Kaal

Chapter 3

Kaal stared at his Maiden, stunned to immobility and silence. He struggled to comprehend what had just happened. He pressed an ear to her chest, reassured by her strong, steady heartbeat despite her stillness. She breathed peacefully in his arms as though nothing strange had occurred, innocent expression visible under his dried marks. Frustration suddenly boiled within, he wanted answers and he wanted them now.

"Gridis," he bellowed down the corridors as he ran. "Gridis, get your arse over here! So help me Gods if you don't appear right this moment, I will gut you like the pig's son you are!" He nearly ran headlong into the man as he rounded the next corner. Gridis had been running in his direction as well and threw himself to the side to avoid contact with his Lord and his Lady Maiden.

"Finally," Kaal exclaimed. "We have a problem. The Fey Kind made their way to my room. I scared off all but the ambassador and was having words with him when he must have cast some kind of spell. My Maiden caught the spell barehanded and broke it. She spouted some nonsense about being an envoy for the Stars and snapped her fingers. The ambassador disappeared before my very eyes and then she fainted!" Gridis stared at his Lord, trying to wrap his mind around the rushed explanation given to him.

"She- Barehanded?!" The Second knew that such occurrences were at best rare, mostly spoken of in old stories of powerful icons of the past. In this time there was no one who could achieve such feats. A battle with magic was all in the warding, the dodging, and the reflecting. For someone to break a spell...? He had never heard of anything like it.

"No time for musings, Gridis. I need the physician, Aabris, the female one, and our best scholars summoned as fast as you can get them here. We need to know what in the Gods' name is going on. And I need you to find out where the other Fey Kind went. They ran off when I opened my door for the ambassador. I need to make sure they aren't snooping around my keep and making problems." When Gridis gave a single, firm nod in affirmation, Kaal spun and marched back the way he came, determined to make his sleeping match comfortable until she could be looked over.

He entered their room and took in the mess, door resting against the wall, wood splinters on the floor, clothes strewn about, bedding ruffled, chair by the bed askew. He set to work quickly, placing her on the bed and fitting the door back into place in the frame. He stripped the cloak off of her, making sure to put the broach back where it belonged. He placed her bare body neatly beneath the black covers in the middle of his large bed. He propped her up with pillows and made sure she was nice and warm before turning to care for the rest of the room.

He made quick work of the mess, utilizing the cleaning supplies in the cupboard to the left of his broken door. He swept up the hazardous wood and emptied the pan into the waste bucket near his desk. He gathered the clothes and her discarded cloak and put them all in the laundry basket in his closet. He placed his chair back under his desk where it belonged and turned to stare at his Maiden. With his hands now idle, his mind once again began to race with all the possible dangers.

He paced to the corner of his room and stood guard, everything was visible from where he stood. It made him feel better. He stood to the right of the door, the cleaning cupboard in the far left corner with the door situated between the two. Tapestries took up space on the wall on either side of the door. One was a forest-scape. Towering trees stretched for miles, partially covered by a low hanging fog. The trees were all evergreen, never changing colors or leaving wood bare in winter. They represented strength even in tough, barren circumstances, where life was hard to hold. The other was yet another rendition of his family crest. The lycan form, adorned with weapons and howling at their patron dirty, the Moon. This was, of course, no metaphor. The wolf man in the tapestry closely resembled the form he and his male relatives took when they chose. The change could be triggered by choice, though it could also be involuntarily brought about by strong emotions or a strong sense of danger. This particular hanging was his favorite in the keep. It was expertly made, vivid and detailed. The artist who wove it had seen the depicted battle first hand, long ago. Kaal himself had been there as well, following his father into one of the first battles against the human race. He had been excited then, not truly understanding the gravity of war, or the value of life. He stalled those thoughts as soon as they strayed in that dark direction. No need to dwell on what what lost again, he had spend enough time in his grief.