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My sleep was deep and undisturbed, and my dreams were filled with wonderful scents and pleasurable feelings. The dreams were driven away at the sound of curtains being drawn. A dim light swept over me, and I willed my heavy eyes to open.
I lay in a large chamber with a hearth and four-post bed. The floor and walls were of worn cobblestone, and a large, thick oak door stood opposite where I lay on the bed. A dresser, small table, and its two chairs finished off the decor. Behind me was a wall with two tall, wide, pane windows made of thick glass. One was drawn and weak light spread into the room, and I watched a woman of fifty walk around the foot of the bed towards the window with the curtains still closed. She opened them and turned to me.
Contrary to her age, the woman had fe
