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“It’s alright, someone new has arrived.” It was the prince, but his voice was taunt, like he was tensed and ready to act. Danger?

Someone grabbed Riure’s free hand, and Sadiq growled. Probably Ehud.

“It’s this big guy in a suit that looks like WarMachine!” Yes. Definitely Ehud.

“War machine?” Riure asked with a shudder, cautiously peeling her other hand off the cold pillar and resting it on Sadiq’s head, hoping to calm the dog down. “Is that bad?”

“Ruby Actual, this is Ruby Five. Are you there? This is Ruby Five. Please respond.” Riure had no clue who Ruby Actual was, but the person sounded male. Another male. Forcing herself to relax her muscles, Riure let a small laugh bubble into her mouth, where she silenced it.

“You’ve got to admit, that was an impressive entrance,” the princess said, her voice coming from up above. “Greetings, what’s-your-name. Welcome to the place we’re all going to die.”

“Li’ah, stop being so morbid,” Gavril said, and Ehud shook with laughter. Riure couldn’t contain her giggles either, so both of them chortled until Riure’s sides ached, tears streamed from her sightless eyes, and Sadiq was silently trying to decide whether Ehud was having a bad influence on her mistress. Swiping her tears away, Riure tried to calm herself. I wonder if anyone thinks we’re crazy yet, besides Rosario, she thought, and that made her laugh again, which caused Ehud to lose control.

“Morbid? Me?” Princess Liorah responded, ignoring the hysterical pair. The sarcasm coating her tone made it even harder for Riure to get a hold of herself. “Why would I ever?! I mean, we’re trapped in a cave, the only way out is up, where we’ll probably all fall to our deaths, and if we don’t, who knows what ‘lord castle’ has waiting for us. How dare I be less than enthused by our futures?”

Ehud made a choking sound, and Riure finally controlled her heaving sides. She dug a knuckled fist into her abdomen, smiling still despite the stitch making it hard to breathe. Cocking her head, she listened to the prince coaxing his sister up and away. So Princess Liorah was as afraid of heights as Prince Gavril had made her out to be.

“So…whadawe do now?” Ehud said slowly, shifting his weight and letting go of Riure’s hand. She stroked Sadiq’s head, waiting for orders. She wished she could be useful.

“Take Riure upstairs, carino, stay with the group,” Rosario ordered. “I’ll take the back, in case anything happens.” Something clicked, and Riure felt the air grow slightly more tense.

“You always assume the worst of everybody,” Ehud said reproachfully.

Rosario wasn’t impressed. “If you roll your eyes far enough you might find your brains there, idiota.”

Oh, that would be interesting. Riure had never tried rolling her eyes before. She did so now, slowly bringing them up and around, then doing it again and again until she felt she was going to fall over and her eyes were truly going to tug her brain out. A snort burst from her carefully constructed controlling wall.

Ehud wrapped an arm around Riure’s shoulders, guiding her up the steps. She shrugged away from his guiding with a smile. “I don’t want to slow you down. If you just talk me through it, Sadiq can guide me.”

She couldn’t quite tell if Ehud was offended or not, but before she had the chance to find out, something blared from above, causing her to jump involuntarily and step on Ehud’s foot. He grabbed her arm before she could fall.
<p style=”text-align: center;”>And I said, “Hey pretty lady, won’t you give me a sign?
I’d give anything to make you mine all mine
I’ll do your biddin’ and be at your beck and call”</p>
“What, is, that?” Riure gasped.

“It works, it works!” someone – male, sounded kind of like Dancrow – shouted at the top of his lungs. “Ecray Was!! YES!” Slowly the music faded.

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So I’m a little confused as to the timeline here, but I’m just rolling with it. 😉 @this-is-not-an-alien