Farewell

Morning arrived faster than Bel wanted it to. The first thing that alerted her to dawn's arrival was the sound of a cock crowing. She opened her eyes at this, then simply turned to her other side and tried to go back to sleep.

However, the sounds of the maids attempting to rouse them were enough to pull Bel out of her dreams. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and groaning as she stretched out her arms. She hadn't slept until late the night before, but they didn't know that. Besides, she couldn't go back to sleep knowing Malissa would be leaving in a few hours. Bel turned to look at her; Malissa was still fast asleep.

Malissa was lying diagonally with her hair all over the place; some strands were in the corners of her lips and Bel snickered. She shook her a little, trying to wake her up.

"Malissa," she called, but Malissa just rolled onto her side, hiding her face from Bel.

"Wake up!" she tried again.

A groan, but Malissa didn't stir.