Chapter 6 A SHADOWED FIGURE

Xina heard the man call her name a couple of times. Each time, she could feel the sadness and longing woven into his voice. And to her surprise, she found herself loving the sound of his voice, especially the way her name rolled off his tongue. It was a strange comfort in an otherwise disorienting situation. She must be crazy to think like that. Perhaps it was the lingering dizziness that made her thoughts so jumbled. It was a mystery to her how she had fallen ill so suddenly, and an even greater mystery how he had come to care for her. Who was this man? And why did she feel an inexplicable connection to him? Every time Xina tried to unravel these questions, she found herself lost in a labyrinth of confusion. There were so many questions that had no answers, and the effort to find them often left her exhausted. Eventually, she would drift back into sleep, her mind too weary to continue. She didn’t know how long she had been in this weakened state, but one morning, she woke up to fin