Stormy Night

Rain pounded down through the trees, showering down on the trees, making them shiver and sway in the gales of wind that batter them. In the middle of the forest lay an old, stone castle, battering the walls and the foundations, dripping through the broken windows... unbeknownst to some of the old, slumbering figures inside however, another man was stumbling his way through the brambles.

He had to get out- he had to get away- that was the only thing that was running through his mind. His bare feet dug into the mud as he pulled his tattered cloak free from the bushes, gasping raggedly. Tears gushed down his face unbidden, salt mixing with the rain on his cheeks. His soaked ponytail stuck to his neck as he ignored the pain- the blood. He could still feel the burning handprint on his cheek. His eye was throbbing and swollen shut, warm iron dripped from his nose, and his side ached like a permanent stitch. It had all built up to be too much—and if it were only his father, he might have stayed. But he knew for a fact that after the look in Mara’s eyes that day…after she’d grasped his wrists so tightly…she wouldn’t take no for an answer the next time around.

His breath hitched as his foot his foot caught on a root and he fell to his knees. A sob bubbled out of his mouth as he dug his fingers into the dirt, tears blinding his vision. Red droplets splattered on his hands from his nose as he scrabbled to his feet, trying to wipe off his already muddied face. Little weeping hiccups left his lips as he staggered, battered this way and that in the wind. In the middle of it all, he found himself falling against an upright structure of stone. He only registered it once his hands gripped onto it to keep his face from hitting it, and then he gasped, sniffling and trying to blearily find the door. The wooden gates did not look inviting either, but the howling wind chilled his flesh to the bone, and he stumbled in of his own accord. Jittering, he stumbled in out of the rain, soaking wet and dripping all over the floor.

“Sire??”

He heard a voice- he didn’t register where it was coming from. “C-can I stay-“ He hiccupped, deliriously trying to wipe at his face again to seem presentable, but his appearance was nothing at all convincing.

“Sire I’m afraid you have to leave, you can’t stay here!!”

“*Please* let me stay- please let me stay just one night-“ He pleaded as his legs gave out like jelly under him and he fell to the floors, hands clasped desperately as he sobbed. “Please let me stay I’ll do anything-“

The other figures looked at each other, bewildered at the young man, beaten, bruised, and soaking wet at their feet…it wouldn’t hurt to keep him just one night, would it? Only if the Mistress didn’t find out…