“The forest air is odd. I’m still not sure how that works, though I do know how easy it is to get lost to it. I let it take me over on our first night, then again on the second after some fight, but eventually sleep always found me.”
“As it should,” she nods with a small smile, “but it didn’t tonight?”
I shake my head, “I refused to let it.”
“No, Alexis,” Yara chuckles, “if you walked through the forest tonight it was only because the air allowed you to.”
“Can someone explain that?” I look around the group in puzzlement, “is it magic that brings on the sleep?”
“This forest and the woods have always been like that,” Lord Daniel replies at my side, “it is rumored that the Ancient of Death and Exploration sleeps amongst these trees, that it’s his breath seeping into the air around us and causing the sleep…”
“But once you become aware that the breeze around you is not of normal origin,” he continues, “you wake up in a sense. The air of sleep will never greet you again. It will no longer have an effect.”
I wasted Margaret’s perfectly good jug of coffee for no reason, then.
“But why would odd forest air prompt you to go sneaking into the night?” Yara asks curiously.
I shake my head in consideration, “it wasn’t so much that the air itself was suspicious… I actually would have never caught on if that was circumstance. But what I did catch on to was the appearance of well-rest that came from everyone around me the following mornings.”
Yara looks at me in confusion, not understanding how that can be a bad thing. I smile at her softly and explain with a small chuckle.
“My companions and I are frequent travelers. We’ve spent countless nights on the roads and in taverns that are too loud to get a decent nights’ sleep. Since visiting Fumagalli, I have never once seen the look of complete satisfaction from a night’s rest on their faces as I have here. Not even fromthe silent nights that we’ve spent under the stillness of woods and camping under the stars. My companions have all been well rested and invigorated for the day ahead since we’ve arrived, even after the copious amounts of drink they had the night before. And when sleep came to greet them early, none of them argued or fought back, they just let it happen…”
I look at Yara with another grin.
“If you know one of my friends as I do, it is the oddest sight to see him in bed well before apex. It was as if the village wanted us to sleep and not ask questions, to go silently into the night. But nothing, magical or not, will dictate how I choose to spend my time. Anyone with that similar mindset will eventually catch on and start asking questions.”
Keane watches me quietly, his eyes thoughtful as the rest of his face remains expressionless. Yara shakes her head, her own eyes falling on the strong green of my cloak and noticing that it’s not in the same dark shade of green used in Warrior.
“She picked all this up because her friends were getting better sleep than usual?” she turns to the Prince with a scoff.
Both Keane and Lord Daniel grin.
“She’s a curious one,” Daniel replies.
“With the will to see that curiosity sated,” Keane adds.
I shift in my seat as Yara crosses her arms in front of her chest.
“You’re from Knowledge, yes?”
I nod.
“And you serve the King in some capacity?”
My eyes flick to Keane just as Yara continues, “Desmond told me on the walk here.”
“I do,” I reply after a moment.
“Do you like living in Knowledge and working for the King?”
I try to hide my sigh but nod at her in response.
“Then just know that if you ever change your mind or if you find yourself looking for a new place to call home, I will gladly use your insight here.”
I hold her glance in deep appreciation. “Thank you for the offer.”
“Is there anything else that set you off?” she inquires, “we usually send visitors that ask too many questions to the mills.”
