in impatient frustration.
“What is your, your name?” Seth asked her.
“Thetis,” she whispered.
“Ta-ta-take us to chambers, Thetis,” Seth said. “Do you have food?”
She nodded. She glanced at the Guardian, but when he did not protest, she rose enough to stand, bowing over awkwardly, and moving half sideways bade them follow as she slipped back through the door from which she had entered the hall. Seth stayed close at her side, half-guiding her as she went.
“What did she say?” Chance asked.
The Guardian only growled, “We have not the time for these cares. But come.”
CHAPTER
12
C hance was afraid. They were hiding something from him—even Seth was hiding something from him. He resolved that he would leave if they refused again to speak Common.
Thetis led them through a door behind the statue at the end of the hall, which opened to the foot of a broad, winding stair in a towering, circular space that rose up into an indefinite gloom. Each wind of the stair around the cylinder was one tall floor. Chance looked up: the stairs were lit for the first six or seven flights, but after this wound up into darkness.
“My chambers, the free chambers, are up six floors,” Thetis mumbled.
“Good, good,” Seth reassured her.
The woman led them on. Chance followed, looking from Seth to the Guardian and back again. His unease grew slowly into fear. What secret were they keeping from him? He still doubted he had made the right choice in trusting the Guardian, but he had not doubted, till moments ago, that Seth could be trusted. But here was the coyote speaking two different guild languages and sharingsecrets with the Guardian. And all the while, they seemed to be doing nothing to help Sarah.
Chance looked at the woman. She was slightly taller than him, but thinner, and he saw now that she looked to be perhaps a few years older than he. She tried to meet no one’s eyes, but stared fixedly at the stairs before her feet. Yet, a few times, her eyes of very deep brown glanced quickly at Chance. The familiarity of her black hair and nearly black eyes made an uncomfortable thought grow in the depths of Chance’s mind: are these my people? He shivered and whispered to himself, under his breath, “I am a Puriman.” Seth’s ears twitched.
When they came to the edge of the darkness, where the pale lights above them were the last on the ascending stairs, the woman turned and pushed open a gray entrance that gave onto a broad white hallway, lined with doors. A large window formed the hall’s end, its view filled with the streaked gray wall of a building across the road. The woman slipped ahead, looked over her shoulder to be sure they were following, and went to the first door.
“These are novice quarters. Empty. You can use them.” She pointed timidly at a door down the hall. “My room.”
A table stood in the chamber, surrounded by chairs. Two smaller doors to the left opened into a bathroom and a bedroom. A small kitchen filled the opposite corner. The far wall held a broad window that let in sunlight and looked out on the square where the Guardian had howled the world back into submission. Through a crack between two buildings beyond, Chance could see the blue-black Crystal Wall on the western side of the city. The rays of the sun slanted low now, so that only the peaks of the towers were bright. In the distance two airships floated close to another tower.
“Can you eat?” the Guardian asked Thetis.
“There’s some food here.”
“Eat quickly, then. Feed the Puriman. We must go to Uroboros.”
“No,” Seth barked. He sat on his haunches obstinately in the middle of the room, facing the Guardian. “The sun sets, sets. All are tired. Tomorrow.”
“If the god comes and we have not made ready, all these may die, philosopher.”
“We mortals prefer to, to, to die well fed, well clothed, and wi-wi-with our wits our own. Go easy, Guardian. Let them eat and bathe and sleep. Questions
“What is your, your name?” Seth asked her.
“Thetis,” she whispered.
“Ta-ta-take us to chambers, Thetis,” Seth said. “Do you have food?”
She nodded. She glanced at the Guardian, but when he did not protest, she rose enough to stand, bowing over awkwardly, and moving half sideways bade them follow as she slipped back through the door from which she had entered the hall. Seth stayed close at her side, half-guiding her as she went.
“What did she say?” Chance asked.
The Guardian only growled, “We have not the time for these cares. But come.”
CHAPTER
12
C hance was afraid. They were hiding something from him—even Seth was hiding something from him. He resolved that he would leave if they refused again to speak Common.
Thetis led them through a door behind the statue at the end of the hall, which opened to the foot of a broad, winding stair in a towering, circular space that rose up into an indefinite gloom. Each wind of the stair around the cylinder was one tall floor. Chance looked up: the stairs were lit for the first six or seven flights, but after this wound up into darkness.
“My chambers, the free chambers, are up six floors,” Thetis mumbled.
“Good, good,” Seth reassured her.
The woman led them on. Chance followed, looking from Seth to the Guardian and back again. His unease grew slowly into fear. What secret were they keeping from him? He still doubted he had made the right choice in trusting the Guardian, but he had not doubted, till moments ago, that Seth could be trusted. But here was the coyote speaking two different guild languages and sharingsecrets with the Guardian. And all the while, they seemed to be doing nothing to help Sarah.
Chance looked at the woman. She was slightly taller than him, but thinner, and he saw now that she looked to be perhaps a few years older than he. She tried to meet no one’s eyes, but stared fixedly at the stairs before her feet. Yet, a few times, her eyes of very deep brown glanced quickly at Chance. The familiarity of her black hair and nearly black eyes made an uncomfortable thought grow in the depths of Chance’s mind: are these my people? He shivered and whispered to himself, under his breath, “I am a Puriman.” Seth’s ears twitched.
When they came to the edge of the darkness, where the pale lights above them were the last on the ascending stairs, the woman turned and pushed open a gray entrance that gave onto a broad white hallway, lined with doors. A large window formed the hall’s end, its view filled with the streaked gray wall of a building across the road. The woman slipped ahead, looked over her shoulder to be sure they were following, and went to the first door.
“These are novice quarters. Empty. You can use them.” She pointed timidly at a door down the hall. “My room.”
A table stood in the chamber, surrounded by chairs. Two smaller doors to the left opened into a bathroom and a bedroom. A small kitchen filled the opposite corner. The far wall held a broad window that let in sunlight and looked out on the square where the Guardian had howled the world back into submission. Through a crack between two buildings beyond, Chance could see the blue-black Crystal Wall on the western side of the city. The rays of the sun slanted low now, so that only the peaks of the towers were bright. In the distance two airships floated close to another tower.
“Can you eat?” the Guardian asked Thetis.
“There’s some food here.”
“Eat quickly, then. Feed the Puriman. We must go to Uroboros.”
“No,” Seth barked. He sat on his haunches obstinately in the middle of the room, facing the Guardian. “The sun sets, sets. All are tired. Tomorrow.”
“If the god comes and we have not made ready, all these may die, philosopher.”
“We mortals prefer to, to, to die well fed, well clothed, and wi-wi-with our wits our own. Go easy, Guardian. Let them eat and bathe and sleep. Questions
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