Slowly, Urcea untangled herself from the pile, which was inset somewhat in the floor. Without the pillows, the air struck her as less mild. She fished a blanket from the bedding and wrapped herself.
She waded, half tripping, to the edge and stepped out onto the floor, which was of fairly smooth, red sandstone. It was warm on her feet, though the air around her had somewhat of a chill.
She walked to the edge of the room in a few short strides. From here, she had a vantage over a wide, low desert country, bathed in the moonless dark.
While the air was cool, waves of heat rose from the sand and scrub, distorting the far horizon, rippling the low mountains.
Why had her majesty shown her the vision of the Rainbird? It left Urcea empty and aching to think about it. Never had a dream been so beautiful.
To think that all this-- all of it-- could be born upon, be the very flesh of, a thing so magificent... Even should she disbelieve it, and at the moment she could not dream of how she might come to truly believe it, still she could never look at the world in quite the same way again.
Though she love Highseat above all other things, yet it was a small thing against the vastness...
At that moment, a great creature, very like in aspect to the Rainbird descended out of the night, and landed away in the desert. The bird-creature was, Urcea supposed, several fathoms tall and its wingspan looked to be nearly half a stadium tip to tip, dwarfing its elegant body. Its face shone with a gentle light. It was arrayed in feathers of every color which glistened with moisture.
It had landed with an easy grace, and shed a feather as it settled. This feather was just like the ones she'd seen at the bazaar early (she thought) that day.
Then a figure dismounted from the bird. From that distance Urcea could see the form was female, and she began to walk, slowly, each step measured in the sand, toward Urceas pavillion.
As she came, the great bird folded its wings behind her and settled into a hollow. In the darkness its shimmering colors became indistinct.
Urcea could now see the figure was a young woman. She felt no unease at her approach, for there was something familiar in her, as if Urcea knew her for an old friend. She had a graceful way about her, that though she came forth on bare feet, yet she also moved sinuously.
No great breeze came, but as Urcea watched, a chill went across her in that warm place. She stepped out into the night, which might have surprised the approaching woman, for she stopped about a hundred paces out. But Urcea went purposefully toward her.