Dark Realm: Book 5 Circles of Light series by E.M. Sinclair

tangled
mess, but she remained asleep. Gossamer had no experience whatever
with children so she left Shea and returned to her own
room.
    Now she heard movement
from Grent’s room across the hall from her own. A moment later
there was a scratch at her door.
    ‘Come in
Grent.’
    He joined her by the
window, perching against the broad sill.
    ‘Did you dream last
night?’ he asked quietly. ‘Sorry, sorry.’ He raised his hands in
apology. ‘I keep forgetting.’
    Gossamer studied him in
the pale light. He looked tired, more tired than when he’d gone to
bed in fact.
    ‘I think Shea was
dreaming. I looked in on her but she didn’t wake. What did you
dream?’
    ‘The same dream I’ve
been having for days now. It wasn’t quite so clear this time, as if
I was looking at it through some sort of smudgy window. But I could
still hear the scream.’
    ‘What is the
dream?’
    So Grent told her of
the young woman, the armsman and the cat, lying on the floor of a
tunnel. He spoke of the howling scream and shivered as he tried to
describe it.
    ‘It holds such pain,
such despair. And Master Pule has had the same dream. He and Nenat
both had it and they think it is a sending rather than a
dream.’
    A door opened and
closed and footsteps approached, along with the aroma of tea and
hot bread. Gossamer went along to the sitting room to be greeted by
two of the maids who’d served them yesterday. They were young
girls, with round, open faces and short dark curls. They smiled at
Gossamer and Grent and wished them good day.
    ‘Master Corman will be
with you very soon,’ one girl said. ‘But please to ring if you need
anything before he gets here.’
    ‘Can we go outside in a
minute?’ Shea stood in the doorway still in her nightgown, her hair
a snarled nest.
    ‘Of course you
can.’
    Both maids looked
rather puzzled by the question but then pounced on Shea.
    ‘We’ll get your hair
tidy first though young lady.’
    Shea’s protest,
although quite loud, availed her nothing, and eventually only
giggles came from the direction of one of the bathrooms. Grent
raised an eyebrow at Gossamer who ignored him. She was not going to
be held responsible for the child just because she was a
female.
    The sun had only just
fully cleared the horizon when Corman joined them. He sat between
two of the three windows in the sitting room, Gossamer noted, out
of the sunlight.
    ‘You slept well I
trust?’ he asked.
    Gossamer didn’t bother
to reply but Grent and Shea spoke at once, saying they had dreamt.
Corman inclined his head as though he’d anticipated the comment. He
questioned Shea first and she related the same dream as Grent had
described earlier. When Shea paused, Grent spoke.
    ‘I had the same dream
Master Corman. My own master and Nenat have dreamed thus
repeatedly.’
    Corman smiled faintly.
‘Was the dream as – vivid shall we say – as previously?’
    ‘No.’ Shea and Grent
spoke simultaneously and Grent frowned. He hadn’t thought to ask
the girl if she’d had the dream before.
    Corman nodded. ‘We have
had to ward this Realm since it began. Many of our people were
severely afflicted, mostly by the sound I believe.’
    ‘Do you have this dream
Corman?’ Gossamer asked. She was positive Corman was not alive, as
Grent and Shea were alive. She did not sleep and so she did not
dream. How could Corman dream if he too were dead?
    Corman stared directly
into Gossamer’s eyes. She realised his eyes were not brown as she’d
thought but the dull gold of old worn coins.
    ‘No Gossamer Tewk. I do
not dream. But I am aware of the sensations conveyed by so many of
my people here.’
    Forestalling further
questions, he rose. ‘A guard has been placed at your disposal,
should you wish to look round the Palace, the grounds, or the town
this morning.’
    ‘I’d much prefer to
visit my master.’
    ‘Of course. You
remember the way to the infirmary? A light lunch will be served
here at midday and then the First Daughter has