Caliope awoke very slowly and to a terrible aching sensation. Her whole body felt stiff and heavy and when she shifted to rise she felt a wince inducing pain between her thighs. She struggled to a sitting position, her vision still bleary with sleep. She groped for bed side table fruitlessly and was about to call for a servant when her hand encountered fur and she realized she was sleeping on a pile of skins and pillows instead of her linen bed. Caliope managed to blink herself into surprised wakefulness and her memory returned in a rush as she checked her surroundings. The stone walls and floor, the skins, and finally a telling stain beneath her served as efficient reminders of where she was and what had happened to her.
The creature, Thelios he had called himself, was gone. She poked at
