A noise crept into my dreamless slumber, which I recognized as wheezing when I awoke. Wheezing and growling and then the sound of something metal hitting the floor.
"Klaus!" I yelled. "Keep him there!"
He was baring his teeth at the intruder with a look of unmistakable malice.
I leapt out of bed and ran for Rhoda, whose room was across from mine. She was up with a sword in hand in less than a minute. When we re-entered the bedroom, the man's face was blue and his wheezes were fading.
"Unhand him," I ordered.
Klaus hesitated for a moment, then released his grip. The intruder fell to the ground, desperate to catch his breath.
"Who are you and who sent you?" demanded Rhoda.
The man held a finger up as if to say "wait", then sprang up from the ground. "Stop!" she yelled, but by the time the word had left her mouth he'd bolted over my bed and leapt out the window. All three of us ran toward it and looked down.
"It's too dark," I grumbled.
"I can still see," said Klaus. "He left already."
"We're going to need a watchman that specializes in magic," thought Rhoda. "Do you have any idea who that might've been?"
"Nope."
"I'm going outside to see if there are any clues. Klaus, will you watch Prince Ivan for me? I can get Sven to let you skip training to sleep."
"That'd be nice," he sighed.
When Rhoda left, I couldn't help but stare at Klaus.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, grey eyebrows furrowed.
"Just impressed, is all."
He cracked a smile. "You should go back to sleep."
"I don't think I can, after all that."
Klaus stroked his beard and hummed. It wasn't long and, along with his mustache, it reminded me of a cat's whiskers. I was initially afraid it'd make him look like an old man with his hair color, but it didn't. With the extra hair, he looked up to ten years older.
"Should I make you?"
I raised my eyebrows. "What?" I breathed, laughing a little. We hadn't had sex in weeks.
"Sorry," he cleared his throat. "That was probably out of line."
