It's night-time now, and I find myself waking while the others sleep on. Moonlight filters in to draw their silvered silhouettes, and nothing stirs to break the soft echoes of light breathing. It's like a limbo here, I think to myself as I pull up out of bed, it's like feeling a grassy hill in the breeze, and I shiver slightly as I move to the seat at the broad window to pull on a shawl.
I gaze out and nothing moves here either; the weathered stones of the castle hold strong against the endless space beyond. I pull my knees up to my chest and rest my face against the glass, my back against the stone, my skin against the coolness that holds me still. It centres me, calms the remnants of a dream I can hardly remember, and my breathing slows.
I look around again at the people lost in slumber here, and affection overwhelms me. How is it that such strength of emotion can be contained within a human body! These are my companions, my unwitting confidants, my champions and my strength. And I can never tell them! They will never know.
My thoughts turn inward now, and I drift into a maze of pictures and thoughts and impressions churned up by what I dreamt again. What I would give for a single night of sound sleep, and peace! But moments replay freely through my mind, sounds, smells, tastes, faces crowd my mind's eye, and I find myself propelled across the room in a bid to escape them. Oh soaring ecstasy, and blazing despair! The exit leading out to the common room appears here in front of me – no matter, sleep will not come tonight. The heavy door opens on silent hinges, and I slip out.