His Black Wings by Astrid Yrigollen Page A

ten pm and all doors are locked. If you ever find yourself outside of the house after ten you may have to spend the night outside.” He smiled but seemed serious.
     
    “The walls to this house are very insulated so you really cannot hear if someone is outside, even if they ring the bell. I myself sleep very deep. During the day it is no problem since there are always servants roving about.” I nodded.
     
    He walked out into the hallway and pointed down to the far end of the hall.
     
    “Those set of doors go to my library and office. You can usually find me in there working. Please do knock before entering.” I nodded feeling somewhat embarrassed that he felt the need to tell me to knock.
     
    “My bedroom is on the third floor. The other rooms upstairs are mainly for storage. If you open that single door there,” he said pointing to a door just before his library door, “…it leads to another small staircase which leads to the tower room, where I understand they used to torture people.” He smiled at me.
     
    “Now we just have boxes of things we need to unpack, but haven’t all these years.” He sighed as if feeling tired.
     
    “Thank you. I’ll try to remember those things.” I said in a tired voice. Today had been very long and emotionally draining.
     
    “Good. Tomorrow I shall give you a proper tour of the house and gardens. Well, sleep well and oh, yes, these doors here,” he pointed to the doors that were right across the hall from mine, “these doors belong to my son. I would not go in there without permission.” I nodded as he bade me goodnight. I shut the door quietly after he left, but did not lock it just yet. I didn’t want him to hear me lock it as soon as he left, but I did want to lock it. I was in a new place and was afraid I would fall in to a deep sleep.
     
    I unpacked my long white nightgown and hair brush and contemplated taking a bath. I was so tired but I never liked the feeling of going to bed without having a shower. I gave into my urge to wash off what I thought of as my travel grime and headed to the bathroom where I quickly showered. While the house was built to imitate many different old architectural styles and aesthetics, I found the bathroom to have some updates. Recessed panels opened and closed easily to store teeth cleaning gels, soft fluffy bath towels and the like. I quickly stripped off my clothes and put them in a compartment that I am sure went down to the laundry.
     
    After my shower I felt better even though I did feel a little warm. It was late October but the fireplace was still going strong. Naza had made herself comfortable on the bed. I cast a quick glance around the room to see if her dog bed had been brought up. It hadn’t.
     
    “All right, you can sleep in this bed tonight you spoiled thing, but tomorrow we are bringing your bed up.” I told Naza as I climbed into bed. She thumped her tail in response knowing that it was not true.
     
    Even though I was so tired, after I climbed into bed, I found myself wide awake. Naza’s tell tale snoring told me she had no such problems. I was not sure what time it was. Without moving I studied my bed’s intricately carved headboard. There were scenes that looked like animals on two legs or dog men in the forest.
     
    What odd carvings, I should think that they would not be conducive to good dreams. Nightmares, yes, good dreams, no.
     
    I was suddenly startled by a loud noise, a bang, which woke Naza up. She sat up and gave a low “ruff”. I too sat up and we looked at each other in the firelight.
     
    “I didn’t make that sound.” I told her as she continued to look at me as though waiting for me to offer up an explanation. I waited several minutes but nothing else was heard. I settled back down under the covers.
     
    It’s probably just my nerves, I had a long day and I am in a new house .
     
    I closed my eyes and began to pray. A little thought like a wriggling fish kept interrupting my customary