counted them and, satisfied, moved for a hallway that led away from the dining area.
“This way, please.” There were several doors leading off the hall, but he opened the first two and gestured to them. “Here you are.”
Levent entered the first room without a word, and I made for the second, not appreciating the way the innkeeper’s eyes followed me. I locked the door behind me and pushed his creepy behavior from my mind.
The dark room had only a candle, but a small window at the back let in the light of the setting sun. I exchanged my clothes for a blue nightgown from my bag, pausing briefly to take a sip of buttertap out of my small flask. I swished it around in my mouth for a moment, enjoying the familiar flavor, and then tossed myself onto the bed. The mattress was thin and probably packed with straw or worse, but I hardly cared. Sleep found me quickly.
I was in a forest now, very much like the one I grew up in. It even smelled the same, sounded the same. I reached out to touch one of the tall trees, smiling at the texture under my fingertips.
Then an acorn bounced off my head.
I snatched it up, quickly, only to find it was made of chocolate. Impulsively, I shoved it in my mouth. Another acorn fell nearby, then another. When I reached to pick them up, though, they had turned into tiny chocolate gators that snapped at my outreached hand and wagged their little scaly tails. Then, chocolate-acorn-gators were falling all around me, chasing me and nipping at my legs. I tried to get out of the forest, which was now featuring strange yellow bushes I had never seen before, but everywhere I turned there were more and more acorn-gator trees.
My eyes snapped open, now staring at a wall. I was awake; it had all been a dream. I sighed happily, pressing my face back into the pillow. Well, yesterday’s drama had been real, but at least I was not being attacked by strange acorn-monsters.
Someone dropped something heavy on the floor across the room. My eyes snapped open again, suddenly very awake and petrified. There was someone in my room! I was certain I had locked that door. Whoever it was rustled about with a lamp, casting a yellow glow against the wall I was currently staring at wide-eyed. I slowly turned over, feigning sleep, until I faced the source of the light.
That weasel of an innkeeper was rummaging through my bag! I threw myself out of the bed, landing with a loud stomp that made him jump.