I slid off my perch, which was already giving off a nagging pain in the sacrum, and walked closer to the men who had gathered around the royal desk. Stretching out on tiptoe, I looked over the shoulder of Count Milos, who was leaning over the table, resting his hands on its edge, and saw a lot of chaotically scattered papers, drawings and maps. Such familiar maps. It was a carefully drawn plan of Riliya's castle, which I knew by heart like the back of my hand.
Something tightened in my chest from a premonition of the occasion of our meeting. The excitement grew, and with it the sounds of heartbeats, loud in my ears. I understood that this moment could not be postponed forever and sometime I had to return home. I understood, but I was in no hurry to bring this day closer.
The door opened with a bang, pulling me out of my thoughts, and distracting the men from the stormy discussion of something important.
He appeared.
