“That was amazing,” I whispered.
“You were perfect, as always, Spark.” He kissed my head.
I glanced over at Nic, and he had his normal neutral but friendly expression on his face, so maybe I’d imagined the tightness earlier.
“You both looked amazing,” Nic said.
Geraint released me and pushed me gently toward the prince. Nic accepted, folded me into his arms, Geraint standing close behind me.
Nic
Watching Ember and the knight from backstage was eye opening to say the least. The connection the two of them had was nothing short of supernatural. The amount of work they’d put in together astounded me. Until now, I hadn’t actually understood what the knight had thought he’d be giving up. I knew they loved each other, but the depth of that connection blazed as they soared together in the air.
I questioned if I should even try to continue being involved with Ember outside of what was required to save Nightmare. Those thoughts gave me a semblance of an idea about how the knight had felt when he thought he was losing his spark.
Robby stepped from the shadows next to me in the way that jesters did. “Are you sure you don’t want him dead?”
“I thought you two were friends.”
“The good of the realm outweighs any friendships, and Nightmare needs a princess and its princes.”
“Breaking Ember to save the dreamlands won’t save anything at all,” I replied.
Robby bowed his head slightly.
“Any news, jester?”
“Regarding Dio? Yes. Ash is extremely clever. I’d suspect her of being a jester were she not merely mortal. We think he might have ended up in some sort of hospital or assisted living situation for adults with mental difficulties.”
“Mental difficulties?”
“There was a case about five years back of a man matching Dio’s general description breaking into a museum and trying to steal something. He was found to be mentally incompetent and locked away.”
“How could you possibly have found something that quickly?” I wasn’t even sure what to think about Dio having lost his mental capabilities.
“We surmised that Dio would have used a familiar arch if he were fleeing, so we concentrated our search in this area.”
“So we know where he is?”
Robby shook his head. “Records are sketchy, which has positively infuriated dear Ash. We have several places to check and the name of the museum he was attempting to rob.”
“Why would he want to rob a museum?”
“Why, indeed?” Robby shrugged again. “I suppose we will have to find out.”
“Do you know?” With the jester, it could be anything.
“No. I don’t. When is their charity event?”
“Next week.”
“That gives us plenty of time to do a little investigating. Hopefully, Ember doesn’t mind being pulled away from her teaching duties.”
“I don’t think she’ll mind,” I said.
The music quickened its pace, and I turned my attention back to my lover and her lover as they moved in perfect harmony together.
“They’re amazing, aren’t they?”