Rosewinter
Is
The clock chimed once, twice, two low notes that seemed to freeze like ice drops in the darkness. I opened my eyes, blinking against the cold, and saw the hard white shape at the foot of my bed.
“You’re awake,” she said.
I sat up, pulling the blankets tight around my bare shoulders. Rohese was already dressed, her white hair tied back in a queue with a heavy black ribbon. Her hands were covered with a pair of traveling gloves so thin, I could see the shape of her bones underneath.
“Where are you going?”
