The Grey Chronicles Part Two: Under Siege.

Chapter 11: (Cliff)Hang In There.

Castle of Glass, surface of Machinae One, August of 8096 AL.

Soluna rolled over in bed, reaching out for something. She peeled her eyes open and smiled as she saw what she'd been looking for. She grabbed it, stifling giggles.

Alex's eyes had been glued shut, but they shot open when he felt someone pinching his rear. He grinned and in one fluid movement he released the massive pillow he'd been holding, rolled over, and pulled Soluna into a bear hug. She squealed and tried to escape in vain, finding herself trapped in his arms. He looked down at her and laughed, squeezing her while she wriggled and squirmed. Suddenly she grabbed several of his underarm hairs and ripped them out. With a loud yelp he released her, throwing his arms up then covering his pits.

Soluna saw an opportunity and seized it; she wrapped her legs around his arm and grabbed his wrist, putting pressure on his arm with her hands while her feet pressed down on his chest to provide leverage. Alex looked down at her and his eyebrow slid up to his hairline, not at all surprised she'd put him in an arm bar; it was her go-to move in situations like this. Soluna smirked, then her expression changed to one of shock as her lover, with surprising strength, bent his arm at the elbow and forced her to sit up. Despite her best efforts, Soluna couldn't prevent him from flexing. Alex laughed, his free hand tossing pillows and comforters onto the floor beside the bed. Soluna watched him, and realized what he was doing just as he did it; she let go of his wrist and tried to scramble away, but he clamped his vice-like grip down on her shoulder and rolled off the bed, taking Soluna with him.

She landed beside him and, with the agility of a cat, grabbed the bed sheet and wrapped it around his wrists. She took the loose ends of the sheets and tied them around the bedpost, grinning triumphantly as she looked down at him from her perch on his torso.

"Hahah!" She laughed, throwing her hands up. "Right where I want you!"

Alex smirked and looked at her naked body sitting on his stomach, "You took the words right out of my mouth."

Soluna giggled and set her hands on his chest, kissing his cheek. "Someone seems to be in an...inappropriate mood."

"You do that to me," one corner of his lip curled into a smile, "So, since you have me all tied up..."

There was a knock at the door. A voice was muffled by the thick oak, but the pair understood him well enough.

"Soluna, we've received news from dad's fleet," Briarios shouted, "Get dressed and meet me in the war room. Now."

Soluna jumped to her feet and ran to her dresser, dressing herself as fast as she possibly could. She was halfway to the door before she heard Alex's voice.

"Um, hun? I'd rather not spend all day down here," he could have freed himself, but he didn't want to ruin expensive sheets. "At least, not alone. Would you mind untying me?"

With rosy cheeks Soluna hurriedly removed the sheets. Alex pulled on his shirt as she ran out of the door, sprinting down the marble floors of the main hall towards the war room. Alex followed, attempting to pull up his pants as he bunny hopped down the corridor.

Soluna tore around the corner, almost plowing into the marble column that held a bust of her grandfather. The hallway ran from the entrance hall to the far end of the castle, with two corridors running along the inside of the mansion and with other halls ringing the far outside of the building. She was accustomed to the luxurious aura the entire building had; the floors were marble, the outer walls and load-bearing walls were blocks of solid diamond, and the other walls were made of various exotic woods from thousands of galaxies away. The ceilings were twenty feet high with murals painted across every inch. The doorways were eighteen feet at the lowest, and the doors were solid planks reinforced with metal bars. Banners and paintings covered the walls, suits of armor and pedestals holding sculpture and busts and trophies taken from long dead emperors and kings decorated the halls. The pentagonal castle of diamond and stone had nineteen floors, every other floor slightly smaller than the other to allow a series of tiers that provided defensive positions from the terraces. Ramparts ringed every terrace, and at each of the building's five corners stood towers. The point of the pentagon faced the bridge leading to the mainland, with two separate gatehouses in between built into a pair of monstrous walls.