Fallen

Chapter 1 RAMUS RHEEL HATED the moment between sleeping and waking. It was a strange place, haunted by recent dreams and the ghosts of those long since passed, and he loathed it even more when one of the fading dreams was a good one. This latest had been about a voyage, though one hehadnot yet made. Dreams about voyages he had made were more usually nightmares. He sat up and held his head as the dizziness filtered away and real life forced itself in. He was forty-four years old. He could recall a dream he'd had when he was sixsailing west from the shores of Noreela and finding the edge of the worldbut he had already forgotten the one he'd just had. He wondered whether this was peculiar to him. Yet what had woken him? It was not yet dawn, and the streets were quiet. A dog whimpered somewhere and surreptitious footsteps echoed, but Long Marrakash was still largely asleep. And so should he be, if he knew what was best for him. Something banged in the room next door. It was the main room in his home and contained the only door onto the street. He froze, listening hard. Another knock, wood against wood.That was my chair being nudged into the table, Ramus thought. He stood quickly, wincing as his knees popped, and reached back across his bed. He kept his leather weapon roll on a shelf above where he slept, but it had not been used for a while. He grabbed one trailing strap, pulled, and the roll unraveled onto the bed. Something scraped across the floor, and he heard a muttered curse. Ramus's heart was thumping. He'd had occasion to fight several times on his voyages, but he had never thought himself a fighting man. He had no grace of movement and his reaction speed was slow, and he had scars that bore testament to that. He drew a short knife from the roll and knelt beside the bed, losing himself in deeper shadows. "Ramus?" The voice was low and uncertain. Ramus half stood, then thought better of it.Just because they know my name doesn't mean they're here for anything good. "Ramus, are you?" Whoever had broken into his home tripped as they reached for his sleeproom door. They grunted, fell into the door and knocked it open. Ramus pressed his knife to the invader's throat. "Ramus, by all the gods, it's me!" "Nomi?" Ramus fell back and dropped his knife, appalled.Was I really going to slice her throat?Maybe, maybe not. Like his dreams, his true intentions already seemed to be fading away, and for that he was glad. "I think I've broken my wrist." "You scared the shit out of me, Nomi!" "Can we have some light in here? I need to see if the bone's sticking out." "If the bone were sticking out you'd be doing more than whimpering about it." Ramus stood and went to the window. He drew the curtain aside to let in death-moonlight, its pale yellow glow revealing more of the room's shape and depth. Nomi was still sitting on the floor by the open door, nursing her left arm. "Don't you have a lamp?" "Running low on oil." "I'll give you some money for oil, Ramus." Ramus sparked his lamp and turned it up. He sheathed the knife and retied the weapon roll. Nomi mumbled something and Ramus looked at the back of her head. She seemed bedraggled and flustered, which was rare for her. Not good for her image. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "Came to see you." Nomi held her hand up, flexed her fingers and sighed, seemingly happy that her wrist was not shattered. "I doubt it'll even bruise," Ramus said. "Nomi, it's obvious that you've come to see me. But why break in? And why sneak around in my rooms like a thief?" She stood and brushed herself down, smilingLebbon, Tim is the author of 'Fallen' with ISBN 9780553384673 and ISBN 0553384678.