RAVENNA
“Who’s there?”
The words left my lips in a hushed breath, caught between sleep and waking. I could hear footsteps and little whispers. I blinked into the dim glow of the lantern still burning faintly on the table beside my bed.
The shadows in my room stood still, like frozen dancers. Nothing moved, no sound, except the soft cracking of the dying flame and Riven’s little sighs from her cradle.
I sat up slowly, brushing the tangled hair from my face, my heart beating faster than it should have.
I scanned the room again, still nothing. Then my eyes shifted to the window, it was open, with the curtains fluttering gently in the breeze.
I pushed myself up from the bed, my body still a little sore from labour, and padded barefoot across the room. I placed a hand on the windowsill a
