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.Anusha was again convinced that the dream of the night before had been more than simple fancy.Something of it had been real.A giddiness brought on by visceral fear stifled her wild packing.She stood frozen amidst a flurry of expensive clothes strewn on the floor and across her bed.What was happening to her?Behroun talked of assassins.Had some demonic creature lured her spirit beyond the confines of her body in order to steal it away? It had failed to find her this time, but would she be so lucky again? Would every foray into sleep be a cat-and-mouse game between her and some unseen soul stealer?Then again, she had seen no evidence of such a creature.To fabricate the existence of a soul stealer to explain her too lucid dream based only on Behroun’s talk of enemies of House Marhana was premature.Especially because her half brother’s belief in a potent rival stalking the family was based on his glimpse of her!Anusha clenched her hands, and then loosed them, one muscle at a time.She willed the muscles in her forearms to go slack, then the muscles in her shoulders and neck.She even imagined tiny muscles in her face and scalp drooping into utter relaxation.Her breathing slowed, as did her heart’s frantic pace.She tried to push herself beyond the reach of a panic that could not answer her questions or explain what had happened.When her body was her own again, she sighed and resumed packing.If she wished to understand what had happened to her, she must think.What was the significance of her dream?Perhaps it had been a one-time event brought on by some unknowable, arcane event beyond her ken.Or a glimpse provided by fate of a pivotal event that was somehow important to her future.Or, when all was said and done, a giant coincidence?Anusha wondered if she was spinning fantasies no more likely than her first panicked invention of a soul-stealing stalker.The only way to know what afflicted her was to experiment.As her tutor so often tried to instill in her, only repeated observation, study, and questions could uncover real knowledge.She needed to explore the experience again.Her heart’s pace quickened once more, but now in anticipation.Could I, she wondered, walk purposely as a dream in the waking world?Anusha dumped all the clothing, shoes, and purses she’d pulled from her closets into the great leather-padded travel chest Behroun had ordered delivered to her room.The chest was so large it reminded her of a coffin.Once the bed was cleared, she settled herself on the soft, pink-hued coverlet and closed her eyes.Beneath the coverlet, her costly feather mattress pressed only lightly into her shoulders, calves, and ankles, but her skirts and blouse made her feel uncomfortably warm and confined.Sounds of distant horns, shouts, and braying animals in the market competed for her attention.The nearer clattering chime of servants working at their own tasks in other parts of the manor jangled at discordant intervals.Sleep seemed far away.She tried to evoke the sensation she’d felt when striding unseen down the streets of New Sarshel.She had been 1 neither cold nor warm despite wearing only her sleeping gown.Not the least breath of wind had caressed her cheek, it; nor had the cobblestones pinched her bare feet.Yes, some-I; “thing like that.This is not working!She groaned and left the bed, feeling a sudden pinch as she rose.“Oh,” she exhaled quietly.A girl still lay half swaddled in the quilt, fully dressed, eyes closed.It was herself.She had dream-skipped out of her body again!Anusha gazed down on the sleeping form.Her body breathed in a slow but regular pattern, very much like sleep.She glanced away from the sleeping body and instead drew her dream hands up before her face.They looked completely normal, maybe a bit hazy if she squinted.Anusha rubbed her hands together.The sensation was exactly what she expected.She was further surprised to see her dream self dressed in the very same clothes worn by her sleeping body.Then again, why was she surprised? In a dream, anything was possible, wasn’t it? Insofar as her consciousness existed beyond her mind, perhaps dream logic ruled what she could accomplish, just as in regular dreams [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]