A Court of Distrust and Darkness

Family

Keres's point of view:
     I awoke to the chilling feeling that this sandstone castle always seems to imprint on me. Despite the warmth in the room the stone always seemed to chill me to the bone. My shadows dipped in and out of the bed as I stirred. They whispered about the movements of maids inside the castle, the movements of the guards as they trained, and that my mother was fortunately still asleep.

    I listened to them hum lightly as they danced around my form. They gave me information but when they had none left, they wove themself around the room. They stayed away from the rising sunlight but one strand did spin its way through the wind chimes I had at my open window.

    I smiled as I heard the light chiming of the sea glass wind chimes. After a moment of peace from the wind chimes, I sat up and went to stand with a stretch. I slowly padded to the window to gaze out of. The window let in cool air that comforted me despite the chill.

    The peace reminded me of my own home. A place of tranquility for me. I hoped to return to my own home after my mission right after I dropped off the prisoner, but my mother requested me stay at the castle after my bold entrance yesterday. I knew she had some gripes with me but I would have gladly returned to hear them instead of staying in this place. I never liked it here, not since I was a child.

    This place had always remained a shell of the beauty it represented. The warmth and life long sucked out of it. I let the soft shadows glide over my skin and their presence comforted me in the silent morning. They probably knew I needed some reassurance while being back here.

    I still felt like a caged bird, being forced in a pretty box to be watched from the outside. Once I had desperately wished to escape those watching eyes, craved the freedom I hadn't been given. But once I tasted freedom and returned, they locked the cage again.

    I was pulled out of my thoughts by a warm feeling in my chest. It's been their since my mission, sometimes it was dull others it was a radiating heat. At first I thought it was just a bruise forming. Now however it was almost comforting as if trying to pull me from my despair. It confused me but I didn't dwell to much on it as I went to get dressed.

    I dressed comfortably for once, in a pair of thin light blue silk shorts and a loose white tank top that was embroidered with light blue details around the edges. The sea glass beads made it shine and I left my hair natural. The long silver strands are stunning against my golden skin. My hair left long was for my mother, she always hated the braids I put my hair into for training. 

    I knew she wanted to speak with me but I wasn't going to anticipate her words while in here. Instead I thought over how the encounter would go as I walked through the halls. I left my feet bare as I was set on reaching the ocean and wouldn't need them. I avoided a few servants by blending into the shadows and cloaking myself in the darkness the shadows provided. If they didn't know where I went then mother wouldn't either.

    I managed to slip out of the castle without anyone seeing me and walked onto the islands thin strand of sand. The island which the castle resided was mostly mountainous which helped give the castle its giant size. However their was only one small beach to prevent the castle from flooding during stormy seas. The small beach faces the sea and is hidden from sight all around as the white sand fades into the ocean.

     I sat on the shore as I listened to the crashing of waves. My shadows didn't like the sunlight but the warmth calmed me. My shadows stayed at my back as a protector and curled around my ears when the whispers of information where found. It was peaceful though as the sun rose above the horizon.

    I was only distracted from my peace by the footsteps I heard in the sand. They movement was swift and light. The figure was to lightweight to be fathers yet not forceful enough to be my mothers. I didn't need to look over my shoulder as I said, "Ceram if you wanted to sneak up on me your probably should have started with putting away those chains."