something about rocks and windows

Having her own room was still something Ember was growing accustomed to. Having spent the first year of her life sharing space with her siblings and parents, the quiet of the evening to herself was somewhat enjoyable. The adolescent princess had retired to her room after dinner and a bath so she could work on grooming her fur, her tail now grown to its full length of luxuriously flowing silky plumage, just like her mother's. Ember lay sprawled out on her bed, a fire crackling in the hearth to illuminate and warm the room from the cold, rainy winter weather outside while she settled in with her brushes and fur oils. With a tug of her tail, she undid the braids keeping it up and letting it flow out across the mattress. Then she picked up her brush and began to brush it out to a silky smooth sheen.

Ember was no more than a few minutes into her routine when something rapped against her bedroom window. The princess looked up with a start over to the darkness outside, cocking her head to the side curiously. What on earth could be at her window at this hour? Sliding from her bed and padding over to the balcony doors, Ember pushed them open and peeked out into the rainy night. The sound of the nearby ocean made a lovely natural melody with the rhythm of the rain, but other than that she couldn't see anything. At least, not until she stepped out onto her balcony. Peering down over the edge of her balcony, Ember spotted a figure down below just outside the castle, realizing she recognized the wolf skulking around outside her home. A sly smile slowly crept across her face as she lifted her paws over the balcony's balustrades to peer down at her viking boy from above, her long tail wagging happily across the wet stone floor.

"You must be lost, viking boy. The bamboo is back that way," she teased him, pointing a paw back the way he had come. A little rumble of distant thunder overhead forewarned of the evening storm getting heavier, and though it hadn't hit yet, it was clear that the rain was going to get worse tonight before it got better. Ember gestured Erik towards the gate, calling down to him in a measured voice so she didn't attract any unwanted attention to them. "Go through the gate and keep to the walls. The guards will be on the east side right now. When you get inside, come straight up. I'll meet you halfway." Was she inviting him in? Yes, she supposed she was. Was she allowed to? Ehhh, semantics.

Ember slid from the railing and hurried back inside, closing the glass doors and quickly drying off her damp fur with a fur before quietly creeping from her bedroom and scampering down the corridor to the stairwell to meet her midnight caller, not caring about her still drying fur clinging to her body or her long tail left unbraided and half brushed. She was just happy to see Erik again.

"Ember Carpathius"