***Aldrik***
I should have stayed in bed.
That thought came with remarkable clarity as I found myself on the floor of my room at some point in the night, with no clear memory of how I'd gotten there and a ceiling that was doing interesting things to my vision when I tried to focus on it.
I'd been standing, I remembered that much. Standing by the door after Cassius had left, after Petra had ordered me back to bed with the authority of someone who expected compliance, and I'd nodded and said something that approximated agreement because Cassius was already gone and there was no point in arguing.
But I hadn't gotten back into bed.
I'd stood there instead, listening to footsteps fade down the stairs, listening to the front door of the inn open and close, and then I'd done something monumentally stupid that had seemed entirely reasonable at the time.
I'd decided to follow anyway.
