It felt stiff from disuse, even though I’d only been away from it for a short time. Now the ingredients had been thrown into the cauldron; I could only wait until the slow fusion was complete, to discover what fascinating result they would produce. Awaking to an autumnal chill, I felt as if I had been away for a hundred years. A questioning wind fluted around the high tower; above me, the black veils of the bed flinched restlessly to its tune. As I returned languorously to full consciousness within my body, the hayfield aroma of the plains slipped away from my memory, overcast by the echo of the last angry words I had exchanged with my brother, Beth. I was afraid of what might have happened in my absence. Tamaris came to help me, when she heard me stumbling down the stairs of the high tower. She took me to my rooms, bathed my body and let me feed from her wrist as I floated in the perfumed water. The curtains were drawn against a glum afternoon, and lamps, fragranced with essential oils, were burning low.
