Chapter Text
Ianto was agitated. He didn't know why he woke this away and could not for the life of him explain it but there ya are… he was agitated at three in the morning, the birds still asleep, both large and leathery as well as the small and feathered.
Jack was in the bed snoring softly and for a moment Ianto wondered if that was what the problem was then knew that was silly. After all this time, the snoring was soothing more often as not. What was it?
Ianto rose and walked over to the door that led to the children's nursery, both in their respective beds asleep as well. Toto ws mostly covered, a little foot hanging out and Ianto smiled as he wrangled the still asleep three year old back into the bedding effectively.
Kellie was also asleep in her own bed, her feet visible too... on her pillow and Ianto did what he usually did, simply pulling her bedding out at the foot of the bed and folding it back so she could breath down there. The precocious child was still a little bugger at the age of almost eleven. Eleven. An important age in the world of Elvish, even if not spoken of often … Eleven was the age of becoming. In Ianto's' eyes, once his daughter becomes this age she would no longer be a little girl, but a maiden of the wood. After this, he could no longer treat her as a little one. She may not be Mara but she ws still his child.
She needed her own room!
He had tried to explain this to Jack only to be scoffed at, which seems to be the norm these days. They had settled into a companionable reign. Some had come to challenge a bit, argue a bit and some to openly stare. Ianto knew it was only a matter of time before there was another challenge and he felt deep in his bones that it would be sooner rather than later.
He did not like this feeling at all.
Sucks to be right.
He wandered down to the stables under the mezzanine level where the two large dragons were snuggled up together and he felt the warmth of them as he drew closer, slipping under Myfanwy's huge wing for a cuddle, sighing as he tried to shake this feeling.
The little black, Theo, clacked his beak and Myfanwy coddled gently, not opening her eyes bot letting Ianto know he was annoying them too. Ianto slipped back out, slightly hurt that his dragons did not want his attention and started back towards the stairs. Myfanwy felt his disappointment and called a soft hoot but he was annoyed with her now as well. Bugger you! Ianto stomped back upstairs and instead of returning to his husband's bed he wandered the halls of the old castle, listening to the world mowing around. creatures in the wall. Servants on their nightly duties. An argument whispered angrily on the wind.
Ah.
There it is.
Ianto stopped walking to cant his head, trying to pinpoint the direction of the hissing argument. Between a man and woman. Lovers? Angry, that was for sure. Both righteous as they tried to make the other one yield. He began to walk towards the servant quarters, now feeling the escalating anger wafting back, the man now trying to be more dominant in the conversation.
She did not like that and now was threatening back, another entering the fray to try to soothe the situation. It was getting more than heated. Ianto entered the kitchen to find a man with his fist full of a woman's tunic, even as the knife in her hand slipped under his chin while she snarled at him.
"Enough!" Ianto said in the deep rumbling boom only a Dragon Rider can have, the voice that more dragon than man.
They looked over at him, then at one another as if confused to find themselves here. They both stepped back from one another, now looking around and the woman laughed softly, shaking her head as she said to her mate "what the hell was that?"
"I… something in the water perhaps" the man finally said slumping back into a chair "get me a drink woman, then come sit in me lap an tell me again why we want the wee doggie."
Her face lit up and Ianto now knew it was an argument over one of the pups from the litter the stable dog had produced a month or so back. Shaking his head he turned to leave only to have the man finally remember him and call out "Sire? Can we tend?"
"No… no… enjoy one another and forget the anger in the air. Something stirs, something is going on making us all … edgy. Shake it off, I shall do the same" Ianto said over his shoulder, heading back to bed with a feeling of confusion that matched that of dread.
Something was not coming.
Whatever this was that was shifting in the cosmos, the very world around them …
It was already here.