Dream of the night wind

Waking up was an ordeal of the highest order. I don't know how long I had slept, but by the feel of it — a hundred years, give or take. And I appeared to have aged precisely that much in the process. I had no desire to open my eyes, but no desire to go on sleeping either, so I lifted my lids a little and looked around. And couldn't believe what I was seeing. God, where am I?… The room surrounding the wide bed on which I lay was drowning in lilac twilight, but even the half-dark couldn't stop me from making out its lavish furnishings. These were a princess's chambers, nothing less. A cream-colored carpet — soft even to look at — covered the entire floor. Pale green silk wallpaper. Expensive mahogany furniture. Floor-to-ceiling windows… And what was that above my head? A canopy?… Good. Lord. Drawing a deep breath, I attempted to achieve a vertical position — which took considerably more than one try, as my head responded to being relocated in space with an unpleasant ringing and immediately began to spin, while nausea rose in my throat. But having decided not to surrender at the very first hurdle, I squeezed my eyes shut and waited out the wave of dizziness, then managed to swing my legs over the edge of the bed — and my feet sank instantly into the deep, soft pile of the carpet. Everything in this room was so refinedly, extravagantly luxurious that I felt entirely out of place in it, and the fact that I still had no idea where I was did absolutely nothing for my confidence. I needed to find out what this place was — and as quickly as possible — so I decided to get on with it immediately. And though my body was still protesting desperately against being put to use in such a merciless fashion, I finally got to my feet. Swaying, and desperately wishing for something to hold onto, I made my way to the door — which, mercifully, turned out to be unlocked — and stepped out into a dimly lit corridor. The corridor was no less luxurious than the bedroom in which I had woken. My bare feet sank into the soft pile of the carpet, and my fingertips slid along the dense silk wallpaper, and I could barely bring myself to imagine what all of this must cost. Swaying and still fighting off the dizziness, I made my way to the staircase leading downward — and stopped dead, struck motionless by the sight that opened up before me. …Beyond an enormous window that spanned the entire far wall stretched… a velvet midnight of deep dark space, blazing with myriads of stars. Good God, what is that? Some kind of projection? Or a hologram? Or perhaps very expensive, hyper-realistic wallpaper? Surely this house — or rather, castle — couldn't actually be floating weightlessly among the stars? I was still on Earth, wasn't I? I hadn't… died? Though if I was being honest, I was no longer certain of anything. Drawing a deep breath to steady myself, I wrapped trembling fingers around the cool banister and was just about to take a step — when everything before my eyes began to swim, and a wave of dizziness crashed over me along with a blinding spike of pain behind my eyes, making me cry out and press my fingers to my throbbing temples. My knees buckled and I dropped heavily to the floor, breathing fast and ragged, trying to collect myself. An unpleasant ringing filled my ears, gradually giving way to white noise, and leaning my back against the wall, I could still see bright points of light flickering behind my closed eyelids. I don't know how long I sat there without opening my eyes — but after some time, very close to me, a deep, husky, and… achingly familiar voice said: — There you are, little one… I've been looking everywhere for you.