Di’thang turned on his side to see his young daughter lying in the bed beside him, separating him from his wife, who was still out cold. He knew Ar’thilmus had been having a rough time and many sleepless nights of late. Too much was on her mind these days, most of all the sudden reappearance of Shade, this time in the form of a drow. Di’thang would not openly admit it, but he too had been surprised at setting eyes on Shade again; though he had little doubted they had seen the last of him upon leaving Battledale. He was as concerned now for the safety of his daughter and his wife as she was; but he had learnt well to hide his emotions, or better still, avoid them completely.

Little Elis kicked her feet against the bed, grinning her few-toothed grin from ear-to-ear. Di’thang wondered to himself if she had crept into their bed as they had slept or if Ar’thilmus had brought her in as he slept. He had more faith in the former possibility; his daughter was becoming better and better at moving silently and being unseen as she gained years and even with that aside, there had been few occasions that his wife had left the bed without his knowing.

Di’thang put a finger to his daughter’s lips, and she instantly began to “ssssssh” under her breath and lowered her shoulders, continuing to grin broadly. Di’thang couldn’t avoid a smile, and he shook his head slowly, his ice white hair flapping freely over his shoulders. He glanced subtly over at Ar’thilmus, still asleep in the bed. Her long-lashed eyes were closed tight, the blankets draped loosely over her naked body. Her flowing, auburn red hair lay across her bare shoulder and down her chest, over her bronzed skin. Elis glanced over her shoulder, seeming to have noticed Di’thang’s fleeting look, and “sssssh”ed even louder upon seeing her mother peacefully asleep. Di’thang bit his lip and nodded to her, swiftly sweeping her up off the bed and slipping out of the blankets. Placing Elis down on the floor, as far away from the bed as he could manage without tossing her out of the window, the moon elf threw on a pair of black leather pants (part of his armor), checked Ar’thilmus had not awoken, and turned to look across at Elis. The young girl was now playing a childish game of building blocks; creating a tower, then knocking it over, and starting again. Only the blocks she used were not wooden, nor even metal. They were pure black blocks of solid shadow that she had apparently formed from her own.

Di’thang couldn’t help but to snort and roll his eyes.

“That skill is not a child’s plaything, Na’lianaelis. It is an art form, an ability.”

Elis giggled, making no apparent effort to keep her noise low as her father did, her pale golden eyes twinkling up at him as she stated matter-of-factly in her innocent voice:

“You’re funny, daddy.”

Di’thang bit his lip once again, smirking to himself as he moved across towards the bed, looking to where his leather shirt had been tossed the night before. The moon elf pulled the shirt over his head, dragging the material down his slender figure, yet leaving the fastenings casually undone. He suddenly muttered aloud, no longer in a hushed tone.

“You’re awake…”

Ar’thilmus rolled over onto her opposite side to look at him, her almond-shaped eyes watching him in a shade of dark gold. A faint grin crossed her lips as she stared at him in silence for a moment, shifting herself a little further under the blankets.

“How did you know?”

“We heard you, love.”

Ar’thilmus rolled her eyes, brushing her hair back over her shoulder and down her arched back, chuckling softly and wrinkling her nose in a mocking disapproval.

“I didn’t make a sound, Di’thang.”

Di’thang smirked to himself, giving her the answer as plainly as it seemed to him.

“You were breathing differently…”

The comment had the unintended effect of making Ar’thilmus snort and sit up in the bed, clutching the blankets tightly to her chest, her eyes moving around the room to rest on Elis, which returned the smile to her face.

“I assumed she’d be awake… pass me my shirt, Di’thang.”

Di’thang’s eyes moved to the side, casting a glimpse at her night black shirt strewn absent-mindedly on the floor, a good few metres from the foot of the bed. His pale lips curled into a grin, and he turned his attentions back to Ar’thilmus, before pulling a stool out from under the desk beside him, and seating himself in it, much to his wife’s displeasure.

“Fetch it yourself, love.”

Ar’thilmus blinked at him purposely as he spoke the words, and she began to shake her head knowingly.

“And you’ll be doing what, Di’thang? Watching, I suppose?”

“Exactly.”

Ar’thilmus snorted for the second time that morning, as she rose from the bed, taking the blanket with her, clutched tightly above her breasts and dragging along the floor behind her, shooting a mean glare at her husband as she made her way towards her shirt. Only after the blanket had hit the floor did Ar’thilmus notice that her shadow had risen to grab it from her around her. Di’thang leaned back in his chair, watching as she gritted her teeth, the sun’s ray pouring in through the window and over her naked body, highlighting each curve of her slim, shapely figure. With the flick of her hand, her shirt shot from the floor in front of her and literally pushed itself onto her body, and she silently wondered to herself why she had not thought to do that earlier. Di’thang’s frown was visible, but not nearly as visible as Elis’ screeching giggles of amusement.