Whispers of Nowhere

Chapter Sixteen: Part One

The past three days had been more difficult than Phenex ever could have imagined. Gwen hadn't taken well to the 4 a.m. training sessions, and getting her out of bed had proven every bit as challenging as the training, itself.

This morning was no different. Gwen held fast to her pillow, glaring blearily up at him as he tore the comforter off of her. Drawing her knees up to her stomach with an incoherent grumble, she flipped onto her right side, burying her head under her pillow in the process.

"C'mon Gwen," he sighed. "We've been down this road too many times now for you not to know where this is going. So why don't you save us both the trouble, and get out of bed?"

"No."

"Have it your way, then."

With that, he took hold of the mattress, and before Gwen could so much as let out a muffled yelp, he flipped it, dumping the bedraggled teen and her pillow onto the floor opposite. The way she looked at him then, eyes narrowed and hair sticking up every which way...well, it was all he could do not to laugh.

"Don't look at me like that." He grinned, and offered her a hand. "I told you this would happen if you didn't get up when I asked you to."

"No, you told me I knew what would happen if I didn't get up," Gwen argued, slapping his hand away and rising on her own. "You didn't actually say you'd flip my mattress over. It's been something different every morning!"

"Gwen..."

She went on as though she hadn't heard him. "The first morning you dumped a bucket of ice water on me—ice water, for crying out loud!"

"That was pretty funny, actually."

"Yesterday, you set half of my room on fire..."

"And that," Phenex interjected, holding his hands out in front of him, "was an accident." Then scowling back at her, he added, "As I recall, you did kick me somewhere rather sensitive. The room catching on fire is at least half your fault."

"I didn't mean to kick you," Gwen mumbled, averting her gaze. "You were tickling me..."

"And that warranted a kick south of the border?" Phenex folded his arms across his chest, smirking as Gwen turned a darker shade of red.

"It was a reflex," Gwen huffed, running a hand through her tangled hair. "I said I was sorry!"

Phenex started to say, "Among other, very unladylike things," when a knock came at the door.

Forneus stepped into the room, his gaze going first from one to the other, then to the mattress lying on the floor. "Dare I ask?"

"It's probably best if you didn't," Phenex said with a chuckle. "Suffice it to say Gwen was suffering from 'bed separation anxiety', so I took it upon myself to cure her."

"I believe it's called 'being a teenager'," said Forneus, snapping his fingers and placing a silver platter on Gwen's bedside table, "and I believe this is the cure."

Phenex watched with wry amusement as Gwen's eyes went from narrowed slits to bright green saucers in less than a second, her lips stretching into a wide smile.

"French toast!" she exclaimed, practically throwing herself into Forneus's arms. "Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you—thank you!" she finished with a kiss to his cheek. Scooping up the platter, she made her way over to the sitting area and settled into one of the armchairs, eating her breakfast in earnest.