Jay touched the top right corner of the outside monitor. A drop box appeared. He tapped a couple of commands, typed in a time range, and hit Enter.
The image on the monitor paused before hopping back to the beginning of the evening.
Maelin curled her hand around his shoulder. “I’ll watch the other monitors. You two focus on that one.”
“Thanks!” He smiled at her. “I love you, Mae.”
“I love you too.”
***
Isellta leaned his head against Jay’s arm, but he kept his gaze on the outside monitor.
Time slowly ticked on by second by second.
Nothing appeared on the screen.
No one appeared.
“He’ll come. We’ll see him. Any second now, he’ll appear. I’ll see him. I’ll know him. I’ll recognize my Robin. My beautiful Robin.”
Jay didn’t respond to that. He simply put his arm across Isellta’s shoulders.
“It will feel like the first day of spring after a brutal winter. I might laugh. I might cry. I don’t know. All I do know is that he is here. So, we will see him. He will walk across the monitor and I will recognize him. I will know.”
***
Come on, Robin. Show up. Show up. Show up. Prove Isellta right. Let him see you again. Let him see why you aren’t rushing around this place searching for him.
Even if you’ve been staked.
Jay kissed Isellta’s head.
Let the poor kid see you again. He’s so certain you’re here. Don’t prove him wrong. I don’t want him to be disappointed. I hate seeing him hurt and disappointed. So, don’t disappoint him.
Come on. Show up.
Let him see you.
***
Maelin contemplated a dark shadowy area on the hallway monitor. “I wonder if—”
An intense fear seized her.
She gasped and stumbled away from the monitors.
“Mae?” Jay looked back at her. “What’s wrong?”
She opened her mouth to answer. A scream nearly escaped on her.
He came over to her. “Mae?”
She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, Jay. I—” She looked back at the monitors and her fear increased. She shuddered. “I need to get out of here. Please, Jay. Let me get out of here. I need to get out of here now.”
He took a step back. “What—”
Maelin bolted out of the room and sank to her knees. She knelt there, panting and sweating. Her straight black hair fell over her shoulders.
Jay knelt beside her. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head.
He hesitated for a moment before gently sliding her hair over her shoulders. “I’m here, Mae. When you’re ready to talk, I’m here.”
****
Panic surged through Isellta as Maelin and Jay left him alone.
Her Majesty is going to come for me. She’ll grab me and take me away. She’ll never let me get near Jay or Robin ever again.
“Jay?” His voice was a small uncertain sound. There was no way that Jay could have heard him.
Isellta idly rubbed his left shoulder and tried his best to focus on the monitor.
Robin.
Robin.
His panic died down.
“I will see him. It’s all a matter of waiting and being patient. And I will see my Robin again. I know I will.”
ambroseandelsie 