Alecia woke to the gentle toll of temple bells just beyond her window. Her back felt raw and unyielding, as though each vertebra were protesting movement. She sat slowly, sweat dampening the linen beneath her bare forearms, and inhaled steadily. The air smelled faintly of steam and earth, a distant memory of home that felt both soothing and alien to her. She rubbed her eyes, took a deep breath and watch as Kennedy appeared at the sliding paper door with a brown ceramic cup in hand. “Herbal ...