She was surprised at this, for she had fallen asleep quite soon after going to bed. However, she had awakened suddenly when she turned out of the small hollow of warmth that her body had made onto the cold sheets where Raymond should have been. She snuggled back into the warm spot, sighing with exasperation, and closed her eyes, but sleep would not come again. Perhaps, she thought, it is near morning and I have slept myself out. Hugging the covers to her, she put out an arm and drew the bed curtain aside. From the size and drippings on the night candle, she had slept only two or three hours. There were nine or ten hours of dark still to be gotten through before morning. Suddenly, a very faint metallic screech came to her ears. She cocked her head, trying to associate the sound with something familiar, and thought of the noise of rusty hinges. Was it one of the gate guards entering or leaving the tower? Those hinges should be seen to, she thought, trying to tuck the covers tighter around herself and determinedly closing her eyes again.
