{12}
A Faerie CallSantha woke to the sun on her face and groaned. She’d just closed her eyes. How could it be morning already? Tired and sore from yesterday’s training, all she wanted to do was sleep. Burying her head under her pillow, she suddenly remembered what day it was and sat up with a jolt.
It was her birthday.
No. It couldn’t be. It felt too ordinary for something she’d been waiting half her life for. But the sameness to every other day was undeniable, broken only by the throbbing in her shoulder from Dandon’s lucky shot the afternoon before.
Wincing, Santha crawled out of bed and sat at Dandon’s old dresser. She worked out the knots in her russet hair with gusto, barely registering the sharp pain from each tug of the comb. Tying it back in a thick plait, she looked herself ov
