บท 167: Hold Fire

~ ZARA ~

A week after the night I was afraid he'd lied to me was the first night I fell asleep on the couch without seeing David. He'd visited, or arranged for me to visit him every night so far. But tonight there'd been no word.

As I slipped into an unsatisfying half-sleep, I was restless and plagued with dreams of looking for him in the Palace, hearing rumors of his presence, but never quite catching up with him.

I startled out of shallow sleep when a hand gripped my shoulder and gently shook, and a warm voice whispered my name.

"David?" I breathed, sitting up, blinking and rubbing my eyes, looking around. It was still dark. "What time is it?"

"An hour from dawn. I'm sorry, Zara. It was a very long night."

He'd squatted next to the couch, looking up at me earnestly. One arm lay along my thigh, his hand at my waist, the other rested on the cushion just in front of me.