Heavenstone 01 - The Heavenstone Secrets

dark space, where I drifted and drifted, until finally, I bumped into something that led me to light and consciousness. I realized I was in my bed, so that part hadn’t been a dream. I was naked, too. When I tried to sit up, my head started to pound, so I fell back onto my pillow. The slight illumination seeping around my window curtains told me it was nearly morning. My throat felt so dry that when I swallowed, it was as if I had a mouth full of sandpaper. All I could do was close my eyes again, and again I fell asleep.
    This time, when I opened my eyes, it was bright in the room, and Cassie was standing by my bed looking down at me. She was in her robe—Mother’s robe, I should say.
    “How do you feel?” she asked.
    “What happened to me?”
    “You passed out at dinner, and we had to bring you up to bed. I undressed you and let you sleep. You shouldn’t have gulped the wine so quickly on an empty stomach. I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to what you were doing.”
    “I didn’t gulp it.”
    “Please. You drank four glasses. That’s a whole bottle by yourself, Semantha.”
    “I did?”
    “I’ll show you the empty bottle if you don’t believe me. You should have known your limit.”
    I started to sit up and groaned with the pain in my temples.

    “You’re having your first hangover,” Cassie said. “That’s good. It will teach you a valuable lesson. I hope.”
    I fell back onto the pillow again.
    Then some moments from my dream started to return.
    “Was Porter here when you undressed me?” I asked.
    “Why would you ask such a thing?”
    “I had … dreams … I saw him.”
    “Please, spare me your erotic fantasies, Semantha. You’re going to be worthless to me all day today. I’ll bring something up to you that is said to help people with hangovers, although most of these recipes are tall tales. It’s like all the different solutions guaranteed to cure the hiccups.”
    She started to leave and then turned.
    “You nearly ruined one of my more spectacular dinners, but fortunately, I was able to rescue the situation.”
    “I’m sorry. Was Porter upset?”
    “Like any man, he was more amused than upset, although I reprimanded him for encouraging you. Let’s not tell Daddy about any of this. He’ll be the one who’s upset, and he’ll be mostly upset at me for letting you drink wine.”
    “No, he won’t. He gave me wine at dinner when you went out with Porter. Just one glass.”
    “Apparently, you didn’t take advantage of him as you did of me. We’ll have to get you up and looking at least half-awake by the time he comes home.” She thought a moment. “Just tell him you’rehaving a period if he asks. That works all the time with men.”
    “But I had my period two weeks ago.”
    “Really, Semantha, I strongly doubt your father noticed or knew.” She thought a moment. “Unless you told him. Did you?”
    “No.”
    “Good, because I don’t think he would be comfortable hearing about it, or any female problems, as far as that goes. You just talk to me if you have any, okay?”
    I nodded.
    “I’ll bring you the drink, and then you should take a shower and move around to get your blood circulating.”
    “Thank you, Cassie. I’m sorry.”
    She shook her head and left. I lay there struggling with my memory. Why didn’t I remember drinking so many glasses of wine? Was what I saw and felt in my dream really my own sexual fantasies, as she had said? My legs ached a little, and when I peeled away my blanket to look at myself, I saw what looked like a thin scratch on my right thigh. There was something else that confused me. The bedsheet was different from the one I had put on the bed. I felt pretty sure about this, because the one I had put on had some frills at the edges.
    The first thing I asked Cassie when she returned with the hangover drink was, “Did I throw up?”
    “Yes,” she said. “Don’t get me started. I had to wash you down and change your bedsheet. Fortunately, not the blanket. You don’t remember any of that?”

    “No,” I said.
    “Just drink this and forget about it for now. Take that shower and get dressed. Go outside and get some fresh air. Put some color back in your cheeks.”
    “What about Porter?”
    “What about him?”
    “Is he … are you going to see him again?”
    “We’ll see,” she said. “I don’t throw myself at men, Semantha. It takes a while to see what someone is really like. That’s why I was always trying to get you