Rydon shot Croak a look before turning to Sonah. “We heard something crashing in here. Are you all right?”
Sonah had her hand to her chest as she stood beside Terena’s bed. She nodded. “Aye, sorry. She was having a nightmare, I think, and I tried?—”
“I’m sorry, Sonah,” Terena said from the bed, her voice shaking, her legs pulled up so she rested her head on her knees. “I’m so sorry. Ididn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Are you all right?” Sonah asked, taking a tentative step toward her.
Terena shook her head. Her sable hair slid forward to hide her face.
Sonah looked over at Rydon with a shrug, her hand out as if to ask what they should do next.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Croak asked, edging closer to the bed.
Terena shook her head again.
Rydon and Croak both looked at Sonah, who shrugged again, mouthing the words, “What do you think?”
“Do you want us to go?” Croak asked, stretching out the last word.
Terena lifted her head, but only to push the heels of her hands against her eyes. Rydon took a step back, his chin dropping as he turned away, and Sonah noticed the flush rising on his neck.
Sonah looked back at Terena and saw she was all but naked at the same time Croak must have realized it because he began stuttering and shuffling back, one hand curved over his eyes. He grabbed Rydon’s tunic and started hauling him along.
“What happened to the armoire?” Rydon called, eyeing the ruined chest as he walked backwards.
“We’re next door if you need us!” Croak yelled out before slamming the door shut behind them.
Sonah put her hands to her face and shook her head once, then tilted her head back and closed her eyes.
She was silent for a few minutes, letting Terena have her space. She dipped her head and opened her eyes, then quickly averted her gaze as Terena let the bedsheet drop and leaned on the other side of the bed to grab her shirt. Sonah sat back on her own bed, then moved onto the middle of it and tucked her legs beneath her.
“Are you feeling any better?” she asked softly, in case Terena had fallen back asleep.
“Aye,” she said at last, and Sonah arched a brow. She settled further into the covers, the room annoyingly cool now she was wide awake.
“What… happened?” She ventured to ask. “When you started to moan… I thought it was, you know. Agooddream.”
Terena lifted her head slowly, piercing Sonah with a narrowed gaze so sharp, Sonah’s face heated.
“I mean, good for you, right? If you were getting some in your dream,” she mumbled.
“I was notgetting some,” Terena bit out. “I was fighting for my fucking life!”
“Oh!” Sonah said, propping her pillows up and scooting further back against them. “Right. Of course you were. That would explain… the broken furniture.”
Terena stared at Sonah a second before she turned to look out over the rest of the room. When she saw the wreck of the armoire and the chair tossed near the door, she swore.
“Who’s Daris?” Sonah asked.
Terena whipped her head around so fast, Sonah moved back reflexively.
“Where did you hear that name?”
“Uh, heard it from you,” Sonah replied. She waved a hand in Terena’s direction. “You called out for him. Or her? Anyway, when you first said it, I thought… well, it sounded like a good thing. Like, ‘oh, Daris.’” Sonah’s voice was higher and breathy.
Terena choked. “I didnotsound like that!”
Sonah nodded. And nodded some more, her left eyebrow arched so high it hurt. “Aye. You did. It sounded like?—”
