Then I stirred, and felt my own bed familiar beneath me. My head was heavy, and my vision was edged with a blur, as if dust had gathered at the corners of my eyes. Experimentally I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. My stomach churned with mixed hunger and nausea, and I groaned. I was sure I had not indulged so much at the feast to account for this; it seemed that Blooded liquors were more heady than I’d credited.I stood and pulled on my robe. The light outside the window had the red-golden quality of sunset. My shoulders ached, and my legs, and other places; I was sore and languid, and sure I had not slept long enough.The Count had wished to sleep off his indulgences in peace. After he’d finished with us, Doyan had driven us home, clattering through the hush of early morning. The light had been thin and grey, and even the bakers had still been in their beds. Yana had let us in, bleary-eyed, and bid us sleep as long as we liked.Well, I had slept as long as I could, in any case.
