* * *
Nora awoke the next morning with a headache that caused something inside her temple to pulse pain and agony throughout her entire body. She wanted to pull her pillows over her head and go back to sleep, but it hurt too bad. Also, she was really thirsty. She staggered out of her tent and made it to the bathhouse in the tweens and rebels enclave, where there was—by some miracle created by the engineering enclave—running water. She gulped it. It made her feel better at first, but she began to feel sick. She ended up throwing up again.
Still dying of thirst afterwards, she forced herself to sip water slowly.
As she was coming out of the bathhouse, she ran into Sawyer, whose hair was sticking up on one side of his head. He glared at her with haggard eyes. “Dionysus is the devil,” he proclaimed.
Nora agreed. Or maybe wine was the devil. She wasn’t sure. But Dionysus and wine seemed interconnected, so she didn’t suppose it matter whether she blamed one or the other. She went back into her tent and burrowed under the blankets on her hammock. Her head was still pounding, but she felt like she might drift back to sleep.
Then Owen woke up. He didn’t seem hung over in the slightest. In fact, he seemed to think her hangover was funny, especially when she told him she’d thrown up before going to sleep and in the morning as well. But he kissed her on the forehead, and said, “I’ll see you at the special council meeting, right?”
Ugh. Nora had forgotten all about it. She threw her covers aside and got out of the hammock. “What time is it?”
Owen stuck his head out of the tent. “It’s got to be within an hour or so. We slept late.” He gave her a hug, and then he ambled off.
Nora wrapped herself in a blanket, went out to the benches outside the fire pit, and nursed a glass of water. She was not in a particularly good mood.
Maddie bounced in under the arch. “Hey, you’re up,” she said. “I thought you were going to sleep all day.”
“My head hurts,” Nora responded. She’d never really been hung over before. Actually, she’d never been quite as drunk as she had the night before.
“See?” said Maddie. “This is why I don’t drink.”
“You’re very wise,” said Nora, hugging herself.
Sawyer came out of his tent at that point. His hair still looked funny. “I just remembered there’s a luncheon at the main fire pit at noon for the special council meeting. Is it noon yet?”
“Food is gross,” said Nora.
“No,” said Sawyer, “food is exactly what we need. Salty food.”
“Do we have to get dressed?” asked Nora.
“You should probably do something about your hair,” Maddie said to Sawyer.
Sawyer put his hands on his head, feeling around. “What’s wrong with my hair?”
Nora couldn’t help it. In spite of how miserable she was feeling, she had to giggle.
“I know what we should do,” said Sawyer. “We need to go to the big bathhouse. Do we have time?”
Nora remembered being there her first night in Helicon, but she had a very vague idea of where it was. “Do we have to walk there?”
Sawyer hauled her to her feet. “Bath. Now. Come on.”
It was a long walk, but Nora found that moving her body actually made her feel better, like getting herself going was putting her back in order. And when they finally got to the baths, and she and Sawyer were immersed in the warm water, swimming around and letting jets from the fountain wash over their heads, she had to admit his idea had been a good one. “Hot water is the most amazing invention ever,” she decided.
Sawyer splashed her. “It’s not an invention. It’s a discovery. Hot water existed before anyone invented it.”
“Whatever,” said Nora. She held her breath and went under water for a few seconds, savoring the fact that her entire body was caressed by wonderful, warm liquid. When she resurfaced, she said, “I’m never drinking alcohol again.”
“Sure you aren’t,” said Sawyer.
“Well, Maddie doesn’t drink,” said Nora. “I don’t have to either.”
“I’m drinking again,” said Sawyer. “But next time, I’m drinking less. And I don’t want it to be wine. Maybe ever again.”
Dancing Days Page 27
