here alone once since Leostrial had come from over the sea, and then she hadn’t had enough time to find what she was looking for. In fact, she didn’t really know what she was looking for—that was half the problem. She needed something to prove what Leostrial was planning, to show he was up to something. She had her suspicions, but nothing to send to Gaddemar, and without proof, or even a stray word to report, Gaddemar could not, or would not do anything.
Piled on the table were many scrolls She couldn’t take them all or Leostrial would notice, and she didn’t have time to read them, so Satine left them and looked at the other parchments lying on the table. Most were maps, showing all the lands around them.
Then something caught her eye—a scroll with a red ribbon tied around it. She opened it, and found two parchment maps inside, places she had never seen before. One of them showed the plan of a huge structure and the other seemed to be of its surroundings. There were strange markings on the latter. She decided that these were worth taking, though Leostrial would know they were gone.
Leostrial stirred in his chamber and Satine held her breath, willing him to remain asleep.
She crept out of the study, into the hallway, ran back to her room and closed the door behind her, slumping into a chair with relief. Lighting the lamp next to her, she went to stand, when suddenly, impossibly she felt a hand on her shoulder.
Satine gasped and dropped the lamp, plunging the room into darkness. But she moved quickly, and grabbing the hand, she turned and landed a heavy punch into the intruder’s nose.
The intruder fell to the floor with a cry and looked up. It was a boy. Satine saw that he was unarmed, and quite scrawny. His nose was bleeding and he didn’t make a move to stand.
Satine stared at him a moment before gathering herself and asking, “Who are you, and what is your business in my room at night?”
The boy’s eyes widened in shock and he stuttered, “I’m sorry I frightened you, but I’m not here to hurt you. My name is Harry.”
Chapter 3
On that same grey morning when Satine was sneaking about in the cold castle, and Jane awoke on the side of a cliff, Luca opened his eyes to find himself in a stone room lit with lamps. There was a dressing table against one wall, a canopied four-poster bed and a washing basin on another. He knew at once that they had made it through the portal—nowhere in his world looked like this. He must have blacked out when they landed.
He rolled his head slowly to one side, looking for the others, and saw a crumpled figure lying on the floor next to him. It was Anna. Luca scrambled over, and saw that her leg was bent at an awkward angle. “Anna!” he shouted. He shook her, and realised that she wasn’t breathing. He looked around for help, but the room was empty. He had no idea what to do, and wished desperately that someone were here—someone who might have the faintest idea of how to treat a broken leg. He decided to give Anna mouth-to-mouth like he’d seen on television, thinking that if he didn’t do something, she would die.
“Five, six, seven, eight...” he counted, pumping on her chest, then he blew into her mouth. Anna gave a deep rasping breath and convulsed, but soon she relaxed and started to breathe normally. Luca lifted her, being careful of her leg, and carried her out of the room into a hallway.
The room they emerged from was at the end of a passageway. Luca walked quickly past several other closed doors. It was pitch black. His voice rang out, “Hello! Is anybody there?” As he shouted down the silent corridor, doors swung open and people flooded out to surround him. They made no move to help, but only stood in silence, rubbing their eyes sleepily and trying to work out what was going on.
Luca heard a deep voice cry out, “What is going on here? What’s all the commotion?” The crowd parted to reveal a tall man.
“Who are you? And what are you
Oliver Sacks, Оливер Сакс
Robert Charles Wilson, Marc Scott Zicree