Ch.3.3: Reacquainted with the Nightmare

*Ugh. What's that tapping?*

Lianna woke to the edge of a book pressing into her cheek. She snapped her eyes open and realized someone was knocking on her bedroom door. She had locked it the night before and had fallen asleep before unlocking it again.

"Young miss! Are you alright? Are you awake?" It was Charlona, her voice nearly frantic. Lianna had not locked her bedroom door since she was ten–on the nights she'd written down her visions in the book. It was unusual certainly, but her sleep-fogged brain couldn't understand why that would make her frantic like this.

She rubbed her eyes and look up. *No wonder!* The sunshine was already pouring through the cracks in the thin curtains. Lianna tried her best to ignore the aches in her neck and back from the position she'd slept in and hurriedly shut the book. She replaced it in the wardrobe and secured the false bottom as Charlona began knocking once more. Lianna didn't have time to do more than that, so she ran to open the door for Charlona.

"Forgive me. I was reading and dozed off." She smiled apologetically and tried to keep her breathing even, though she wanted to pant from all her rushing about.

Charlona stood in the doorway, her hand raised to keep knocking. When she focused on Lianna, her expression changed from worried to startled to relieved in a matter of moments. "Thank Reiza! I worried you'd taken sick and that I'd have to have Reggie remove the door handle to reach you. You gave me quiet the fright!"

"No, no. I may be tired, but I'm fine." After a few deep breaths, Lianna thankfully no longer struggled to catch her breath. "I'm sorry to have worried you. My neck is rather worse for sleeping oddly, but I'm not sick, I promise." She rubbed the back of her neck as if to emphasize and smiled sheepishly.

Charlona chuckled softly. Lianna knew her nanny was laughing and thinking about how childish it was that she fell asleep away from her bed like that. Then, Charlona's eyes focused on something past Lianna. "Were you going through the countess's things?"

Lianna turned, following Charlon's gaze, and saw the cases that were still out in front of the wardrobe. "Ah, yes…well, I wanted to remind myself of what was in them," she lied smoothly. "My debut is not far off, you know." It was a plausible answer at least.

"That it is, child. Oh goodness," Charlona's hand flew to her mouth, "I won't be able to call you child much longer will I?" Charlona's smile was tinged with sadness, and her eyes shone wetly. "You have grown so much, my dear. And into such a beauty as well. You look so much like your mother now, though no one can doubt you are your father's child too."

Lianna just smiled. Charlona seemed to see her with the eyes of a mother. Lianna knew herself to be quite pretty, she would admit, but she was not a ravishing beauty. And as for her resemblance to her mother, she couldn't argue that she took after her, especially now that she was grown, but she didn't see the same delicate beauty in herself as she remembered her mother having. As Charlona had said the other day, her tanned skin and muscular figure was far from the thin, waspish figures that were popular in the illustrations that sometimes came through their county from the capital and the duchies.

But that was alright. She wasn't anticipating finding a husband at her debut, rather she would be busy avoiding the spotlight, especially where Duke Brendwald and his people were concerned. The last thing she wanted was to draw his attention, though she knew it might be futile to try and avoid it. It was at her debut that she caught his attention in her visions after all.

Charlona snapped her fingers suddenly. "Ah, you must be starved, dear. Breakfast was already made earlier, but there should be some bread left. And I think I can convince Ben to whip up some eggs as well. The old hens are laying again now that it's warm."

"That sounds nice." Lianna smiled her thanks as Charlona went off to deal with breakfast. She shut the door, putting her back to it, and sighed. Finally fully awake, she was now faced with everything she had uncovered last night, and she was reluctant to allow her thoughts to travel down that path again.

Even if just for a few more moments, she wished to just think about the morning and the regular household duties she had to attend to, but to do so would only waste time. And time was something she was quickly running out of.