showing straight, white
teeth. “You are Shai of Clellan,
are you not?”
I was kneeling next to the body of the dead soldier – one of the
Dan’ling, I guessed, since that’s what a part of my mind seemed to be
telling me. Slowly I was sinking
into who Shai of Clellan was, knowing what she knew and remembering everything
she’d seen, said, and done.
What’s going on with me?
I looked up toward him. “What
does it matter to you?”
He dismounted and walked toward me.
I straightened immediately, going for a dagger I realized I didn’t
have. I balled one hand into a
fist, ready to punch him and run if needs be.
“Whoa! Calm down.
You’re more skittish than a frightened colt.
Craig’Ian sent me to find you.”
For some reason, it felt like a hole opened up inside of me.
I don’t know why – hadn’t I—she—just seen him?
“Why?”
The man put his hands on my shoulders.
I didn’t make any moves to bolt. I
knew this had to be important. “He’s
in trouble.”
The next time I opened my eyes, I was staring at the ceiling again, but
there was nothing there. I felt
something wet on my cheek. I
reached up and touched the moisture.
My fingers came away red with blood.