Be still my foolish heart
Her tears had dried and the rain had stopped falling by the time she made it out of the infirmary. Driven away by the arrival of nurses and people with questions, as much as by the need to get some kind of foothold in this insane dream of a new reality. She was still very much in shock. Probably she should have stayed in that clean, dry room, found a cot to sleep on and taken the day to get her bearings straight. Calm down properly, let Loren's explanations sink in... But she couldn't stand the idea of being treated with that careful sympathy, like she was about to break - especially since it was close to the truth. Clutching the note she had been given, full of names and directions, she staggered about and tried not to stare too wildly at the buildings, the people, the glaring lack of anything that looked familiar. The first name of her list had been Jigano Silversmith, at the Atheneum.... which, thsnkfully, was quite easy to find.
It took her a full quarter of an hour before she mustered the courage to step in through the imposing looking gate. And once inside, she found herself staring up into the vast expanse of the domed ceiling, enveloped by silence, a dusty smell of books and the solemn stillness that always seemed to hover over libraries.
She almost started crying again, out of sheer relief. At least some things appeared to be the same as home.
Don't ruin this on me
PETRA
