“Damin?” Rorin blinked a few times, and looked around the room blankly. He was back in his own room in Cabradell Palace, daylight streaming through the windows. At first glance, the bedroom seemed to be full of people, although when he managed to focus his eyes a little better he realised it was just the prince and Lady Lionsclaw standing on either side of the bed. His agonizing encounter with a Karien priest seemed like a distant memory, something out of a nightmare he couldn’t quite recall. He struggled to sit up, collapsing with a yelp of pain as soon as he tried to put any pressure on his left shoulder. Damin winced sympathetically. “You might want to wait a bit before you try that again, Rory. That’s a pretty nasty burn you’ve got there.” Rorin frowned, wondering how he’d gotten burned, and then he realised the whole sorry business with Kraig and Renulus and that damned Staff of Xaphista hadn’t been a dream, after all. “What happened?” “You passed out.” “That much I get.
