Chapter 21

Athelstan

A light knock woke him up from his relaxing sleep. From the window came a glimmer of light that partially illuminated the room. Athelstan’s eyes took a while to focus exactly where he was.

He sat down, passing a hand over his face. The sun had just risen, and the faint light seeped through the glass. Athelstan felt very rested and hadn’t been for days. Although the bed was hard and uncomfortable, the prince had slept like a child.

He stood looking around. The room was much smaller than he had thought the night before. The bed on which he had slept was placed in a corner attached to the wall, between the window and the wall. Under the window was a small wooden table and a chair with a clean tunic. In addition to the few useful pieces of furniture, the room was completely empty.

The boots he had thrown to the ground that night had been picked up and placed beside the table; the dirty tunic had disappeared, and on the table, there was a tub with clean and fresh water inside; ne