Lux [h.s]

thirty

Cora woke up in someone's arms.

Her head was pressed against someone's chest and she could hear their rhythmic heartbeat in her ear, and she let herself linger in the land between dreams and reality for a little bit before suddenly realising that situation simply wasn't supposed to be.

She sat up quickly and slid out of Harry's arms, waking him up as well. He rubbed one of his eyes and looked up, the green of his irises light in the sunbeams coming through the window.

"Good morning," he murmured, his voice a little rough, sitting up and brushing his brunette curls out of his eyesight. "Is there any specific reason why you chose to wake me up at this time?"

Cora sighed. "I didn't mean to. You're the lightest sleeper I've ever met."

"I'd say it's more surprising that you don't awaken easily." Harry leaned back on his hand. "We tend to be more receptive to outside sounds and movement than humans. I suppose that's what danger does to us."

"Have you ever been chased like Iris has?" she asked before she could think better of it, and Harry shot her a glance.

"You don't truly believe asking me that question only seconds after waking me up is a good idea, do you?" He got off the bed and walked to the wardrobe, taking out a change of clothes and looking at her from over his shoulder. "I suppose this puts us both in an awkward situation now, since I need to get changed."

Cora widened her eyes and ran outside, chased away by Harry's faint chuckle. Did it mean that he usually got dressed in front of the bed while she was asleep? She felt her cheeks get hotter at the simple thought of accidentally waking up during that. Maybe he was indeed right and she truly was a heavy sleeper.

It was cold outside since she'd forgotten to take her cloak before going out, but there was no way she'd go back inside. She resorted to sitting beside the wagon and glancing around. It had to be early in the morning since she couldn't see anyone. Were they still asleep like Harry would've been if she hadn't woken him up?

A couple of minutes went by, and then the door was opened and she felt something warm land on her shoulders.

"It's winter, you shouldn't go out underdressed." Harry stepped past her and sat next to her on the ground. "Give it a moment, they're setting up the table. You can get changed after breakfast."

Cora shot him a confused look, and he chuckled.

"We have breakfast together, but you usually aren't awake at this time." He sighed and stood up. "We might as well check if they need any help."

She followed him to one side of the clearing, where a table had been put up. On it were apples, berries and oranges in baskets and slices of saltless bread beside jars of amber chestnut honey. On the other side of the table, Arnold was fiddling with a pot and sticks on the ground, readying to boil water.

"Sir?" he called out to Harry, "can you start a fire? It drizzled during the night, and the wood is damp."

Harry ignited the sticks with a single glance.

"Thank you, sir."

He nodded. "Where is Thalia?" he asked out loud, to no one in particular.

"Thalia is here, waiting for you to ask her your question." Thalia leant over the side of the cart with a few stalks of lavender in her hand. She sized Cora up with mild surprise. "You're already awake. I must admit I hadn't foreseen this."

Harry cleared his throat, capturing her attention. "What can you tell me about our newcomer?"

She shrugged. "She said the truth. Her name is Iris, her village was attacked by hunters. She's been exiled so we can't take her to another village. She seems to want to go overseas."