The pounding door woke Kinza from a quickly fading dream. She had sudden flashbacks of the night of the battle in Rhapta when she had been woken similarly.
Launching out of bed, still tangled in the sheets, she looked around. It was still dark out and silent in her house. Had she dreamed of the pounding on the door?
The pounding came again, followed by Zaid’s annoyed voice. “Are you awake or dead?”
Kinza groaned and went to answer the door. Pulling it open, she saw the sun hadn’t even started its ascent, and stars still twinkled in the sky. The only break in the starlight was Zaid’s dark form looking her over.
“Not dead then. Just lazy.”
Kinza mustered an annoyed grunt and waved him in. “Give me five minutes. I didn’t know we were leaving this early.”
“I told you we were leaving just
