The Consort Of House Marasarah

22

Issy reluctantly dragged her tired body from  the warm comfort of her bed. It was a strange sensation to be tired, drained even when she had spent the last several days in bed.

Her shower was nothing special, and she made no attempt to deal with her messy hair. She simply pulled the mass of tangled curls into a bun. Julienne, she hope would forgive her. Issy dressed in a part of black slacks that were loose and comfortable  with a mixing black button down, she pushed her feet into a of black flats and left her room. No make up or jewelry because she wasn't in the mood and truly didn't feel like making the effort. She knew it was also a petty act of rebellion, but couldn't help the small smile that teased the edge of her lips.

There was a young female outside her chambers seemingly waiting for her.

"Good night the Lady Isalinah, my Liege ask that I see you to the main dining hall for dawn's meal." The female nervously informed Issy. God's above, Issy thought with more than a bit of exasperation, she knew where the dinning room was.

Issy took a moment to study the female's features and couldn't place a name to them.

"You are new." She stated aloud as the  thought came to her. The female's face took on a nervous look and Issy realized how her tone must have frightened the female.

" What I mean to say is ... welcome!" Issy exclaimed with forced cheerfulness.

The female now looked confused. Issy gave up on the clearly botched attempt at a welcome and made her way to the main dinning hall.

The room was beautifully decorated once again with a gigantic centerpiece in the middle of the long rectangular table which comfortably sat fifty-two if arranged right. Issy looked down at her simply outfit and knew she was going to strike a nerve was her mother. God's above and below, Issy thought, she needed a drink. There was no way her would get through this without a drink.

Massillon had been forced to sleep on the plane as they had landed during high noon and the risk of sun exposure was too great to force the issue. Like the creature of habit he had become in the last few decades of his life since becoming Doeshar of his House, Massillon had stowed himself away to the rear of the the cabin away from the rest of the crew and done some much needed work. It's not that he had an issue sharing space with the crew but he knew his presence would ultimately make them feel obligated to make him comfortable and he was not in the mood to be fused over.

He looked up as Markus came away from the dark curtains the way only he could, and fell onto his knees with his head bowed deep. Massillon was startled by the display and immediately put his laptop to the side.

"What is this about Markus?" He asked aloud. His cousin was his personal guard and had been for over two decades. He could hear the uncertainty in his voice, bad form Massillon, he scolded to himself.

"It well pass sunset and we are prepared to finally disembark and I stand at the ready to accept my punishment." Markus statement formally.

"Punishment for what!" Massillon exclaimed. He was barely keeping himself emotionally in check and he couldn't deal with Markus' shit right now. He wanted to be in his own house with his own bed where he could fall apart.

"My liege, I am so pleased to see you home," the deep voice came from the open door. A door that had been opened without invitation. There stood the captain of his Highguard and the male who Markus looked up to the most, Lord Emilio. Massillon forced his features to relax and pulled his mask firmly into place which was ridiculous of course because there was no way Lord Emilio and the two Highguards  flanking him had not heard his outburst.

"Captain..." he began but the male's attention was focused squarely on my cousin. Something about the look on Lord Emilio's hard angular face made Massillon pause in his greeting. The male's eyes were dark and cold, there was quite a bit of anger there and it was all directed at Markus.

"You are dismissed," Lord Emilio declared and Markus rose from his place on the floor and the one of the two Highguards who had entered with their captain left his flank to escort Markus out. The other, a tall blond female, remained at her position. Massillon didn't recognize her, but her features closely resembled Lord Emilio's own.

"Introduce yourself, Highguard." The order was a bark and betrayed Emilio annoyance with the female for failing in some way. Massillon was beginning to understand the implications of Markus' words and the female that now stood before him; she was to be his new personal guard. Massillon stress level went up like a rocket to space as he stood and began the ritual of installing a new personal guard. The female was a bit nervous and it showed as she fumbled over her oath of allegiance not just to his life but his secrets and trust. Personal guards were at their Liege's side and over heard more than their share of sensitive information. It was therefore a very powerful position and Emilio had just promoted a girl who resembled him to it. Massillon would turn over the implications of that facts far more in the future, but his brain couldn't handle the political intrigue bullshit right now. His chest was burning and he expected a call from Raphael any minute now demanding a termination of the contract he had with Isalinah. That was a call he wanted to take in private.

"If the formalities are out of the way. I shall like to be off. I have had quite enough of this plane and wish to be out of it." Massillon piped in as the female was about to launch into an obviously rehearsed introduction. He was not in the mood to play the nice part. She wanted at his side then she would have to get assumed to him even at his moodiest.

The car ride back to his ancestral home was awkward as expected with the female beside him trying her best not to look nervous in the uncomfortable silence between them. Massillon wanted to make nice. Fear had never been his style of leadership because he wanted his people to be confident and comfortable in his leadership. However, he didn't want to do that now, and he would simply make nice another time.

As they drove place the wide open vineyard fields that were the first indicator he was close to home, Massillon's heart finally achieved a resting heartbeat. He still felt miserable but he was home. In the next 20 minutes, he was racing up the grand staircase to get to him private rooms. They were located on the second floor and so Massillon had to take another set of stairs and then walk down a long and narrow hallway to reach them. As the great door came into view the two Highguards stationed on either turned inward to pulled the double doors apart to allow him inside. The doors were extremely heavy, having been reinforced with metal that meant they could take quite a but of firepower before buckling or something like that. The door was Markus' idea, and he had been fascinated with the stupid things Massillon remembered.

That thought reminded Massillon of the new personal guard and his chest constricted once more. He did a 180 on the ball of his feet, causing the shorter female who must had been moving at a faster pace than a walk, to run right into his chest face first.

"I am so sorry," the female  had hit him with enough force that Massillon had been forced  to take a step back to stay on his feet while she fell flat on her butt.

"It's fine!" He stated through gritted teeth. She wasn't at fault and he knew that, but still Massillon was irrationally irritated with the female, and it must have shown on his face because she strunk away from him. Seeing the fear in her eyes annoyed him further, Massillon knew for a fact that he didn't have a reputation of cruelty and the female had been deemed worthy of the position of personal guard of a Doeshar so she had to be skilled enough to take down just about any threat to his person. Massillon was competent enough at defending himself; after all, his father had been a Highguard himself, and seen personally to his physical education, but the idea that he could lay even a figure of the female before him before she could kill him was laughable. What game was she playing at, he wondered.

" I don't have time for this female; get up!" He exclaimed. He had dropped the facade of indifference because he simply couldn't do it anymore. The two guards at his doors clearly sensing the tension in their Doeshar came to stand at his stands. The female rose slowly to her feet, simply staring at Massillon, then the guard on his left, then the guard on his right, and finally back to Massillon. Technically, as his personal guard she now outrank the Highguards stationed at his doors, but Massillon wasn't sure if news had made it back to them as yet.

"I am jetlagged and tired. I will be staying in my rooms for the remainder of the night. I will call upon you when I have need of you. You are dismissed until then." Massillon stated coldly, each sentence a chore. The female seemed not to like any of those sentences; he could see the annoyance build in her eyes and just beneath her features. However, she had the good sense not to air it in Massillon's presence.

"Yes, my Liege."