There was one more door to open before the hall ended; it was on the same side as the library.
I opened it and looked, and a fresh breeze hit me. Another thing that hit me was the realization that what I was looking at ought to be on the opposite side—that is, I should have been stepping out onto the cliff. And with that came the realization that the library ought to have extended far over the cliff.
I stepped through and was outdoors and Loiosh said, “We’re free! We’ve escaped!”
“Uh-huh. Notice how the ground is still wet from yesterday’s rainstorm?”
“No.”
“Yeah.”
“Oh.”
“Yep. Maybe we can walk away and be somewhen, but I’ll bet not. Most likely, if we keep walking we’ll find ourselves back in the house.”
“Going to test that?”
“Yes.”
What I was seeing was just what I ought to have seen when I looked out the windows in those first rooms: the rough, rocky landscape that led to the cliffs, and what I’d seen from the roof: generally flat, not much growing except coarse grass and small shrubs. I looked for signs of Kieron Road but didn’t see any, which proved nothing.
I set out walking away from the place, and after about twenty paces turned and looked at it. It wasn’t gone, as I’d half expected it would be. I walked a little farther and turned again. Yes, it did appear the same as I remembered it, coming from the other direction. Speaking of directions, insofar as it made sense at all, the front entrance should be that way, to my right. I set off in that direction, looking for the road. The house, the manor, the “platform” was just to my right the whole time, and I kept looking at it. It annoyed me to admit that it was an awfully good-looking house, manor, “platform.” It was graceful, with swooping curves, and there was a sort of purity to it. And the windows looked good, as they reflected—
I stopped and looked up.
“Boss? Why does the sky look like that?”
“Just what I was wondering.”
It wasn’t entirely different from the sky I usually saw when I looked up. I mean, it wasn’t like I was looking at a different sky, but it seemed higher, if that makes sense, and there was some other color in there, muddying things up. The net effect was that the day seemed brighter, almost like it was out East—
I found where the Furnace was, and I could almost see it. Usually, you can feel it, but you can’t see where it is behind the Enclouding. Now I could: right there, high above me, east and a little north.
“We’ve gone back to the Interregnum,” I said. “I’d say pretty late in the Interregnum.”
“Okay.”
Rocza jumped around on my shoulder a little, nervous.
“Tell her to relax, Loiosh. We’re getting used to this ‘jumping around in time’ thing, right? Pretty soon it’ll be no big deal.”
“Whatever you say, Boss.”
I stared at the Furnace, hidden as it was behind the Enclouding, until I sneezed. That used to happen to me a lot when I was in the East. I stopped looking at it and watched the manor some more, but it didn’t do anything.
Oh, well, it sort of did: someone passed in front of one of the windows. I couldn’t identify features, but from the gait, I’d have guessed a soldier; perhaps a guard on duty. I kept watching, and someone else passed by the window, this one with hunched shoulders, perhaps a servant. Then the guard returned, or maybe there was another.
It was like the manor was occupied—like it was a place that had actual people, living their lives, instead of the manor I’d left, which, I realized, resembled nothing so much as the empty husk of what once had been or could someday be. I watched for another ten minutes to be sure, and yes, there were a lot more people in the place I was watching, and they were a lot busier than anyone in the place, or rather the time, I’d left.
I turned away from it and continued toward where the road should be, or would be someday.
The wind blew my cloak closed, which was nice of it; the day was a bit chilly.
I dodged a few boulders that seemed to grow at random among the brush, and reached a rise. I could see the road, just where it ought to be. I got a little closer, and there were people.
“Loiosh.”
“On it, Boss.”
He was back in a few minutes. “An ox-cart carrying two peasants and a load of supplies. Some boxes, some bushels of produce.”
“Apples?”
“Not that I saw.”
“Anyone else?”
“There’s a guard at the door. She looks bored.”
“And?”
“That’s all.”
Precipice Manor, it seemed, was a going concern after all: guards where they were supposed to be, supplies delivered, everything a normal manor house ought to have. Except for the minor issue that the Verra-be-damned place didn’t even exist back at the time I was watching, everything was completely normal. No problem. Why should a little thing like that bother me?
I kept walking. By the time I reached the road, the wagon had rolled up to the doors, and the drivers were bowing and scraping to the bored guard. I wondered where she’d direct them, as I didn’t think the cart could make it down to the cave, and I didn’t see a path going the other way, and they certainly wouldn’t take deliveries at the front door.
I wanted to keep walking around until I could get a view of Kieron’s Watch to see if it was there, because that would tell me, I don’t know, something. But I wasn’t keen on running into anyone, or being seen by a guard. I stood there for a bit, trying to decide.
“We could explore, Boss.”
“You just said that because you know I was going to say it anyway.”
“Uh-huh. Anything special we’re looking for?”
“If you find anything that tells us when we are, that’d be good. Other than that, no, just check things out.”
He and Rocza took off from my shoulders again, Rocza flying northeast, Loiosh northwest. I turned in a slow circle, trying to pick out anything that didn’t seem to belong. The wind blew. My hair whipped, my cloak billowed, and I felt like an idiot.
I watched Loiosh until with no warning he vanished. Just, poof. I felt the panic start to kick in, but before it had a chance to take hold I heard wings behind me and spun, and Loiosh was there.
“Boss! What happened?”
“How did you get there?”
“That’s what I’m asking.”
Okay, so, it was like the cave, maybe? Go a certain distance and it loops you back?
“Did you see anything interesting?”
“No. It all seems normal.”
“Good. Or not good. I can’t decide.”
Rocza returned and landed on my other shoulder.
“I want to see what happens when I try it.”
I’m pretty sure she and Loiosh had some sort of conversation, then Loiosh said, “Okay, Boss. That way.”
I set off at an angle away from the road. After about five minutes it happened: I was back near the manor again, about forty yards from where I’d set off. I didn’t feel anything when it happened, and there was no border or barrier that I could see; just one step was there and the next was here. It was the same as when I’d been climbing up from the cliff, and on the roof, and in the hall by the barracks.
“Got any guesses, Boss? This is kind of weird.”
I struggled with the little I knew of necromancy, and finally said, “I think so. It’s like the room. It affected me because it was the nature of the room, not like a spell from outside.”
“Um,” he added helpfully.
“We aren’t being transported from one place to another. The world has been changed, so that’s just how those paths go now.”
“How?”
“Some big, complicated necromancy? I don’t know. And if it turns out that those mirrors aren’t part of it, I’ll stop making fun of Dragaeran cooking for a year.”
“I don’t think you could.”
“Okay, a week.??
?
“Witnessed, Boss.”
Just to be sure, I decided to try to reach the road again, even though I knew what was going to happen. I wasn’t wrong, either. About thirty yards from the door, between one step and another, I was elsewhere; this time, back in front of the door I’d first stepped out of. Maybe I could set off in other directions and see where I ended up, but what would that tell me? And I was hungry, and even if the food was as mediocre as the last meal, I still wanted it. And I wouldn’t be finding it out here. I put my hand on the doorknob, then stopped.
“Boss?”
“If I can’t figure out any of the big answers, I’ll take a small one.”
“Boss?”
I turned my back to the door and set out perpendicular to the manor. I went at a good pace until I came to a fairly large, flat rock, then I climbed on top of it.
“Champion of the Hill?”
“Shut up.”
I looked around, and spotted what I was looking for almost at once. I jumped down from the rock and walked another thirty paces or so, until I came to a neat double row of trees.
I smiled. Mystery solved.
“Boss?”
“Apple trees,” I said.
“So? Oh.”
“Yeah. For now, I’ll take solving a small mystery and call it a win.”
“How long do apple trees live, Boss?”
“Do I look like a gardener?”
“If you keep tromping around out here you will.”
“Why?”
“Boss, you were on the roof. Did you see an orchard?”
“I might have missed it.”
“You think?”
“Well, what else … oh.”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t see an orchard because there wasn’t one.”
“Yeah.”
“It didn’t exist yet.”
“Yeah.”
“Wow, chum. Good thinking!”
“Thanks, Boss.”
“So this is the future. That’s, yeah, okay. I think I’m going to be sick.”
They both left my shoulders to give me some privacy or something, but I wasn’t actually sick.
“Boss? What about the Enclouding?”
“Good question. Uh, well, if there isn’t as much in the past, maybe there isn’t as much in the future?”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
I turned around and retraced my steps to the door. This time, I didn’t hesitate; I went back inside, finding myself once more in the same hall, near the library. Loiosh didn’t say anything, but I had the feeling he was relieved.
I stepped back in and turned left.
“Food’s the other way, Boss.”
“We’re almost at the end of the hall. And waiting will make it taste better.”
“Is that the best you can do?”
“Aren’t you interested in exploring this place?”
“Stay with the ‘taste better’ argument.”
I continued down what was left of the hallway, until, after a few paces, it ended with a small door on the right-hand side. I turned back and tried to figure out if the library on the one side and the nursery on the other took up enough space for it to make sense. This was a waste of time for two reasons: because I’m not that good at judging distances, and because in this place the information wouldn’t be useful anyway. After close inspection, I decided I couldn’t tell, and opened the door. Or, rather, I tried it. It was locked.
“Oh ho,” I said.
“Boss, did you just say ‘oh ho’?”
“It’s like ah ha, but not as exciting.”
I knelt down and studied the lock. It looked to be a bit tougher than the one in the study had been, but I felt like I could probably get it if I were Kiera, or even being me if I was willing to take the time.
I considered the matter, and as I did, I studied the blank wall where the hallway ended. There was a picture there, an oil, not a psiprint. It was a study of a very tall, shiny building in a city I’d never seen: the Silver Exchange, at a guess.
“You know, Loiosh, if I were a secret passage, I’d be right there.”
“Not in the library?”
“I’d be there, too. I’d get around a lot.”
I studied the edges of the wall first and didn’t see anything. Then I peeked behind the painting. The hook in the wall looked sturdy, and seemed to be built in. I played with it a little, and it turned to the side and there came a “click.” I pushed, and the wall swung back like a door.
“Triumph!”
“Yeah, Boss. You’re so smart I almost can’t stand it.”
“Shut up.”
I was pretty sure the door would be behind me when I closed it. The question was whether I’d be able to open it. I checked, and found a lever, a straightforward mechanism, right where it should be. I also made sure there was light, and there was: faint squares, set in the ceiling, emitting pale bluish light. The passage was much narrower than the hallway had been; it felt like a secret passage ought to feel. I let the door swing closed, and pulled it until it clicked.
As predicted, it was still behind me. Was I starting to get a feel for this place? Yeah. Was I going to regret it if I started getting cocky about it? Yeah.
“No mirrors, Boss.”
I looked around. Well. Okay. Then that should mean I could just walk without ending up somewhere odd, right? Right? Well, let’s find out.
There were no doors or breaks of any kind for some distance. Then, just before the passage made a right turn, there was a door. It was locked, and looked to be the same kind of lock as the last, only the lighting here wasn’t as good so I couldn’t be sure. I kept going. It went a long way, then, eventually making another turn to the right, with yet another door before it. Again, on the right, and again, locked. And another long walk, another right turn, another door. There was something simultaneously reassuring and disturbing about the place suddenly being predictable. I told myself it wouldn’t last and continued, but it didn’t turn again.
In the end, it was three sides of a square, or maybe a rectangle, with four identical doors with identical locks. The end of the little passageway had a simple latching mechanism just like the inside of the first one had. Obviously, if I pulled it and walked through, I’d be at the end of a corridor with the wall concealed by a picture, right?
I pulled the mechanism and stepped through, and to my astonishment that’s exactly where I was, except that instead of a picture on the wall it was a small shelf with a selection of wines, liquors, and glassware on it. I was back in the ballroom.
I ducked back into the passage before the wall could close because I didn’t want to have to figure out how to open this one. I pulled it closed and turned my attention to the lock.
Like the last one, it didn’t seem to be beyond my abilities. I dug out my set. It turned out to be easier than the one on the study door had been. About half a minute later I put the picks away in an inner pocket of my cloak and opened the door.
It was a courtyard. An inner courtyard, not huge, but it certainly shouldn’t fit where it was. By now I was used to that. The breeze that came through was cool and smelled like recent rain, even with the sickening musky smell that means the worms have come up for air. Fine, then.
The courtyard was diamond-shaped, with flagstones connecting the corners. Stunted trees surrounded by ferns grew in boxes in the quadrants. In the middle was—
I frowned.
Was that…?
I approached it slowly, as if it were some species of animal with a lot of teeth and uncertain intentions. Was it what it looked like? Yes, it was. It was a fountain, and, as far as I could tell, it was an exact duplicate of the one in the Halls of Judgment that had given me such entertaining memories.
I didn’t want to suddenly lose myself in memories of the past, however interesting they might be, but I did want to know just how much this fountain was like the other. Was it actually the same fountain, appearing
in two places at once through some sort of necromantic prestidigitation, or was it just built to look like it? Why, what, how, and all of that.
I needed to know. I took a breath and faced the fountain, watching the droplets, following individual streams, and—
Nothing. I was a little disappointed, but mostly relieved.
Well, since nothing bad was going to happen if I studied it, I studied it. As I said before, I like looking at fountains. Did I mention I’ve always wanted one? Yeah, I think I did. I wished I understood the mechanism more. I’d thought fountains were always sorcerous, but Kragar, who like me picked up odd bits of knowledge, had explained that the usual methods had something to do with the weight of the water forcing it up when stored in a reservoir somewhere, or else they built the fountain on top of an underground spring—
Wait.
An underground spring.
Dark Water. Water that had never seen the light of day. That metal rod I’d picked up, that’s why it was familiar: a rod filled with Dark Water was used to control the undead, which, of course, was a branch of—
Necromancy.
Okay, then.
How the fountain and the water and the mirrors and necromancy all connected with this place, I had no idea; but there was certainly a connection, and that was a lot more than I’d had an hour ago. I took a slow walk around the fountain, looking at the base. Obviously, the water I was looking at didn’t qualify as never having seen the light of day; but what if there was a spring beneath it?
“What are you looking for, Boss?”
“Really? Nothing. I’m mostly just thinking.”
“That would explain the—”
“Shut up.”
I stopped and closed my eyes and tried to reconstruct the entire path I’d gone through, to hold it in my head. It made no sense when seen as a building, so I tried to figure out if it somehow made sense as a series of connections—that is, if the flow of room to room made sense. No, it was even worse that way.
It made no sense as a building, it made no sense as a set of randomly connected points.
It was a platform, of course. No doubt that would make perfect sense of everything, if only I understood what it meant.
There were benches around the fountain, just like in the Halls. I sat down on one and leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. Loiosh and Rocza shifted; Rocza hissed.