It figured.

A night free from the Staff’s incessant calling, a night when her head was actually quiet, a night when she should have been able to sleep soundly, and she still couldn’t sleep.

Felitïa lay in her inn bed staring at the far wall. Lon and Nesh were fiddling about under the covers at the end of the bed, occasionally brushing against her feet or toes. It was both a little ticklish and a little comforting.

Maybe she had just gotten so used to not having uninterrupted sleep that her body didn’t even remember how to sleep without interruption.

Or maybe it was her anxieties about being home.

Or both.

Whatever the case, lying here sleeplessly all night wasn’t going to do her any good. If she couldn’t sleep, she might as well do something productive.

She threw back the blankets and put her feet on the floor. Holding out her hand, she coaxed Lon and Nesh to her. “Want to go for a walk?”

Nin-Akna stirred in the other bed. “Mm?”

“Nothing. Just talking to the rats.”

Nin-Akna grunted and fell silent again.

Felitïa didn’t want to disturb the young woman any further, so waited a few moments to make sure Nin-Akna had fallen back asleep. She could easily cast a spell to mask any sounds from waking Nin-Akna, but this was a good moment to practise alternative casting methods. Ever since she’d had her fingers broken, she’d realised how over-reliant she was on her hands and fingers for spellcasting.

The next easiest option was her feet. Curling her toes would direct the magical energy in similar ways to using her fingers. Unfortunately, that way also made it difficult to move while maintaining the spell. She pondered other options. Legs and knees would have the same problem as feet. Elbows? Shoulders? Head?

There was probably a way she could do it with a combination of her shoulders and elbows, but she still needed to get dressed. It wouldn’t be impossible, but it would be difficult.

Her head though… She would normally include a slight head tilt with the spell. Perhaps if she increased that a little, combined it with a clamped jaw. That might work. They wouldn’t be the subtlest of movements, but they should do the trick, and she could work on making them subtler with practice.

She whispered the words, clamped her jaw, and tilted her head.

The result took a lot more energy than casting it her usual way. She felt a little like she was fourteen again, when every spell was awkward and drained more of her energy than it needed to.

But it worked, and that was the main thing.

Once she’d dressed and gathered up the rats, she slipped out the door and released the spell. It wasn’t quite like when she was fourteen when it would have used all her energy. She still had loads left. But it had been a strain, and she definitely needed more practice. She headed out of the inn.

The night air was cold and crisp. A few snowflakes floated through the air. Stars shone brightly in one half of the sky, while clouds covered the other half, the moon peeking out from behind them.

Felitïa didn’t know what she was going to do out here.

Okay, maybe she did, but she wasn’t sure whether she could actually do it.

Quorge was always quiet at this time of night. Once in a while, a sound drifted over from the docks, or a couple City Watchmen might march past. And of course, there were a few other people out at this time for whatever reason, but on the whole, it was quiet. Calm. Peaceful even.

Her path took her by the well again. No line-up this time, not surprisingly. She walked straight up to the well and peered into it. She wasn’t sure why, but it was somewhat comforting.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Perhaps she should try to jog her memories again. Free of disturbances, this might be the best time. Except she’d be putting off what she’d come out to do. Maybe on the way back.

When she looked up, there was a stocky figure farther down one of the streets leading away from the plaza. Barely discernible from a shadow, the figure was standing still and, although Felitïa couldn’t say for sure, seemed to be looking in her direction. The figure turned and hurried out of sight.

Felitïa took a deep breath.

Probably nothing.

Whoever it had been was probably just as startled to see her as she was to see them.

She continued on her way.

The last stretch of distance was the hardest to cover. Felitïa found herself walking slowly and pausing frequently. It occurred to her that making this trip in the middle of the night wasn’t going to be enough. She was going to have to come back in the daytime and go inside. Talk to Angelida even.

For now though, perhaps this was a good first step. Just looking at what was once Elderaan’s Mystic Palace was terrifying enough.

The old hanging sign was gone, replaced by a wooden sign fixed in place, flat over the door. That would get rid of the banging the old sign would make as it flipped back and forth in the wind. It would make it quieter for sleeping at nights. Nonetheless, over the years, Felitïa had grown to find that sound oddly soothing. She would be thankful for it now.

Not surprisingly, the name was new. The sign said simply, ANGELIDA’S.

Felitïa forced herself to approach closer, right up to the shop window. She tried to peer inside, but it was dark and the window was frosted from the cold. All she could make out were the shadowy shapes of shelves along with other shadows she just couldn’t see well enough to identify.

She looked at the door. She desperately wanted to take hold of the handle and turn it, open the door and rush inside to find Elderaan waiting there for her. She actually found her hand on it, tried to turn it. It was locked. And there was no Elderaan waiting inside for her.

She wiped away the tears forming in her eyes.

This was a stupid time to come here. What had she been thinking?

Still, in an odd sort of way, she felt a little better. Maybe she could even get a little bit of sleep. If so, the trip had been worth it. She’d leave trying to jog her memories at the well for another time.

Wiping away another tear, she turned to head back to the inn.

A stocky figure was standing in the shadows down the road. Whoever it was ducked into an alley.

Was someone following her?

Maybe this was a different person who just happened to have the same stocky build and the two sightings had been pure coincidence, but she doubted it. So someone was following her.

Felitïa brought up the Room, searching for mental presences, while she hurried in the direction the figure had gone. She readied herself to put the individual to sleep if necessary—with her standard casting methods. This was no time for unpractised alternatives.

She reached the alley and looked down it. In the darkness, no one was visible. There were no mental presences in the Room either. Perhaps whoever it was had gotten too far away for her to detect them. She still hadn’t figured out how distance worked in the Room.

She crept into the alley, trying to keep watch on what was to each side as well as straight ahead of her. She passed a couple of water-collection barrels, then a rickety flight of steps leading to the upper floor of the building on the right. A dim mental presence appeared in the Room. A second later, a cat scurried past her feet.

When she exited the other side of the alley, she looked both ways down the street. To her right, in the distance, were a couple City Watchmen, but otherwise, no one was in sight.

She turned to go back the way she’d come and there was the figure again—at the other end of the alley, where she had entered. How? She’d seen the person enter the alley. Had they somehow circled around? Had there been enough time? Maybe.

The figure darted off again, and Felitïa ran to follow.

There were still no mental presences in the Room other than her own. Even the cat’s presence was gone. This person should easily be close enough for her to sense. But when she reached the other side of the alley again, there was no sign of the individual.

Mister Speedy?

She didn’t remember him being so stocky. He was broad-shouldered though, so it could be him.

Maybe the individual had gone down another alley. There weren’t that many alleys around here. She could check each one, she supposed.

But was that a good idea? This person was clearly playing with her, goading her into chasing them. Maybe the best thing was to ignore it. Wait for whoever it was to come to her.

Felitïa.

That sounded like the Staff or the voices in her head—but she had tuned out the voices in her head, so that left only the Staff. Yet that was impossible. The Staff wasn’t here.

There was a shuffling behind her and she started to turn.

Pain exploded across the back of her head and everything went black.