The next morning Elise woke up late; well, late for herself anyway. The sun was already up, and since it was winter that probably meant it was already past eighth bell - hours later than she normally woke.
The battleshock debuff must have worn off some time in the night, as when she dragged herself back into the wakeful world, there was no longer a ringing in her ears. She rubbed groggily at her sleep crusted eyes, and found that they focused easily. The first thing her eyes focused on in the dim light filtering into the room past Astredian’s dark, heavy curtains was a glass of water that had been placed on the nightstand beside her. She smiled, and licked at the dry, cracked skin on her lips; they were always on the dry side, but tended to be worse in the winter.
Astredian was not in th
