Unbound

Slumber

Slumped against the covers, Analise was a sight. Her mouth drooped open, her limbs were akimbo, and her hair drifted in all manner of directions. Most would be revolted – terrified, even – but the man in the shadows watched her with a certain glimmer in his eyes.

This princess – his princess – was divine.

A presence stirred at the door. As it was with his kind, the newcomer moved subtly; the slightest whisper of feet as the threshold was crossed. He turned toward the newcomer, gold eyes like lighthouses in the dark.

The slight servant stirred, bent at the waist in curtsy, and said: “Your brother has arrived, your majesty.”

He nodded.

“Very well. If she wakes in my absence, I must be the first to know, understood?”

“Yes, your majesty,” the servant whispered and skittered silently into the dark.

The shadowed stranger spared a final glimpse at the woman on the bed. His woman. His soulmate. His wife. His queen.

Before departing he bent at the waist and planted a soft, fluttery kiss on her cheek. So soft, it barely existed.

“Until we meet again, little angel.”