Chapter 14: Pinch Me
FALL TERM - October 17th
The day started bad when I fell asleep in the middle of Kelyn Marblebrook's sigil lesson. It was a morning class and I was prone to drowsiness, but I hadn't expected to need Aisling prodding me in the back to keep my eyes open. Generally, I liked Kelyn's class. She was an enthusiastic lecturer with a tendency to cast as she spoke, tossing lighted diagrams into the air above her head instead of using a chalkboard.
But this wasn't a natural sleep. Between slow blinks, I caught flashes of red eyes, long white hair - Ianthe. I'd never experienced her dreamwalk while I was still awake. I hadn't thought that possible. But there she was.
A flash of her, the same familiar heaviness. This time I couldn't quite tell where she was. She was in her bedchambers. She was in the room with me. I was here in Kelyn's sigil class. I was there with her at the Stag's Court. The haziness of it all was giving me a migraine.
I noticed Kelyn glance my way with an odd look, but she continued her lecture without a hitch. I didn't even want to know what Marblebrook had or hadn't told her about me.
"Zephyr," Ianthe purred. Her voice was in my ear.
It was enough for me to jolt awake. I wasn't dreaming anymore. Ianthe was gone. At least for the moment. I was fine until the end of class, until Aisling pulled me aside and asked, "What was that, Zeph? That was weird wasn't it?"
"Just sleepy, I guess," I mumbled.
Aisling swatted me with an open palm.
"Ouch! You're half as bad as Aries-"
"Don't lie," she said. "Friends don't do that. There was magic in your eyes. Now spill."