wouldn’t.
“Be that way, then,” I told him. I wanted to smack him for his stubbornness, but I knew there’d be no point to it. If Lanwas too embarrassed to ask William something, nothing I could say or do would change his mind.
When we reached the ferry at last, things started to speed up some. The adept and her aides were already on board, along with the two marshals; the professors were waiting for me. I gave Lan a hug and a last-minute reassurance for Mama, and went to join them.
As the ferry pushed off, everyone gave a sigh of relief, even the Cathayans. They immediately went forward to look at the shimmer of the Great Barrier Spell, and after a minute Miss Bizen came back to ask Professor Jeffries about it. He spent the rest of the ferry ride talking with the adept and her aides.
West Landing hadn’t put on anything like the show that Mill City had set up, but there were still plenty of curious people lined up to get a look at a Cathayan master adept. The Cathayans seemed unsurprised by it. The one with the mustache amused himself by making faces at the littlest childings along the street until the master adept saw and stopped him.
By the time we got to the study center, it was late afternoon and everyone was tired. Professor Jeffries suggested that we all have dinner, and save the tour of the center and the medusa lizards for the next day.
That night, I had a dream, one of the special ones. It was completely different from any of the ones I’d had before; the only reason I knew it was one of those dreams was because it was so sharp and clear and unforgettable.
I was standing at one end of a large, darkened room. The floor was covered with a thick wool carpet with a complicated pattern in dark red and brown and deep green, but there weren’t any chairs or tables or lamps. The wall to my left was covered with built-in bookcases, floor to ceiling. Most of the bookshelves were full of books, but there were a couple that held little gadgets and mechanical toys, and in the dream, I knew what each of them did and what most of the books were about, even though I hadn’t read them all yet.
I looked to my right. The wall on that side was paneled in a hundred different kinds of wood that made an even more complicated pattern than the one in the carpet. Every so often, the woods shifted into a new design, almost like something living. At intervals in the pattern, there were hooks holding pots of plants. Some were vines that trailed almost to the ground, and some were cooking herbs that we grew in the garden, and some were odd shapes and colors that I’d never seen before.
Directly in front of me, at the far end of the room, was a set of heavy, midnight blue curtains that covered the whole wall. I hesitated. I looked at the wall of books, and then at the wall of plants. Finally, I walked slowly down to the end of the room and pulled the curtains aside.
Light spilled into the room, blindingly bright. I raised my hand to block it out, and the movement woke me. I sat up, shivering in the darkness, and pulled at the comforter to wrap it more closely around my shoulders. The little wooden pendant that I always wore thumped against my chest, and I shivered again.
The dreams and the cold had something to do with the pendant, I’d figured out that much, but I didn’t know what. Wash knew, I was sure, but he wouldn’t tell me. I’d meant to ask Professor Ochiba, because whatever the pendant was doing, it pretty much had to be Aphrikan magic, but thanks to Mama’s dinners, I hadn’t gotten the chance to ask in person when she was visiting, and it didn’t seem the sort of thing that would be a good idea to put in a letter.
After a bit, I stopped shivering. I tucked the pendant away and lay back down. I knew I didn’t have to worry about waking up like that again; I only ever had one of those dreams in a night. It still took me a long time to fall back asleep. Right before I did, I remembered what I’d seen
“Be that way, then,” I told him. I wanted to smack him for his stubbornness, but I knew there’d be no point to it. If Lanwas too embarrassed to ask William something, nothing I could say or do would change his mind.
When we reached the ferry at last, things started to speed up some. The adept and her aides were already on board, along with the two marshals; the professors were waiting for me. I gave Lan a hug and a last-minute reassurance for Mama, and went to join them.
As the ferry pushed off, everyone gave a sigh of relief, even the Cathayans. They immediately went forward to look at the shimmer of the Great Barrier Spell, and after a minute Miss Bizen came back to ask Professor Jeffries about it. He spent the rest of the ferry ride talking with the adept and her aides.
West Landing hadn’t put on anything like the show that Mill City had set up, but there were still plenty of curious people lined up to get a look at a Cathayan master adept. The Cathayans seemed unsurprised by it. The one with the mustache amused himself by making faces at the littlest childings along the street until the master adept saw and stopped him.
By the time we got to the study center, it was late afternoon and everyone was tired. Professor Jeffries suggested that we all have dinner, and save the tour of the center and the medusa lizards for the next day.
That night, I had a dream, one of the special ones. It was completely different from any of the ones I’d had before; the only reason I knew it was one of those dreams was because it was so sharp and clear and unforgettable.
I was standing at one end of a large, darkened room. The floor was covered with a thick wool carpet with a complicated pattern in dark red and brown and deep green, but there weren’t any chairs or tables or lamps. The wall to my left was covered with built-in bookcases, floor to ceiling. Most of the bookshelves were full of books, but there were a couple that held little gadgets and mechanical toys, and in the dream, I knew what each of them did and what most of the books were about, even though I hadn’t read them all yet.
I looked to my right. The wall on that side was paneled in a hundred different kinds of wood that made an even more complicated pattern than the one in the carpet. Every so often, the woods shifted into a new design, almost like something living. At intervals in the pattern, there were hooks holding pots of plants. Some were vines that trailed almost to the ground, and some were cooking herbs that we grew in the garden, and some were odd shapes and colors that I’d never seen before.
Directly in front of me, at the far end of the room, was a set of heavy, midnight blue curtains that covered the whole wall. I hesitated. I looked at the wall of books, and then at the wall of plants. Finally, I walked slowly down to the end of the room and pulled the curtains aside.
Light spilled into the room, blindingly bright. I raised my hand to block it out, and the movement woke me. I sat up, shivering in the darkness, and pulled at the comforter to wrap it more closely around my shoulders. The little wooden pendant that I always wore thumped against my chest, and I shivered again.
The dreams and the cold had something to do with the pendant, I’d figured out that much, but I didn’t know what. Wash knew, I was sure, but he wouldn’t tell me. I’d meant to ask Professor Ochiba, because whatever the pendant was doing, it pretty much had to be Aphrikan magic, but thanks to Mama’s dinners, I hadn’t gotten the chance to ask in person when she was visiting, and it didn’t seem the sort of thing that would be a good idea to put in a letter.
After a bit, I stopped shivering. I tucked the pendant away and lay back down. I knew I didn’t have to worry about waking up like that again; I only ever had one of those dreams in a night. It still took me a long time to fall back asleep. Right before I did, I remembered what I’d seen
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