Only after hearing that voice did she remember why she had come.
In a clumsy voice, she said,
“I came because there's something I want to tell you.”
A cold silence followed.
Wondering whether she had spoken too quietly, Talia cleared her throat and opened her mouth again.
At that moment, heavy footsteps approached.
The door swung open.
Talia raised her head.
Perhaps he had already finished the day's duties and been resting.
Varkas wore only dark trousers and a loose linen shirt.
As she stared at him with unfocused eyes, a cold voice fell from above.
“You came all the way here dressed like that?”
Talia lowered her gaze to inspect herself.
Between the open folds of the robe she could see the summer nightclothes her nanny had dressed her in.
What exactly was wrong with them?
She frowned.
Then a large piece of fabric settled over her shoulders.
Looking up in confusion, she found Varkas wrapping his own coat securely around her body.
Darkness had begun settling over the corridor.
After covering her completely, he swept a glance through the dim passage.
“Where is your escort?”
“Escort?”
His eyes sharpened.
Varkas lightly gripped her chin and tilted her face upward.
Then he bent toward her and stared directly into her eyes.
“How much sleep-herb did you burn?”
Talia strained her eyes, trying to focus on his face as it repeatedly blurred and shifted.
Varkas was wearing a strange expression she had never seen before.
No.
Perhaps the strange thing was her own mind.
The entire world looked distorted.
Why would this man look normal?
She roughly pushed away the hand holding her face and moved her lips.
“I told you I came because I have something to say.”
She saw his eyes narrow.
Something clearly displeased him.
After studying her with a cool gaze, Varkas straightened and looked out the window at the darkening sky.
Then he glanced over his shoulder into his room.
The sight of him apparently considering something made her increasingly anxious.
Did I accidentally start speaking in some language used by elves and dwarves? Why isn't he answering?
“Didn't you hear me? I said I have something to—”
Suddenly, her body tilted sideways.
Talia grabbed the doorframe in alarm.
The walk from the detached palace to this place must have caused her leg to cramp.
She could feel faint spasms running through the muscles of her left thigh.
Bracing herself against the wall with both hands to avoid collapsing, she shifted her weight onto her other leg.
Then her body abruptly rose into the air.
Startled, she looked up.
A face etched with fatigue filled her vision.
Varkas had lifted her into his arms.