I woke with a start in the Count's office. The sun was still hanging in the sky, though considerably lower than it had been before I left. The sky was a dazzling array of pinks, blues, and golds. Rena still slept on the sofa.
Nothing had changed.
Everything had changed.
How long was I gone?
Long enough for Rena to wake, judging by the shifting woman on the couch.
She opened her eyes.
"Lukas?"
"Easy, Rena, it worked. The darkness is gone, and your wound should heal nicely, though there will be a scar, I'm sorry."
She tried to sit up.
"No! Don't move for the next couple of hours. You'll crack the Arema."
"But I'm hungry!" She complained, lying back down.
I grinned. "That's a good sign, means the spirits worked. I'll get Rowan to bring us some food, and then we'll need to talk to a man named Severen Ilyas."
"The royal surveyor?" Rena winced as she shifted uncomfortably. I summoned a spirit and sent it to Rowan.
"You know him?" I asked once the spirit had left.
