And of course, I had no idea why I was so irritated with Robby, beyond the usual mild irritation that he often inspired.
Trying to get a handle on my emotions, I followed Robby into another secret passage. This one was already lit, so obviously not so secret. We left it quickly and went out into yet another gray stone corridor. Yeah, I’d definitely be decorating this place.
We finally came into a room that had something other than blank stone walls. There were clowns everywhere. Beheaded clowns. Some lay tumbled on the ground. Others hung by limbs from the ceiling. The heads were in a pile. No blood spattered the walls. There was no rotting smells of death, so I hoped they were just weird decorations.
“Okay, can we go back to the lack of decoration?” I squeaked, clutching at Robby’s shirt.
Robby hesitated slightly before answering, a sure sign of his discomfort. “Unfortunately, this is the way we have to go.”
“But…”
Robby grabbed my hand and led me around the piles.
All the eyes snapped open at once, and I screamed.
Robby let out an extremely un-jester-like yelp and dragged me through the room.
The rustling of cloth behind us would probably haunt my nightmares. From the tight grip Robby had on my hand, he wasn’t feeling a whole lot better about the situation.
Finally, we came to a plain wooden door. Robby tapped on it twice and it swung open.
My knight stood on the other side.
I threw myself into his arms, eyes flooding with tears. It felt so good to be in his familiar embrace.
“Hey, spark.” He held me tightly, his musical lilt a little rough with emotion.
Geraint pulled me inside and Robby followed, letting the door shut behind him. Nic and Dio came out of the shadows. Nic put his hand on my arm, and Dio moved in close behind me, his warmth mingling with Geraint’s to stave off some of the Nightmare chill.
“We were worried about you,” Nic said, sliding bits of shadow around my leg possessively.
“I was worried about me.” I wasn’t having much luck holding back tears and buried my face in Geraint’s shirt, letting them come.
After a while, the tears eased. “Sorry,” I muttered into Geraint’s now-wet shirt.
“Not a problem, princess,” Robby replied. “We have time. You should get some rest while we plan.”
I finally took in our surroundings. We were in a bedroom. Nothing as elaborate as the suite I occupied at Dream Palace, but still very nice. Better yet, no clowns.
“Are we safe here?”
“Safe enough,” Nic replied. “We’ll keep watch. Get some rest.”
“I should—”
Geraint interrupted my protest by scooping me up and carrying me into an adjacent room.
“You should take a bath.” He winked at me. “You stink.”
I stuck out my tongue, and he pulled me against him, pressing his lips to mine, not quite quick enough to capture my tongue but claiming my lips instead.
This was one of his soul feeding kisses, the kind that never failed to convey his love and his desire for me.
Robby’s sigh reverberated off the walls. “You’re supposed to be resting, princess.”
“Fuck you, Robby,” I muttered around the kiss.
Geraint kicked the door shut on Robby’s laughter.