The Silver Door Read Online Free PDF Page A

‘Oh, Sonia,’ she sighed. ‘What am I to do with you?’
    And such was the rueful affection in her voice that Rye’s feelings did an abrupt somersault, and he felt a flicker of hope.
    â€˜Just trust me, Nocki!’ Sonia said breathlessly. ‘I know this is hard for you, but there was nothing else to be done. We need food, and a place to sleep tonight. Then Faene will have to stay here in hiding, while Dirk, Rye and I go back—’
    â€˜Sonia!’ Annocki cut in sharply.
    Sonia fell silent, biting her lip. Rye met Dirk’s eyes, and quickly looked away again.
    Annocki clasped her hands tightly, and took a deep breath.
    â€˜Be still, Sonia, just for a moment,’ she went on in a calmer voice. ‘You have taken me completely by surprise. I have been very worried about you. I have hardly slept since you left. And now, suddenly, you come back, bringing three strangers with you, and—’
    â€˜Indeed, we did not mean to intrude on your privacy, lady,’ Faene broke in, bright colour rising in her golden cheeks. ‘We had no idea Sonia was bringing us to you. Please do not trouble yourself—about me, at least. I am sure that Dirk can find me somewhere else to stay.’
    Annocki blinked at her, clearly unable to believe that this well-spoken young woman was one of the crude, cruel barbarians she had been taught to fear.
    Then suddenly she seemed to pull herself together. She moved quickly forward, and held out her hand to Faene.
    â€˜Forgive me,’ she said, suddenly sounding far more human. ‘I did not mean to seem unwelcoming. My quarrel is only with Sonia, and I have become used to speaking to her very freely. We began as mistress and maid—’
    â€˜Lady-in-waiting, if you please!’ Sonia protested.
    Annocki sighed. ‘Lady-in-waiting, then. But that was a long time ago, and now we are like sisters despite the differences between us.’
    â€˜Nocki has tried to civilise me, but I fear she has failed,’ Sonia said smugly.
    â€˜So we have noticed,’ Dirk muttered.
    Faene hesitated, then put out her own hand and allowed Annocki to take it.
    â€˜I have known Sonia for days, not years,’ she said steadily, ‘but in that time she has been a true friend to me. I well understand what you have suffered, thinking you had lost her.’
    â€˜I am sorry, Nocki—sorry you have been worried, I mean,’ Sonia put in. ‘But you knew I was determined to get through the Wall this time.’
    â€˜Indeed.’ Annocki smiled wryly. ‘But I thought you would fail, as you have failed so often before. None of the other volunteers agreed to take you.’
    â€˜No,’ Sonia said, with a resentful glance at Dirk, ‘but luckily Rye was different.’
    â€˜Only because you blackmailed me,’ Rye retorted, feeling his face grow hot.
    Sonia shrugged. ‘It had to be done. No one noticed that I was gone, did they, Nocki?’
    Annocki shook her head. ‘As far as anyone knows, you have been here all along. I have tried my best to give that impression, and no one has challenged me.’
    No one would dare, Rye thought, looking sideways at the young woman’s proud, closed face. Annocki was very tense, he could feel it, and she continually avoided her visitors’ eyes. He wondered uneasily how far she could be trusted.
    Dirk was plainly wondering the same thing. He was looking warily around the room, very much on the alert.
    Everyone jumped as there was a blare of trumpets from somewhere below. In a flash, Dirk had darted to the window and was looking down. Faene and Rye hurried to join him.
    â€˜It is nothing—only the changing of the guard,’ Sonia said, raising her voice slightly as drums began to beat, making the panes of the window rattle. ‘It happens at this time every day.’
    In the courtyard below, Keep soldiers were marching in a complicated pattern, the white feathers