Princess Delilah Explores an Evil Lair
Between Quests
The Former Lord of Grimnight’s Evil Lair
Treating it Like an Inn
The first time Delilah had visited the Lord of Grimnight’s lair, itlookedlike an evil lair. Everything was black, black, and more black, and the forest was as active inside the lair as it was outside. Vines climbed up the walls, twisting over railings and lamps and doorknobs. Roots spread their tendrils to trip and ensnare the unwary. Minions lurked around every corner, towering creatures she’d only read about in books.
As an imp led her through the lair now, it mostly resembled a condemned building. Sunshine streamed through dusty windows, illuminating drooping and dying plants. Dust coated most of the surfaces, thick enough to be ‘neglect’ rather than ‘poor housekeeping.’
“Wahlah!” the imp declared, slamming open a door with a creak of rusty hinges. “Your room, Madam Zelle!”
“Delilah,” she corrected, confused about who ‘Madam Zelle’ was supposed to be. She peered into the room, an office that had been mostly cleaned out. It had no furniture, not even a cot. “Where am I supposed to sleep?”
“Up here is nice!” the imp said, zooming up into a high corner. It curled its round little body into a ball, tucked its hands under its chin, and closed its eyes. Then it inhaled and exhaled with a sharp, phony, whistling snore.
“I can’t sleep in the air,” Delilah protested. “I don’t have wings.”
The imp immediately dropped its act. It gave her a pitying look and murmured, “Oh right, I forgot you were human.”
The words “I’m actually a cat” immediately leapt to her lips, but she swallowed them down. The pronouncement held less weight when she didn’t even have her collar. “I need a bed, and a nightstand, and clothes, and—” her stomach growled “—a proper meal.”
“But Master Wilde didn’t tell me to give you any of those things.”
Channeling Angelica at her most imperious, Delilah flipped her fluffy brown curls over her shoulder and declared. “I am a royal guest, and you will treat me as such.”
The imp groaned and rolled over lazily in the air. “Fiiiine. We can find you a bed. Come on.” Then it zoomed down the hallway.
She chased after it, but immediately lost it after the first corner. “Umm … imp? Hello?”
The imp peered around the left corner and said, “Mimsy.”
“Mimsy, please slow down. I don’t want to trip.”
Mimsy looked back and forth between Delilah and her feet, then conceded. “Walking is tough, huh.” It waited for Delilah to catch up and floated through the air at such an excruciatingly slow pace that Delilah had to slow her own steps, and then the imp slowed further, until they only moved an inch at a time.
“We can go faster than this,” Delilah informed it.
And immediately Mimsy zoomed forward again. At least this time it remained in sight, pausing at the top of a flora-riddled staircase.
Delilah stopped and put her hands on her hips. “These lead to the dungeons.”
“Yousaidyou wanted a bed.”
Delilah peered down the stairs. They were covered in foliage, nowhere safe to step. Even the rail was so covered in twisting vines she only knew it was there because of the unnatural protrusion from the wall. What if she fell and broke her neck? Nibbling her lip, she took one tentative step.
“Stop.”
She froze, foot hovering above that first step, and turned to find Wilde behind her. He’d changed from the skirt and blouse into slacks and a button up shirt, the sleeves rolled up to expose his forearms. Like this, he didn’t look evil, just tired and a little annoyed.
“You should stay on the first floor,” he explained. “The last thing I want is for you to break your neck falling down the stairs.”
“You’d reset time and save me though, wouldn’t you?” Delilah asked, planting her foot firmly on the ground.
Wilde pursed his lips. Then he disappeared without answering.
“I hate when he does that,” Delilah said to Mimsy.
