Her silent presence had always lingered in the back of my mind.
The night I was bought by the Pearl Manor, Johanna said my fever was so high she thought I was sure to die. My body burned continuously for days, I hardly remember anything from that time―but there was one thing, I thought it was a dream.
Everything was dark about that room, everything too cold, too unreal.
But she never left my side, changing the damp cloth on my forehead every minute. She was always silent, but her eyes were filled with regret and pain. Every feverish night, she held me close, caressing my back, trying to lull me to sleep while my mind was lost somewhere in between.
It has to be a dream.
