~ Rebecca
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The door to his
master’s quarters cracked open. Jarod lost interest in getting through the wall
of magic so he could get to his master’s side, focusing instead on who was
entering without permission. Whoever it was should have at least knocked.
He silently slunk
into a deep shadow within easy lunging distance of the door as it slowly opened
wider. Behind him, he sensed stillness from his master and panic from his
mistress. She clearly did not understand what the real threat was, but the master
did, he was glad to note. A flurry of movement was preceded by the magic
barrier being dropped. The door stopped moving, not quite open far enough for
whoever was behind it to get into the room.
“What is it,
Albie?” The master strode over to the fire and settled into the chair beside
it. Jarod didn’t move, though. That man, Albie, had not asked permission to
enter the master’s den. Jarod’s instincts, both the knight’s and the beast’s,
were screaming that that was suspicious behaviour.
“You, ah, your
dinner is getting cold, my lord,” the old man stuttered. “I was worried that
something had happened when you didn’t come down to eat.” The old man sounded
nervous now that he was caught. Jarod didn’t buy the act, though. This Albie
hadn’t been acting nervous a moment ago.
“And you didn’t
think to ask through the door, why?”
“I’m sorry if I
over stepped myself, my lord.” The door opened a little further and the old man
stepped through, again without being bidden to do so, his eyes moving rapidly
around the room before stopping on the mistress. The mistress belonged to him
and his master. This dishonest person had no right to look at her so
disrespectfully. Jarod growled softly, deeply offended.
Everyone froze,
then. The intruder’s fake posture of contrition fell away.
“M-m-m-my L-lord?”
“Look down and to
your right, Albie,” the master said, calmly. The old man did so. The scent of
genuine terror filled the room when he saw the giant cat crouching five meters
away. “I suspect my new pet dislikes your entering my chambers without
permission more than I do,” the master continued, his deep voice becoming more foreboding
with every word.
1 comment:
Hope you feel better soon!
I take it Albie won't be around much longer?
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