Chapter XLVI - Things That Go Bump in the Night-2

"I'm going to have my own guard at your door. My very best and most trusted. I don't trust anyone here." ***** I toss and turn on the big four-poster bed. The fire is roaring in the fireplace facing the bed but I feel cold and alone in the huge, strange room. I can't relax. I can't turn my brain off. Besides, I hear strange noises - creaking sounds on the ceiling, rattling in the walls, peculiar whispering and moaning sounds from nowhere. Oh, my God, it's haunted! This old Palace is haunted! I'm not scared. Not really. I'm just...unsettled. Okay, maybe a little bit scared. Just a little bit. Maybe it's not an alone, quiet time by myself that I need. I need some alone, quiet time with Caspian. Only he can make me feel whole and safe. It's pathetic but I can't sleep without my mate. I've parted the heavy damask curtains earlier. The half-moon is bright in the night sky, illuminating the room with its pale light. I imagine I hear some more creaking sound. On the floor this time. "Psssttt..." My heart jumped out of my chest. I swear it did. "Pssstt...Quincy?" I jump out of the bed with a shriek. What the heck? "Penny?" I squeak. "What...How? How did you get in here? What are you doing?" "Oh, Thank Goddess I got the right room," she says. "I was so worried that I came to someone else's room. Can you imagine---" "Penny!" I call out, then I glance at the door. It's still closed. I bet the guards are still outside. "Oh, ummm..what?" she asks. I still can't believe Penny is standing right in my room in her pink silk kimono wrap and a pair of matching pink fuzzy slippers on her feet....unless she's a ghost. I lift a finger and poke her cheek with it. "Owww...what are you doing?" she yelps, slapping my finger away. She's looking at me like I've lost my mind. "Just checking if you're real, Ghost Penny." "I'm not a ghost, you silly! I see Caspian's crazy has rubbed off on you," replies Ghost Penny. Her ghost is as sassy as she is. "If you're not a ghost, how did you get in here then?" I challenge Ghost Penny. "I got here through the tunnel, see?" She points toward the wall. Wow, a tunnel? The moonlight is very muted. I can see a dark gaping hole in the wall where a floor to ceiling dresser used to be but I see nothing else beyond that. "Okay then," I say, still skeptical. "So...what are you doing here?" "Just roaming around," she answers, jumping on the bed. "Riiight...a roaming ghost. Haven't heard of that one before." I take a step away from her. "Just cut it out, will you? I'm not a ghost!" she insists. "Wow, this bed is soft." "You can't sleep either, huh?" I ask her when I remember that Darius is in the King's office along with Caspian and the others. "Pathetic, huh?" she says. I grin at her. "Yeah, I guess...but I bet they can't sleep without us, either." "Oh, yeah. Darius totally can't sleep without me. I chase his nightmares away. I'm like his dream catcher or something," announces Penny, sounding quite proud of her mild superpower. "Now let's go explore the tunnel. It's like we're explorers or something, right?"