I woke up to a silence so pronounced that it felt like I was in the land of the dead.
The fire in the hearth had burned down to a pile of glowing red embers, casting long, skeletal shadows across the room. My head felt clear for the first time in days, the thick, suffocating fog of the fever had finally lifted, leaving me feeling hollow and strangely light. I don't like it.
I tried to sit up, bracing myself for the sharp, stabbing pain in my ribs, but it didn't come. Instead, there was only a dull, throbbing ache, muffled by the tight linen bandages, it seemed to me that I was healing.
Then, I realized why I was so warm.
Julian was no longer holding me, but the indentation on the mattress beside me was still deep. He was sitting in a high-backed chair just inches from the bed, his head
