[Suggested song for this chapter – Don't Speak, No Doubt]
Sofya was having an awful nightmare that frightened her so much that the scream from her dream followed her into wakefulness, until she could hear herself giving a long blood-curdling scream.
She sat up suddenly and looked around her in confusion. Where was she?
Mei Renlong came striding across the tent to sit by her bedside, and the bloody scene from the bamboo forest came flooding back to her in vivid colour, such that she couldn't help panting for air and clutching at her chest.
"Princess, Princess," Mei Renlong called gently to her, taking her hand in his, "you're okay. You're safe now. Everything's fine. You're in Commander Bai's camp. Your maid Terbish, is in good health. She's just fetching you some medicine. You fainted in my arms back in the forest, and you've been running a fever since I got you back to camp yesterday."
"Was Terbish injured?" she asked him anxiously.
