He awoke in the evening but darkness clung to his vision like a second skin. His mind was slow, sluggish, drifting away on a sea of something unnatural.
Casimir had never had such a deep sleep in his life not even in the years before battle, where the scent of citrus and summer blossoms lulled him into an uneasy rest. This was different.
The air felt thick and stagnant. The embers in the hearth had long died out, leaving him feeling cold in the room.
His eyes opened and desperately tried to focus as a sharp ache drummed at the base of his skull. He felt like he was paralyzed and for a terrifying moment he thought he was.
Then he inhaled sharply and forced himself to sit upright.
"Caroline."
Her name came unbidden from his lips before he realized it and he turned expecting to see her beside him in the vast bed but the silken sheets were rumpled and the space beside him was empty.
