Remnants of Night

Against my better judgment, I let Devi slip his leash for a few hours. He promised he would not kill, steal or alarm the entirety of Kingston so I had no choice but to agree. It was either that, or be stuck in an enclosed area with a restless sociopath. Once again, I had to reassure my house sitter that Devi would not be bursting into flames in direct sunlight, nor was he ‘on the prowl’ for ‘blood to suck’. Her words, not mine.

Just in case, I flipped on the wall TV and set it to the 24 hour news channel. It’s not that I didn’t trust an inhuman assassin to behave—oh wait, yes it is. Cenav too was at the end of his rope; Sarkkrai do not just sit around. Relaxation is their antithesis. When he started to tromp around, making my place feel the size of a dollhouse and shaking the pictures on the wall, I had to send him out too.

But what kind of dethroned despot would I be if I just let him wander the streets? Devi I could trust to blend in. My son, not so much. Luckily enough, Cen had no interest in Kingston or its people and culture. He wanted exercise. He wanted to swing that freshly sharpened sword of his.

“H-how about the parking garage? There’s rarely anyone down there and there is lots of empty space.” Eleanor suggested, pushing her glasses up onto the bridge of her nose. “I could, um… I could show him.”

I translated and Cen gave a short nod. With a distasteful grimace, he slipped the pendant over his head once more, taking the form of a human. He wrapped the weapon’s chain around his forearm, holding the sword in a reverse grip to run alongside his arm when down at his side. Eleanor bounced off her chair to get the door with an enthusiasm I wasn’t sure what to think of. Cenav moved to follow, stopping when he was even with the mage across the kitchen island. He didn’t turn to face Ian, just stood there till the mage looked up.

“You will find the Warlord more forgiving than I where she is concerned… Pelthocian.”

When the door clicked shut, leaving just the two of us to puzzle over Cenav’s parting words. Ian moved his net browsing to the couch so he could no doubt watch TV at the same time. He was putting the average American teenage to shame with his multitasking. I would have made some snarky remark about it—not that he would have understood—but Cen’s last comment had me feeling shy. Where was Eleanor? How long does it take to walk to the garage and back?

“So…” I began, letting my mouth talk since my brain couldn’t think of anything. “Your first Earth party. Should be fun.” No reply but I did get an eyebrow tweaked. “Did you attend many of the galas at Osiril? I’m sure they had many.”

“When decorum demanded I attend, yes.”

“Huh.” I fiddled with the bags left at the end of the couch. “Not many get-togethers like that in Rakmorath. Well, there were but not like that.”

“Yes, bloodthirsty warmongering rallies are not quite the same as dinner and dancing.”

“’Suppose not.” I giggled at the thought of Sarkkrai in suits, dancing with flowers in their mouths to tango music. “To be honest, I’ve only been to a few black tie events. Just not really my thing.”

Ian made an affirmative sound. I eyed the monster I created for a moment then sighed and joined him on the couch to watch the television. No breaking news—that was a good sign.

What felt like hours past and my front door finally crept open. Did I say crept? I meant forced open with what had to have been a well-placed shoulder. So much for the etiquette of a double knock and quiet entrance. Cenav was thoroughly soaked and I doubted it was rain. His breathing was even though; my boy knew the value of the cool down routine. Hair plastered to his temples, chest slick with rivulets, I wouldn’t have doubted it if his boots didn’t slosh with each step. Though I was used to the ever-present frown Sarkkrai of all types generally greeted the world with, his current glower looked a little aggravated.

In the door crept Eleanor. See? Crept. She was alive though, that was a good sign. Her furtive glance was met by Cen’s imperious stare. He then turned away to inspect the distance I was sitting from Ianarius, leading me to do the same thing. Wait, who was the parent here? And what exactly did he think Ian—or I—would do when left alone? It’s not like we were a couple of hormonal teenagers! No sir! Malefactor and Master Mage, that’s all! We weren’t even friends, right?

“This female insisted I return here to cleanse myself instead of finding a water source.” He eyed Eleanor once more, no less frost. Knowing what I know about Sarkkrai relations between the sexes, I thanked her lucky stars she came back to my house in one piece.

“I… I just though—” Translated.

“Females do not need to think where males are concerned.” Translated again.

Lovely. My only child is a chauvinist…

“B-but your mother is female!” Aye.

“My mother is a King!” Mhm.

“Children! If you do not settle down, you will go to bed without supper!” Ian chimed in without looking up from the laptop. Where he’d read or heard that gem was beyond me. I got to my feet with a smile and showed Cen how to use the shower and plied him with several towels; he was not impressed.

With the sound of running water in the background, the front door opened once more, admitting my wayward Harbinger. He looked pleased with himself however whatever was going on in his mind didn’t keep him from breathing in the scents of the room. His eyes sought me first, quickly dismissed the bookworm—or was that net junky?—and gave Eleanor a look that had her shuffling behind the kitchen island.

“Do I dare ask what has you so chipper?”

“Hmm!” He stuffed his hand into a pocket and pulled out something then placed it in my hand. Looking down I saw a halved business card and two strips of paper. “I don’t know what those mean but they were eager for me to have them.”

I barked a laugh—they were phone numbers!

The rest of the day was surprisingly uneventful. I managed to disentangle my laptop from Ian’s clutches when the battery finally died. I’m sure he sensed the lie when I told him that it would take a day to charge it and that he couldn’t touch it till then. After ringing up a two hundred dollar bill at a local eatery for take-out dinner, the mismatched crew settled down for the night. Eleanor said her goodbyes and left, saying she would return with coffee in the morning. My house sitter glowed with excitement as she shut the door behind her, further instilling upon me the danger I was putting her in. Though she was eager to help, thrilled at the prospect of doing what she surely thought was ‘a good deed’, it was still something I should have tried harder to keep her out of. I hoped I’d never regret it.

The overcast had remained with us and a light rain was coming down in patches, the clouds keeping in the relative warmth. I awoke sometime around two and as I lay there enjoying the feel of my thick comforter and feathery pillows, I heard a noise that had me going still. Listening intently, I didn’t hear voices (or death rattles) but the second jarring bump forced me to sit up. Feet in slippers, I snuck out into the hall, all ears. I heard it again and followed it to Ian’s room.

The door was shut so I listened with my senses. Oddly enough I found nothing in the room, not even his well-muffled life force. Popping my head in, I saw an empty room softly lit by the bed lamp and an open window. I knew when I looked outside, I’d see nothing.

So my strange little mage flew the coop; he’d either be back tomorrow or we’d proceed without him.