AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shivered, guessing they talked about me. Though there were a few other people he could have been referring to, as well. I hadn’t known her name before, either. Effie. It was fitting, somehow.
“She shouldn’t have been able to get out of the containment field I left her in.”
“If she hadn’t, then she’d be dead.”
“Yes!” Effie shouted. “That’s the whole point, idiot. Killing off the Dream Royalty will finish destabilizing this ridiculous place so we can unravel it. I’m tired of life here.” She waved her hands around at the dismembered creatures. “If you want to destroy something real, kill off those performers you collected. They’ll at least bleed a little.”
“Where are you going?” He took a step forward, hand stretching out for a moment before dropping to his side as if he restrained himself from violence.
“I’ve got some other realms to subvert. I trust you can handle things here while I’m gone?”
The sheer anger that made not-Baz bare his teeth and made his body go rigid made me gasp and fall back. Effie didn’t even see, just continued to the door. I’d had enough and looked away as a door slammed.
Robby nudged me aside watched for a while. I sat on the floor and rocked.
When Robby finally made the brick reappear, I had about pushed away the tears that wanted to fall.
“Are you all right?”
I gave him an incredulous glare. How could I be all right? He seemed serious, though, so I shook my head.
“How soon until the others get here?”
“Travel time in the Unconscious realm is variable, as you know, so it is hard to say, but I suspect they’ll be here soon enough.”
“And then we destroy not-Baz?” I hated how small my voice sounded.
Robby nodded. “And then we destroy not-Baz.”
Ember
The wait for my men to arrive stretched until my stomach growled and my bladder started to protest, reminding me a lot of my first visit to Nightmare Castle. I hoped that when I eventually called this place home, I’d be able to make some changes. It needed some color. Maybe not massively bright colors of Dream Palace, but something. Maybe some tapestries? Suits of armor? I was getting rid of that red carpet though. It reminded me too much of not-Baz.
Robby occasionally checked in on what was going on in the next room, but told me it had little to do with our current mission. I worried about the circus performers, but so far not-Baz had left them alone.
I really didn’t want to know and had no reason to doubt my friend, so I let him be the spy and tried not to think too much about anything lest I spiral into panic. I did hope the guys had a plan on how to confront not-Baz, because I had no idea. If they’d wanted me to choreograph an aerial routine about the struggle we were about to have, I might have pulled that off, but the actual confrontation was beyond me.
“I believe the others have arrived.” Robby finally broke the silence. “I’ll go check.”
“How do you know?” I asked just as he vanished. Gritting my teeth, I climbed to my feet and paced to work out the stiffness. I’d been neglecting my exercises for however long we’d been back in the Unconscious Realm, and if I ever was able to get back to performing, it was going to take some time to get limber again.
He reappeared before long with a sly grin. “Trade secret, princess. Now, let’s get someplace more comfortable so we can plan our attack.”
Apparently, he had heard me.
Instead of going back the way we came, Robby touched another portion of the wall which slid open to let us into another dark corridor. I made the darkness lighten just enough to see.
“This secret passage likely isn’t as secret as the other. Keep alert.”
Like I hadn’t already been on edge for hours? Days? I wasn’t sure how much more stress my poor system could take. Not this kind anyway. We crept through a narrow, dry, dusty smelling stone corridor. My shoulders brushed the walls in places and Robby had to turn sideways and duck a little.
The worst was when Robby let us back out into the main hallways. Breathing became my focus as my chest tightened and my vision narrowed. I stared at Robby’s back and followed him, terrified out of my mind at getting caught. Our footsteps on the stone sounded so loud. Even the scuffs of my feet and the harsh gasps of my breath were loud. Couldn’t the beings we snuck past hear my heartbeat? What if they let out the hounds? Surely they’d smell my fear, if nothing else.
Why was I so afraid? We could fight back now. I could fight back. The thought didn’t comfort me.
My shoulders ached with the tension hardening my muscles. I forced one foot in front of the other and tried to keep my harsh pants as quiet as possible. Robby, on the other hand, walked nonchalantly, as if he were out for a stroll. His arms swung loosely at his sides, and I was almost surprised he wasn’t whistling.
It made me want to strangle him. How could he be so calm?
