her hands away from her face, the painful glare resolved into soft glows.

Rows of lights seemed to trail away from left to right, which Safa recognized as hallways. All was masked in shadow, but the walls were smooth and clay-colored, but not textured like many of the straw bricks that made the houses she was most familiar with. She could tell she was in a large space, but it did not resemble any of the palaces or temples she had ever known.

Safa bent and began to peel away more of the wrappings, down over her waist and legs. She could just barely distinguish between her skin and the linen strips, and for some reason could not feel her fingers touching the skin of her thighs, nor feel the lengths of cloth as they were drawn away from that same skin.

Working steadily, her hands remo...

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