The Warden

Chapter 6

Masis rolled over, tangling himself in his sheets. The air in the room pressed in on him just as close and hot as the twisted linen. Cool night air would feel sweet on his enflamed skin, running over it in trickling currents that would whisk away the heat, but no one opened windows at night. No one. In four hundred years, Masis couldn't imagine that a single person had dared sleep with a solitary window wide to the night's gaping, sinister maw, not wanting to violently meet its teeth.

He lay there, eyes still closed, trying to press sleep back upon himself, driving it ever farther from him with the effort. Huffing, he flopped back onto his back, his bed linens loosening ever so slightly.

What would it be to live in a world where windows could stay open even after the sun set? That world had once existed, long before Masis ever breathed, but it had existed. What had it been like to walk unafraid in the night?

A squeak interrupted his musings. Brow furrowed, he lay there unmoving. The sound had come from the antechamber of his bedroom, but the stout door that separated him from it threw considerable doubt as to whether or not he had actually heard something or had just imagined it.

The doorknob rattled, creaking ever so lightly as it turned.

Reacting to the unknown, Masis' heart cantered apace, rushing alertness throughout his entire body.

Who or what was trying to get into his room?

Cracking his eyelids to mere slits, he remained as still as he could. Each beat of his heart, however, pulsed through his body, making it seem as though his arms and legs twitched about beyond his control.

The door inched open, sending a shaft of light from the hallway piercing into the room's shuttered depths. It limned a tall, dark figure.

The individual took a step forward never leaving the path the light laid out. Not judging the distance between itself and the small side table, the person bumped it, causing it to clatter against the wall. A whispered cursed hissed out.

Masis suppressed a chuckle, recognizing the voices particular timbre.

"You know da, if you make any more noise, you're going to wake mother and the girls."

"Why you little..."

Launching himself at his son, Lord Domrae tackled the now laughing youth. Still giggling, Masis barely kept himself from having his arms pinned to his side. His father's full weight came down on him, forcing the air in his lungs out in a pained grunt. Snatching at his father's arms, Masis drew in a pained breath while popping his hips up to unseat his father. Now freed, son took father in a tight hold, wrapping one arm about his throat locking it in place with the other. The sudden brawl stilled as fast as it started.

"Da, do you surrender?"

"Do I have a choice?" Lord Domrae asked, wheezing.

"Oh, you always have a choice, but the only other option is to pass out and wake-up on the floor." Masis squeezed to emphasize his threat.

"I yield."

Masis gave one final squeeze before shoving his father from the bed.

Gulping air and rubbing an already bruising neck a stunned father sat awkwardly on the floor.

"Well, son I think I taught you a little too well."

"Well, da, in all actuality, I think you're just slowing down. Or mayhap it was you caterwauling about in the dark like a wounded one-legged duck?" Masis parried, smug and unruffled.

Both father and son sighed, the faint remnants of laughter coloring the wistful sound. Turning his gaze back to his father, Masis found those familiar brown eyes on him. A faint hint of a smile warmed his face with something Masis could not quite identify. Then it was gone with a shake of his father's head.