Night Falls – Part 5
The servants had gone, the child taken carefully from her father’s arms and a still had gone over the household as the excitement of the day settled into the routine sleep of such a late hour. The cracking of the fire in the hearth was the only thing that broke the quiet so deafening after the earlier dramatics.
The young Lord was slumped in the seat, his daughter having been removed without waking him. From across the room, a well familiar figure watched, brilliant blue eyes running over the sleeping man with an unseen affection.
Gently, he rose from the couch, moving across the room with strong forceful movements, as if his body could split the seam of reality itself with his power. Reaching the man’s side, he ran his fingertips lightly over the young Lord’s hair, down to the strong line of his cheekbone. A slight shake took to those well-sinewed fingers, warmth rising to the cool blue eyes as he engulfed the sight of the man before him.
This was the only warmth he had felt for millennium, tightening his limbs to restraint as he kept his touch light and his presence from waking his adopted brother. The servants would whisper in the hallways and the words would soon stretch out into the streets. His brother’s business thrived on his reputation and the hint of scandal, this immoral scandal, would harm his livelihood and ruin his life.