the silver lining …
And nothing happened.
“You miss the silver?” Joy asked.
I shook my head and looked. The rings were on the sea-silver.
Something’s wrong, I thought, but I didn’t say it yet.
“I’ll try the door to my office in the Loop,” I said. I kept office space just to have an extra bolt hole in Chicago—and to let me get downtown and back a lot faster. My office was only a couple of blocks from the big Kroch and Brentano bookstore on Wabash, even closer to Marshall Field’s. Convenient for shopping.
That door didn’t work either.
Neither did the one to my bedroom in Louisville.
“I think we’ve got big trouble,” I told Joy.
5
The Day
Joy dropped the bundle of clothes. She guessed what had happened as quickly as I did. Neither of us screamed. We were beyond that. I went back and tried all of my doorways to the other world again. There was nothing, no tingling, no opening. I didn’t get a kick in the gut from my danger sense, because I couldn’t get through to where the danger was.
“World War Three,” Joy said. She seemed to choke on the words. Who could blame her?
I nodded and cleared my throat a couple of times. “Maybe not,” I said, even though I didn’t believe what I was saying. “It may just be a malfunction in the magic. Aaron might have shorted out the system when he created the passage back from that shrine.”
“That was days ago. Why would it wait till now to blow? Try one of the doors to Basil.”
“Not days ago,” I said. “Less than two days.”
Was it really only that? I asked myself. It hardly seemed possible that so much had happened in a day and a half.
Try one of the doors to Basil. I would have thought of that fairly soon even without Joy’s prompt. As soon as I got hold of the shock of not being able to get through to Chicago or Louisville, my first impulse would have been to run to Castle Basil to spread the alarm and start everybody working on ways to deal with the crisis. It would be a crisis and it would spill over into Varay and the rest of the buffer zone one way or another. Even without all the other weirdness going on, something that major would be reflected in the seven kingdoms. That’s how closely the realms are tied together.
The door to my (now former) bedroom in Castle Basil worked.
I looked through the doorway for a moment, then broke the contact. “Okay, it’s not all the doors,” I said. “I’ll get Lesh. This isn’t a time to be going anywhere without an escort.”
I opened our bedroom door and yelled for Lesh. He may be a heavy sleeper at times, but he woke fast enough that time.
“We’re going to Castle Basil,” I told him. “There’s some kind of trouble with the doors leading back to my world.”
“Aye, sire. I’ll grab my things.” Lesh turned and raced back to the level where he and the rest of my people slept. Lesh was soon coming back, with his weapons—and with Harkane, Timon, and the new pages, Jaffa and Rodi.
“We’re ready, sire,” Lesh said. It had taken me ages to break him of calling me “lord” every time he opened his mouth. I wasn’t sure that I would ever be able to break him of the sires and Majesties now that I was king.
“Not all of us,” I said. “Harkane, you’ll stay here as my steward for the time being.” Giving the job a title would make it easier to accept. That lesson had taken some learning for me. “I don’t know how long we’re going to be gone, but you’re in charge here until we get back.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Harkane was even worse about it than Lesh. Supper had been so full of titles that I’d almost choked on them.
“When we get to Basil, I’ll need Baron Kardeen, Parthet, Aaron, and my mother. I’ll be in the king’s … in the private dining room upstairs, waiting. You know where I mean?”
“Aye, sire,” Lesh said. “Timon and I’ll round ‘em up quick.”
“Quickly, yes, but gently, Lesh.”
“Aye, sire. Ah, your weapons?”
I
And nothing happened.
“You miss the silver?” Joy asked.
I shook my head and looked. The rings were on the sea-silver.
Something’s wrong, I thought, but I didn’t say it yet.
“I’ll try the door to my office in the Loop,” I said. I kept office space just to have an extra bolt hole in Chicago—and to let me get downtown and back a lot faster. My office was only a couple of blocks from the big Kroch and Brentano bookstore on Wabash, even closer to Marshall Field’s. Convenient for shopping.
That door didn’t work either.
Neither did the one to my bedroom in Louisville.
“I think we’ve got big trouble,” I told Joy.
5
The Day
Joy dropped the bundle of clothes. She guessed what had happened as quickly as I did. Neither of us screamed. We were beyond that. I went back and tried all of my doorways to the other world again. There was nothing, no tingling, no opening. I didn’t get a kick in the gut from my danger sense, because I couldn’t get through to where the danger was.
“World War Three,” Joy said. She seemed to choke on the words. Who could blame her?
I nodded and cleared my throat a couple of times. “Maybe not,” I said, even though I didn’t believe what I was saying. “It may just be a malfunction in the magic. Aaron might have shorted out the system when he created the passage back from that shrine.”
“That was days ago. Why would it wait till now to blow? Try one of the doors to Basil.”
“Not days ago,” I said. “Less than two days.”
Was it really only that? I asked myself. It hardly seemed possible that so much had happened in a day and a half.
Try one of the doors to Basil. I would have thought of that fairly soon even without Joy’s prompt. As soon as I got hold of the shock of not being able to get through to Chicago or Louisville, my first impulse would have been to run to Castle Basil to spread the alarm and start everybody working on ways to deal with the crisis. It would be a crisis and it would spill over into Varay and the rest of the buffer zone one way or another. Even without all the other weirdness going on, something that major would be reflected in the seven kingdoms. That’s how closely the realms are tied together.
The door to my (now former) bedroom in Castle Basil worked.
I looked through the doorway for a moment, then broke the contact. “Okay, it’s not all the doors,” I said. “I’ll get Lesh. This isn’t a time to be going anywhere without an escort.”
I opened our bedroom door and yelled for Lesh. He may be a heavy sleeper at times, but he woke fast enough that time.
“We’re going to Castle Basil,” I told him. “There’s some kind of trouble with the doors leading back to my world.”
“Aye, sire. I’ll grab my things.” Lesh turned and raced back to the level where he and the rest of my people slept. Lesh was soon coming back, with his weapons—and with Harkane, Timon, and the new pages, Jaffa and Rodi.
“We’re ready, sire,” Lesh said. It had taken me ages to break him of calling me “lord” every time he opened his mouth. I wasn’t sure that I would ever be able to break him of the sires and Majesties now that I was king.
“Not all of us,” I said. “Harkane, you’ll stay here as my steward for the time being.” Giving the job a title would make it easier to accept. That lesson had taken some learning for me. “I don’t know how long we’re going to be gone, but you’re in charge here until we get back.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Harkane was even worse about it than Lesh. Supper had been so full of titles that I’d almost choked on them.
“When we get to Basil, I’ll need Baron Kardeen, Parthet, Aaron, and my mother. I’ll be in the king’s … in the private dining room upstairs, waiting. You know where I mean?”
“Aye, sire,” Lesh said. “Timon and I’ll round ‘em up quick.”
“Quickly, yes, but gently, Lesh.”
“Aye, sire. Ah, your weapons?”
I
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