XIV

Of Corridors and Moonlight

"Shall I get you anything before you retire, sir?" A squeaky voice asked from inside the room. Lin steadied her breath, keeping her back pressed to the wall to steady herself against the shakes of exhaustion.

A familiar voice replied, "No. I'll stay here a while longer."

"Very good, sir. Goodnight then, sir." The woman said, followed by the gentle click of a door's latch.

There came no more sounds. The ticking of a clock, the rustling of book pages and the occasional scribbling of a pen to paper was all Lin could hear for long moments. Time was lost as she found her eyes growing heavy, sounds echoed into a thick muffled mess of the humming in her ears…

Rathbone toyed with the pen in hand while he read carefully down to the booklet on his knee. A perfectly clear, perfectly useful desk was used only for a perch of his elbow as he both read the small novel and adjusted his finance book.

The silence of the room was interrupted then by an obvious pig-like snort. He sat upright, planting his feet to the floor as he set aside his book and paper. The pen quietly clicked to the desktop as he looked toward the window where the curtain swayed ever so gently. The sound of a demonic moaning, ever so quietly gurgling sounded. Standing, he snatched up his letter opener and crept towards the curtain. Listening again, he heard the faint flowing sound of breathing. With a quick movement, he yanked the curtain aside and raised the letter opener ready to stab whoever lurked behind… or whatever it was.

He gasped when Lin fell forward. Her face smashed into his chest as her arms dangled lifelessly at her sides. He blinked, his 'dagger' still raised up high as he had been prepared to defend himself. Lin snored loudly on his vest. He glanced down, lowering the letter opener to set it to the window ledge.

"Lin."

The only answer he received was another snore and another gurgling stomach as her cheek pressed to him. A droplet of drool as her mouth hung open.

"LIN!" He hissed, grabbing her arms and shaking her off of him. Her hair sprang out to fall to the sides of her face. Lin snorted as a hand lazily rose to her closed eyes. She yawned and wiped her chin of drool before she finally opened her eyes.

"…Hn…?" She moaned. She jumped…twice. An angry Lord Rathbone was frowning to her, practically holding her up by the shoulders. Wide eyed, she looked around the room before it all vaguely came back to her.

"What are you doing here NOW? How did you get out?" He ordered, shaking her again when she would not answer, "Do you have nay idea what you're doing? You're putting us both in more danger than needed. You should have stayed where you were!"

His words slowly brought her blood to boil. Lin shrugged off his hands and began a stomping march towards him. Taken aback, Rathbone stepped backwards, never removing the displeased expression from his face.

"You tricked me! You asked me for your trust and then you lied! Where is it?" Though he remained silent, his features softened to a simple curiosity. She stormed past him and yanked open the drawers, "Where is the seal?" She barked over her shoulder at him.

"You'll not find it in this room." He answered calmly before he had to ask. "When was the last time you properly rested?"

"None of your concern." She said without looking to him, spinning around to aim for his small bookshelf… but the spin was too quick. The floor moved from beneath her feet, the walls swayed and bowed around her. Her legs seemed nonexistent as she found herself looking to the ceiling, and then upon the blurred face of Rathbone.

His arm hooked beneath her neck, the other wrapped around her waist just moments before she collapsed to the floor.

"I think you're useless this way. You're going to rest, whether you like it or not. We'll… discuss this another time."

Her lids were heavy as she looked up to him. Wanting to protest, she opened her mouth to speak… only for everything to go black. She snored again.

Clumsily adjusting his hold on her, he lifted her off the ground and moved towards a tapestry on the wall. A small floor button stepped upon, the wall silently opened. Slipping into the dark corridor, he would take Lin to a hidden room only he knew existed.

A blue glow of the moon shown through the casement settling on the white sheets that covered the furniture inside. It had been ages since he last stepped inside, and without the rest of the staff aware of the room it had been left victim to spider webs and dust bunnies. He crossed the room to the sheet-covered settee where he carefully lay her down. She hardly stirred, only turning on her side, bringing her snoring to an abrupt stop.

Scouring the rest of the castle, he snuck inside water for the basin, a clean pillow not likely to be missed from a guest room and an extra blanket from the servant's hall. Unseen with the many hidden corridors and the late hour, he managed to return to the room with the last bundle, unseen. The sheets were pulled from the furniture, dropped into a pile in the corner of the room. No light would be lit, for the guards would surely witness the window's light from their rounds outside the gardens.

The small bed was uncovered as he tossed off the old pillows. Chicken feathers fell from the seams into a messy pile upon the oak floor. He cursed under his breath and kicked it under the bed before returning to Lin.

"Come on." He whispered, sliding his hands beneath her to lift her from the sofa. Lazily she draped a hand around his neck and again pressed her cheek to his vest. Her nose wiggled at the dust from his clothes, only to sneeze when he lay her down into the dusty, moth-eaten bed. It was certainly not Buckingham Palace, but it would be warm enough, he decided, pulling her hand from his collar and drawing the blanket over her.

The small note from his pocket was set upon the nightstand, propped against the dried out lamp, his finishing touch. He didn't move from her, looking down at her as she clutched the clean pillow to her ear. To leave her in a vulnerable condition such as this seemed awkward… to trust her to wake up and not attempt to carry out her plans for vengeance seemed even more unnerving.

Lingering there a moment as he stared down at Lin, he wondered why he even cared. His fingertips brushed the black strands from her eyes. He froze, feeling a pitter-patter in his chest at the realization of what he was doing… Caring for the enemy.

Rathbone sucked in a breath and tore from the room…