The Long Journey into the Night (22)

I carried Trisha on my back as I walked down the corridor. She giggled quietly, as if she were having the time of her life.

“What’s so funny?”

Trisha tried to deny it.

“I’m not laughing at all.”

“Sure.”

“Yeah! Right here… Heehee.”

Trisha stopped me in front of a massive gate more than twice an adult’s height. Grapesized emeralds were embedded in its handles, and rubies, sapphires, lapis lazuli, and obsidian decorations covered it with such tasteless extravagance that it seemed to reflect a little girl’s preferences.

[Azelis’s private space. Absolutely, absolutely do not open without permission! Don’t touch anything!]

She’d even put up a warning in her own handwriting.

When I opened the door and went inside, a pile of stuffed animals filling one entire wall caught my eye. It looked like they’d all come tumbling down if I so much as touched one...