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Dreah the blackened depths of the river, descending like a rock, and the harder she tried to swiloourehead watched her as she drifted near, though this was not the wooden figure she’d seen adorning the prow of the real wreck but Lady Estora

The garden is too cold, she said I want it to be suain

“I cannot be your friend,” Karigan tried to say, but only bubbles rushed from her mouth

We are not e must be

Then slowly, Estora’s body stiffened and took on the grainy texture of wood The illusion of flesh was no more than paint, her expression one of endless sorrow She held a bouquet of dead flowers

The current carried Karigan away over the wreck and again the rigging reached out for her like a live thing She found Fergal trapped in the ropes, but realized it was not Fergal at all, but King Zachary, his face a sickly greenish-white, a drowned corpse with its eyes wide open

“No!” Karigan cried, but again, only bubbles exploded from her mouth

Do not grieve for me, he said with blue lips

Then the scene changed to night dark instead of river dark Stars shone in the sky high above and she was surrounded by forest, and he was there No longer a corpse, he pulled her to him, into his warm arms, warm body, his skin soft as velvet…

I want it to be suain, he murmured into her neck

She wanted to say, “Me, too,” but his mouth covered hers, and there was only his warmth around her, and within her

Karigan aith a groan and found herself clutching her pillow She willed the dream to be real, but it was not Overwarm, she released the pillow and pushed back the comforter It was then she realized she was not alone

“Shhh,” said a female voice in the dusky dark “We heard you cry out”

As Karigan’s eyes adjusted, sheat the foot of her bed earing a filmy shift that revealed her curves in silhouette In the doorway, two others peered in, the la in their eyes

“Who are you?” Karigan de the comforter back up to her chin

“Trudy I work here” She sat beside Karigan on the edge of her bed “Are you well?”

“Yes, I’o back to sleep now”

“Would you like company?”