Half Magic | Book 2

Three: Waiting

We spent the rest of the evening deciding on our course of action. With our plans settled, eventually we all laid down to get some sleep. But for me, it just wasn't happening.

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling and twirling the delicate chain of my necklace between my fingers. The midnight blue stone with flecks of silver caught the moonlight from the window and danced as it moved.

Thain.

What was he doing? Was he safe? Was Eberon safe?

I sighed and rolled over, trying again to get back to sleep. But next to me, the shaking started.

I sat up and watched Schula as another of her terrors began. She squirmed, a pained frown painted on her face. I held her hand gently for a while until it passed. She took in a sharp breath and opened her eyes as they began to water.

She had a few of these since we got her out of Icehold, but I hadn't been able to wake her from one yet. I just had to comfort her until it passed.

"Shh, it's okay," I soothed. "It was just a dream."

She sat up, wiping her eyes with a sigh as I gave her a hug.

I looked over to Nassir, hoping we didn't wake him.

Schula and I were sharing the bed in our rented space. We had tried to give it to Nassir, but I guess after sleeping on a stone floor for a thousand years it does something to you. He politely but firmly refused the bed, and instead slept on a blanket on the floor.

Schula looked over at him too. He was still sleeping, but if we were going to talk that wouldn't last long. Puko was perched on the headboard and making soft wheezing sounds. Schula pointed to the window and I nodded.

I slid out of the bed and padded barefoot to the window, Schula close behind. I sat on the sill and swung my legs outward, then I reached up and grabbed the little tile overhang over the window and pulled myself up.

We crawled up the slope of the domed building until we were at the top and could sit without the feeling of sliding off. I was glad to not have the cloak on, not that anyone could see me all the way up here at night. It was refreshing to feel the rooftop breeze on my skin. I took a deep breath of the night air, closing my eyes and letting it settle into me. Schula did the same.

"You alright?" I asked.

She shrugged. "As good as I ever am. Thanks for staying with me."

"Of course, I was already awake anyway."

"Was it another nightmare?" Schula asked.

We had both had our fair share of them since Icehold, mine were just nothing nearly as bad as Schula's were.

"Mmm," I hummed. "No nightmare, just my own thoughts. I think I'm just homesick, which is odd since I don't particularly have a home."

She nodded and turned her eyes out over the round rooftops of Sulls. The sandy clay looked like dunes in the light of the stars, blending in with the hills outside the city walls.

"Sometimes," she said. "Home isn't a place. Sometimes it's a feeling. Or a person."

I blushed lightly, thankful for the cover of darkness that hid it.

"You were thinking about him again, weren't you?" Schula asked with a slight smile.

I sighed through my nose and pulled the necklace from under my shirt again.

"I miss him too. Both of them." She reached over and entwined her fingers with mine.

"It's funny," I said. "I started out so scared of Thain, but no matter how much he frightened me I couldn't stop being curious about him too. And now, just after I've come to realize what he's starting to mean to me, we're worlds apart again."