Kay's legs were more unsteady than ever. She wished that she could be of more use. But all her remaining energy was required for her to focus enough to NOT drop the two small forms that she clutched to her chest. If she surrendered to sleep, at least one of them would surely fall to the ground and be hurt.
By now, she was so exhausted that she wasn't sure whether she wanted to tell Oberon to stop pecking at her because it hurt --- or to THANK him because the pain of it was helping her to keep moving forward.
He managed to get her in through the back door, and then stood a moment, deciding which way to proceed. Getting her to a chair in the front of the store would be easiest, but less discreet (and also less gossip worthy) than getting her up the stairs and into his bed. This latter choice would be ideal for privacy and ease of treatment, but it would be hell on his back and arms. There was no way Kay could get up those stairs on foot. He was half carrying her as it was.
Finally, he opted for the harder action. Taking a deep breath, he adjusted his stance, and got her up into his arms, letting out a deep groan as he did so. He then struggled up the stairs, each step eliciting a smaller grunt. Oberon took exception to this jerky, unstable progress, and preceeded them up, perching on the upper newel post to survey the progress of this unusual scene.
Luckily, once on the next floor, it was not far to his bedchamber, and he just managed to stagger in and dump Kay onto the bed.
The soft thump of the landing wasn't enough to catch the notice of either Kay or Amadaine. But it brought forth a soft feline mew of protest from Mairead. The small kitten poked her fuzzy black head out from under Kay's cloak, wondering what all the fuss was about. But as soon as she saw that everythig was okay, she contentedly slipped back beneath the warm wool.
Oberon followed, taking position on the foot of the bed. Ceroill leaned against the wall as he tried to get his breath back, and to let his heart return to a normal cadence. Eventually, he returned to the bedside to help Kay straighten out a bit, and to see how bad things were.
Meanwhile he pondered a few questions: Could he tend to Kay himself?; If not, whom should he call? And what to do for the little beasties?