I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed (Sam)
It had only been a few days since the Solstice Ball, but Annabelle found that she had a free afternoon--something she rarely had as the Queen's bodyguard--and she decided today was a good day to take Sam up on his offer to help her.
She hadn't had any major incidents since zapping him at the party, but that didn't mean that Annabelle was going to wait until she made someone have an aneurysm to work on her powers. She couldn't. That would put people's lives in danger.
And there was something else, too.
Since the ball, Annabelle had seen Lasher--and more than once. She'd see him only out of the corner of her eye, and then he'd be gone, but she knew he was there. She could feel that it was him, and she thought she could smell him, too. If Lasher was paying more attention to her, Annabelle had to know how to hold her own. She had to be ready, and she did truly believe what she'd told Simon a few worlds ago--that if she became strong enough, Lasher would come for her and either try to kill her or seduce her.
She wasn't afraid of him. She was just not ready.
So since the Queen was with her physicians all afternoon for her semi-annual health check, and since she had a few other guardswomen in the room with those physicians, Annabelle was free to do as she pleased.
It didn't take much work to find the inn, though it seemed a little empty. Annabelle supposed there weren't that many day or afternoon drinkers in a place like this. When she saw a young woman behind the bar cleaning metal mugs, Annabelle smiled and got her attention.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for Sam," she said. "The innkeeper. Do you know where I can find him?"
The woman stopped cleaning the cup in her hand. She looked a little pale, and her eyes showed clear concern.
"Oh, mistress, he's not well," the girl said. Annabelle supposed 'mistress' had to do with her outfit, which, while not an out-and-out guard's uniform, did have a large pin on the front that was the Queen's seal.
"... he's not?"
Annabelle saw a shadow out of the corner of her eye but didn't turn to acknowledge it. The girl shook her blond curls. "No. I tried to fetch the physician for him but all are with the Queen today, and he wouldn't have it anyway. You might try reasoning with him, maybe he'll listen to a friend. Or Her Majesty's personal guard."
The girl told Annabelle which room was Sam's and that the key she'd put in her hand would open the door if Sam could not. With a sense of dread, Annabelle went up the stairs to the rooms and found the door.