A Day’s Dreams

It was still dark when the shaking woke him. “It’s time!” whispered the eunuch. The prince’s dry eyes shot open, despite the tight discomfort thanks to a night of deep slumber. He bolted upright in bed, a delayed response that registered this was the moment his mother had been preparing him for since he was a little boy. The eunuch helped him dress in the dark, and together they tiptoed in silence through the corridors to reach the room prearranged for him to…