the floor, and Aurora laid a selection of items before her. One was a simple piece of shimmering rose quartz about the size of a robin’s egg, polished to a slippery smooth shine. It lay beside a red silk bag with a gold drawstring top. Another was a broad silver bracelet etched with an indecipherable design; it was hinged in the middle, and just now lay open in two connected curves. Next to it was a small scuffed box that looked just big enough to hold the bracelet in its closed position.
Aurora had pulled on thin white cotton gloves that went all the way up to her elbows, and she tossed a similar pair to Daiyu.
“Never touch any of the talismans with your bare hands,” Ombri said, his sonorous voice making the prohibition all the more compelling. “They are designed to respond almost instantly to contact with skin. Even if you drop them after only a second or two, the damage will be done. You will already be transported.”
“Transported where?”
Aurora pointed at the piece of quartz, and Daiyu picked it upinherglovedhand. For a moment she caught a faint familiar fragrance, as if the stone had been daubed with her father’s aftershave or her mother’s perfume, but then it faded.
“This piece of quartz is big enough to send you home even if you are nowhere near the gateway,” Aurora said. “The talisman was precisely calibrated to send you back to the exact place and time you were when you left Earth. It will be as if not a single minute has passed.” She handed the silk bag to Daiyu. “Put the quartz inside the pouch and carry it with you at all times,since you never know when you might need it.”
“If ever you feel endangered, take the stone out of the bag and hold it in your bare hand for a moment,” Ombri said. “You will almost instantly be home—puzzled, confused, but essentially unchanged.”
Daiyu couldn’t resist rubbing the smooth quartz through the even smoother fabric. It did feel magical, charged with inexplicable energy, although that was probably just the power of suggestion. For a moment, she was horribly tempted to shake the rock into her hand and disappear. She didn’t want to go live with Xiang, an utter stranger; she was far from sure that she wanted to be the means of banishing Chenglei from this world. All she really wanted was to go home, to be with familiar people in a familiar place. To forget that Jia even existed.
If, in fact, it did. If, in fact, she was not still dreaming.
It wa sthe first time since breakfast that she had questioned the reality of her new situation. What was even more disturbing was that she had spent very little time all day thinking about her proper world. It seemed—less urgent, perhaps. Less vivid. She had been so content to wander the streets of Shenglang, her fingers interlaced with Kalen’s, that she hadn’t wasted much energy worrying about the city she had left behind.
What if she became so at ease here in Jia that she forgot there was another life awaiting her in the place where she belonged?
What if she became so comfortable with Aurora and Ombri that she stopped questioning their motives and their explanations?
What if she became so attached to Kalen that she wouldn’t want to part with him when it was time to go?
Shouldn’t she leave now, while her mind was still relatively clear, while her heart was still disengaged?
Her fingers closed more tightly over the bag. She stared at the golden drawstring.
I’m not ready to leave, she thought. Partly because she was curious. She would like to know if the stories she’d been told were true; how would she ever find out if she didn’t let the adventure run its course?
Partly because of Kalen.
Which was ridiculous. She had only known him a day. She wouldn’t even remember him once this wild adventure was over. It would be stupid to base any decision on her feelings for a cangbai boy.
“All right,”she said at last, hoping her voice showed none of her inner strain. “And what
Aurora had pulled on thin white cotton gloves that went all the way up to her elbows, and she tossed a similar pair to Daiyu.
“Never touch any of the talismans with your bare hands,” Ombri said, his sonorous voice making the prohibition all the more compelling. “They are designed to respond almost instantly to contact with skin. Even if you drop them after only a second or two, the damage will be done. You will already be transported.”
“Transported where?”
Aurora pointed at the piece of quartz, and Daiyu picked it upinherglovedhand. For a moment she caught a faint familiar fragrance, as if the stone had been daubed with her father’s aftershave or her mother’s perfume, but then it faded.
“This piece of quartz is big enough to send you home even if you are nowhere near the gateway,” Aurora said. “The talisman was precisely calibrated to send you back to the exact place and time you were when you left Earth. It will be as if not a single minute has passed.” She handed the silk bag to Daiyu. “Put the quartz inside the pouch and carry it with you at all times,since you never know when you might need it.”
“If ever you feel endangered, take the stone out of the bag and hold it in your bare hand for a moment,” Ombri said. “You will almost instantly be home—puzzled, confused, but essentially unchanged.”
Daiyu couldn’t resist rubbing the smooth quartz through the even smoother fabric. It did feel magical, charged with inexplicable energy, although that was probably just the power of suggestion. For a moment, she was horribly tempted to shake the rock into her hand and disappear. She didn’t want to go live with Xiang, an utter stranger; she was far from sure that she wanted to be the means of banishing Chenglei from this world. All she really wanted was to go home, to be with familiar people in a familiar place. To forget that Jia even existed.
If, in fact, it did. If, in fact, she was not still dreaming.
It wa sthe first time since breakfast that she had questioned the reality of her new situation. What was even more disturbing was that she had spent very little time all day thinking about her proper world. It seemed—less urgent, perhaps. Less vivid. She had been so content to wander the streets of Shenglang, her fingers interlaced with Kalen’s, that she hadn’t wasted much energy worrying about the city she had left behind.
What if she became so at ease here in Jia that she forgot there was another life awaiting her in the place where she belonged?
What if she became so comfortable with Aurora and Ombri that she stopped questioning their motives and their explanations?
What if she became so attached to Kalen that she wouldn’t want to part with him when it was time to go?
Shouldn’t she leave now, while her mind was still relatively clear, while her heart was still disengaged?
Her fingers closed more tightly over the bag. She stared at the golden drawstring.
I’m not ready to leave, she thought. Partly because she was curious. She would like to know if the stories she’d been told were true; how would she ever find out if she didn’t let the adventure run its course?
Partly because of Kalen.
Which was ridiculous. She had only known him a day. She wouldn’t even remember him once this wild adventure was over. It would be stupid to base any decision on her feelings for a cangbai boy.
“All right,”she said at last, hoping her voice showed none of her inner strain. “And what
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