Seven Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page A

any terrain, gravel included, and she
soon caught up with Halavere. Their hostess appeared to be making
her way back to the ballroom, but slowly, and by a circuitous
route. Serena and Fabian followed a cautious distance behind,
keeping a close eye on her, but she met no one else nor did her
hand ever stray to the pocket in which she’d secreted whatever her
associate had given her. At last she disappeared back into the
swelling music and welcoming lights of the ballroom.
    ‘ Go!’
Serena hissed.
    ‘ Egg’s
probably already on it,’ he protested.
    ‘ Egg
could be doing a million other things right now.’
    Fabian thought
about that for a second. ‘I don’t really think that’s possible,
no.’
    Serena gave him
an inelegant shove in the direction of the ballroom. He gave a
deep, long-suffering sigh, but he went. Serena trailed inside soon
afterwards and observed, to her satisfaction, that Fabian had
succeeded in securing Dame Halavere for a dance, and was whirling
her around the floor. He was clearly exerting all his considerable
powers to please, and not without success, for the lady’s attention
was fully focused upon him.
    Serena drifted
back to the punch bowls. She could rely on Fabe to get the goods;
though he was not nearly so talented a pickpocket as Egg, he was
certainly equal to this challenge. She was soon solicited for a
dance herself, an invitation which she accepted, and a pleasant
half-hour or so passed happily away. Fabian danced all the while
with Halavere.
    They met by the
buffet table soon afterwards, and under cover of handing her a
laden plate with all possible brotherly solicitude, Fabian hissed,
‘Piece of paper. Blank.’
    Serena almost
dropped the plate. ‘What?’
    ‘ Nothing on it,’ he clarified.
    Serena suppressed
a sigh. ‘I know what blank means. How can it be blank? Surely it is
some kind of invisible message.’
    ‘ It’s
blank,’ Fabian repeated.
    Serena drooped
over her plate of sweets, disappointed and puzzled. Had Halavere’s
contact deceived her somehow? Or did she know, or suspect, that she
was under observation and had acted out the whole charade in order
to deceive? Perhaps the real meeting was taking place somewhere
else, or perhaps it was already over. What if she knew who was here to watch her? Serena thought not, but couldn’t be
sure.
    ‘ I
think we’d better behave ourselves for the next while,’ Serena said
sadly.
    Fabian sighed.
‘How boring.’
     
     
    On the other side
of the garden, Teyo and Egg were particularly well-concealed.
Teyo’s draykon heritage granted him more than passable skill at
sorcery, arts which had long been familiar and widely practiced
across the Seven — even if their source had only recently come to
be understood. He had cloaked them both in a patch of shadow,
making them indistinguishable from the darkness around them. As
such, it had been possible for them to creep up very close to
Halavere and her contact without being seen.
    They watched the
exchange in silence, and a touch of disappointment. Halavere didn’t
even look at the piece of paper; she merely stuffed it into her
pocket and walked off. Teyo had been hoping to see some kind of
altercation, which might have revealed more about the purpose of
the meeting and the extent of Halavere’s involvement in Unspeakable
business. He was obliged to content himself with the knowledge that
her evening would grow somewhat complicated as soon as she realised
the paper was blank.
    ‘ I’m
going to follow him,’ Teyo whispered to Egg, who agreed with a
silent nod. They tailed the Unspeakable Gentleman all the way
around the edges of the extensive gardens and up to the edge of the
wide lawn that surrounded the house. It would be much harder to
follow him across all that, and he suspected there would be little
point; the man’s purpose had apparently been fulfilled, he had no
one further to meet and no other tasks to accomplish, and he was
leaving. Teyo thought he could be left to