I had no idea what time it was when I woke up to a frantic banging on the door.
“Muri!”
That was Eirani’s voice.
It was pitch dark in the room, with only the merest glow of reflected moonlight coming in from the window.
I sat up and flicked the lever to the light.
Thayu lay on her stomach, her black hair mussed up. She mumbled something but didn’t stir. Sometimes I was jealous of her ability to sleep like a log. I looked at her, filled with such love that it almost made me cry. That was my earring that lay against her skin in the hollow under her ear. I still couldn’t believe it. I’d become convinced that my living on the edge between two worlds had permanently bumped me off the marriage market.
“Muri,” the voice came again.
I jumped out of bed, across carelessly discarded clothes o
