Snippet #1488664

In the recesses of Alayna’s mind, she was still dreaming and was once again in another place. This one was a cold and icy terrain. It was like the state of what her heart was. She felt lost and alone and broken. Suddenly, she saw a light, as if the sun finally shown through. With it came a voice.

"Your Ladyship you must awake, you'll catch your death sleeping on this cold floor."

From the outside, Alayna finally woke up and jerk upward, seeing the naval captain in front of her. She looked around and saw that she was not in her bed. Her first immediate thought was embarrassment. Other than her servants, no one else knew about her sleepwalking problem. It was the only reason why she never stayed overnight at any of her relatives’ places anymore. Back at home she usually did end up on the floor of her room is she roused early enough. Her maid and butler had the only spare keys to her chambers and she told them that if they ever woke before her and found her on the floor than to get someone to put her back into the bed. That is what happened in most cases. Now that someone else knew about her sleepwalking problem, she was nervous and mortified. However, she still did not have her wits about her yet and when she remembered the captain’s words, she laughed bitterly.

“I am already dead on the inside sir.” She said, with some sadness in her voice.

She had to admit that she had thought of dying, but honestly did not want to for that was the coward’s way out of living and also many people depended on her. No, she did not want to die. At the same time though, she did not know how to live either. Alayna merely existed now that she locked her heart away.

She once again looked at the captain and replied, “I am sorry you saw me in such a state.”

Indeed, now he would probably think of her as a weakling. Then again, most men did simply because she was a woman. She took pleasure in proving those kinds of men wrong.