Table of Contents
 	 Title Page
 	 Copyright Page
 	 Dedication
 Acknowledgements

 	Â 
 	CHAPTER 1
 	CHAPTER 2
 	CHAPTER 3
 	CHAPTER 4
 	CHAPTER 5
 	CHAPTER 6
 	CHAPTER 7
 	CHAPTER 8
 	CHAPTER 9
 	CHAPTER 10
 	CHAPTER 11
 	CHAPTER 12
 	CHAPTER 13
 	CHAPTER 14
 	CHAPTER 15
 	CHAPTER 16
 	CHAPTER 17
 	CHAPTER 18
 	CHAPTER 19
 	CHAPTER 20
 	CHAPTER 21
 CHAPTER 22

 	GAMEâ€”OR REALITY? 
 	â€œWel , look,â€ said Ted. â€œLord Randolph is going to poison the King, right?â€​par 	â€œI suppose. If this is our game, yes, he is.â€​par 	â€œAnd then I have to kil Randolph, right? Because the King was my father? And Iâ€™m the new King?â€​par 	â€œYes, what about it?â€​par 	â€œRuth, I donâ€™t want Randolph to poison the King.â€​par 	â€œOf course you donâ€™t,â€ said Laura, relieved to hear someone say something she could understand. 
 	â€œThe King is a good, kind man, but heâ€™s been corrupted, and heâ€™s old, andâ€”â€​par 	â€œYou donâ€™t know that,â€ said Ted. â€œI met him, and he is a good, kind man. And I met Randolph, and I donâ€™t want to kil him, either.â€​par 	â€œWel , of course not, thatâ€™s the point,â€ said El en, â€œheâ€™s your best friend, but you kil him for his honor and yours becauseâ€”â€​par 	â€œEl en!â€ Ted shrieked, and startled them al . He stood up and threw his stick into the fire. â€œYou donâ€™t know anything, none of you do.â€​par 	â€œI made up as much as you did!â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s not what he means,â€ said Ruth. â€œSit down, Ted.â€​par 	â€œI have a good mind to quit right now,â€ said Ted, not moving. â€œWhat do I mean, if youâ€™re so smart?â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s real, thatâ€™s what you mean.â€​par 	â€œBut I tel you, it isnâ€™t,â€ broke in Patrick. â€œIt canâ€™t be. Thereâ€™s no such thing as magic.â€​par 	
 	  
 	FIREBIRD WHERE FANTASY TAKES
 	FLIGHTâ„¢

 	

 	FIREBIRD 
 	Published by Penguin Group 
 	Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. 
 	Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia 
 	Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2 
 	Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand 
 	First published in the United States of America by Ace Fantasy Books, The Berkley Publishing Group, 1985 
 	Published by Firebird, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 2003 
 	Copyright Â©c) Pamela Dyer-Bennet, 1985
 	All rights reserved
 	eISBN : 978-1-440-68444-9
 	http://us.penguingroup.com
 	
 	 For my mother,  
 	 Mary Ann Dean,  
 	 who let me read 
 	 when I should have been 
 	 outside playing softball
 	
 	ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 	This book took a long time to write. I am grateful to the fol owing people, without whose aid it would not be written yet:
 	Brian Davies, Kathy Etter, Betsy Mitchel , El en Trumbul , and David Weiner, who 
 	gave 
 	me 
 	my 
 	earliest
 	encouragement; 
 	Nick Oâ€™Donohoe, who gave me notebooks that the story might not languish in my head; 
 	Gerri Balter, Judy Cilcain, Joyce Odum, Laramie Sassevil e, Joyce Scrivner, and Mike Smith, who prevented its languishing in the notebooks; 
 	Nate Bucklin, Steven Brust, Emma Bul , Kara Dalkey, Wil Shetterly, and Pat Wrede, whose stern advice and kindly nagging transformed what had come out of the notebooks; David Dyer-Bennet and Scott Robinson, who rescued the transformed book from the wrong computers; and David Dyer-Bennet, who cheerful y married the book along with its author. 
 	
 PROLOGUE

 	EDWARD Fairchild, Prince of the Enchanted Forest, Lord of the Desertâ€™s Edge, Friend to the Unicorns, and King of the Secret Country, wished he were somewhere else. 
 	Pretending his foot was asleep, he slid closer to the door. 
 	â€œMy lord,â€ said Randolph, his chief counselor, â€œI beg youâ€”â€​par 	â€œI do more than beg!â€ said Fence the Wizard. 
 	â€œEdward, keep thy place.â€​par 	Edward looked at him. â€œI wil not hear these things,â€
 	he said. 
 	â€œThou wilt if I say thou wilt.â€​par 	â€œI am king here.â€​par 	â€œAnd I am above kings. I am not thy servant.â€​par 	â€œHey!â€​aid a page. 
 	â€œBe stil !â€​aid Fence. The page scowled. 
 	â€œVery wel , then,â€ said Randolph, â€œas I was saying. Could vintners or merchants distil this poison? 
 	Could butlers, cooks, pagesâ€â€”the page looked up, pleasedâ€”â€œknow its secret? Thou,â€ he said to Fence, â€œtaught me the use of my wits. Now where are thine?â€​par 	Fence stood up, and as the folds of his robe fel into place he seemed suddenly to dwarf the room. â€œIf mine are addled,â€ he said, â€œI must needs make do with thine. 
 	Make thine work for me.â€ He fixed Randolph with piercing blue eyes, and the counselor looked suddenly blank. 
 	
 	â€œI know the truth,â€​hispered the page. 
 	â€œSilence, varlet!â€ said Edward, and was pleased to see the pageâ€™s eyes widen. 
 	â€œI know the truth,â€ said Randolph. â€œI do not need my wits to discover it. And knowing it already, how can I tel thee in what way thou shouldst work thy wits to discover it thyself?â€​par 	â€œTel me this truth, then,â€​aid Fence. 
 	The page tugged at the Kingâ€™s sleeve and whispered, â€œYour crownâ€™s slipping.â€ Edward pushed the crown farther back on his sweaty head. Was it so hot in the room? 
 	â€œNo, indeed I shal not,â€ said Randolph. â€œI would not betray thy teaching thus. How many times, knowing the truth thyself, hast thou made me dig it out for myself? Can I do less for thee?â€​par 	â€œDo you know,â€ said Fence to Randolph, â€œwhy I did thus?â€​par 	â€œI do,â€ said Randolph. â€œIt was that I might believe the truth when I saw it. For truth hath shapes strange and terrible.â€​par 	â€œAnd this truth,â€ said Fence, â€œa most terrible one.â€​par 	â€œSay it,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	â€œRandolph,â€ said Fence, â€œyou have betrayed al I ever taught you; you have betrayed your liege lord and your solemn word; you have done this besides with the lowest and cruelest of al weapons, a weapon of cowards. You poisoned King Wil iam.â€​par 	
 	â€œI have said I wil not listen to this!â€​houted Edward. 
 	â€œWel done,â€​aid Randolph to Fence. 
 	â€œWhat?â€​aid Edward. 
 	â€œWil you set a trial, my lord,â€ said Randolph, â€œorâ€”â€​par 	â€œA trial is a cowardâ€™s weapon also,â€ said Edward, loosening his sword in its sheath. 
 	â€œMy lord, have a mind for your cloak,â€ said the page. 
 	Edward unfastened it, and the page took it from his shoulders and folded it. 
 	Randolph took off his own and dropped it onto the floor. 
 	He and Fence looked at each other. â€œYou can do no good here,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	The wizard nodded and turned to go. 
 	â€œWhat about his ring?â€​emanded the page. 
 	â€œBe quiet!â€​aid Edward. 
 	â€œBut he forgotâ€”â€​par 	In the distance a bel rang. 
 	â€œHel !â€​aid Randolph. â€œThatâ€™s lunch.â€​par 	â€œYou forgot to take his ring of sorcery and kick him out of the guild of wizards!â€​aid the page fiercely. 
 	â€œEl en,â€ said Randolph, â€œno matter what anybody forgets, you shut up. Youâ€™re only a page and we can hang you for mouthing off, okay?â€​par 	â€œYou try it!â€ said El en. She pul ed off her velvet cap and shook out her cloud of black hair. In the hat she had looked very like a page. Without it, thought Edward, she looked like someone who would grow up to be a witch. 
 	
 	â€œIâ€™d love to,â€ said Fence, struggling out of his robe. â€œBut weâ€™d be late for lunch.â€​par 	â€œThis is it, then, isnâ€™t it?â€ said Edward. â€œThe plane leaves at two-thirty.â€ He pul ed at his crown, which came damply apart in his hands. 
 	â€œAnd you stil didnâ€™t get it right,â€ said El en. 
 	â€œYou ought to let Ted do Fence, Patrick, and you be Prince Edward.â€​par 	â€œI am Prince Edward, and I want to be him in this part,â€​aid Ted. â€œEspecial y in this part.â€​par 	â€œOh, al right.â€​par 	â€œSo this is it,â€ said Patrick, cramming Fenceâ€™s robe under his arm. 
 	â€œAnd you stil didnâ€™t get it right,â€ said El en. 
 	â€œAnd neither did Ruth. Randolph is supposed to be resigned, Ruthie, and you just sounded bored. And Ted, Edward is much more shocked than that; you just sounded like somebodyâ€™s put a frog in your bed, not likeâ€”â€​par 	â€œEl ie, stop that, please,â€ said Ruth, picking up Randolphâ€™s cloak again. Being fifteen to El enâ€™s twelve, and having the same wild hair and green eyes, she looked like a witch already, no matter how inspired a Randolph she could do. â€œWhen youâ€™re grown up and directing plays,â€​he told El en, like a sorcerer lecturing her apprentice, â€œyou can fuss at people like that. Until then, cut it out.â€​par 	The bel rang again. 
 	â€œNext summer,â€​aid Patrick, â€œwe shouldâ€”â€​par 	Laura stuck her head into the doorway of the barn. Ted looked at his sister in despair. Her braids were coming undone. She would never look like a witch. 
 	â€œWil you guys come on?â€ she said. She looked at what Patrick had under his arm and added, â€œYour mother just started wondering what happened to that sheet.â€​par 	â€œTook her long enough,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œNext summer,â€ said Patrick to Laura, â€œ you can be a page. She talks too much.â€​par 	â€œHey!â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Laura, â€œit might be better than being a dead king. Lying there waiting for the worms to come.â€​par 	â€œLaurie, for goodnessâ€™ sake, you donâ€™t have to wait for the worms to come,â€ said Ruth. â€œDead people donâ€™t, you know.â€​par 	â€œHow do you know?â€ demanded El en. â€œYou ever been dead?â€​par 	â€œWe could embalm you,â€ said Patrick to Laura. 
 	â€œTheyâ€™d leave you alone then.â€​par 	â€œEmbalmingâ€™s barbaric,â€ said Ruth. â€œThe Secret Country is more civilized than that.â€​par 	â€œCivilized!â€ said Patrick. â€œThey donâ€™t even have machines!â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t want to be embalmed,â€ said Laura hastily. â€œIâ€™d rather wait for the worms.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t think youâ€™d make a good page,â€
 	said El en. â€œI like to be impudent, so I make a good page, but you only like to be a mouse, which is better for a dead king, real y.â€​par 	
 	â€œOn the other hand,â€ said Patrick, â€œitâ€™d be good for her to be impudent once in a while. Next summerâ€”â€​par 	Laura seemed to feel that she was on El enâ€™s side and that she did not want to hear any more about this. She asked El en, â€œHowâ€™d it go?â€​par 	â€œThey messed it up,â€ said El en. â€œThey forgot that we decided that Fence is Edwardâ€™s servant, and they forgot to take Randolphâ€™s ring away, andâ€”â€​par 	â€œNext summer,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s eat,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œShut up, brat,â€ said Ted, throwing the remains of Edwardâ€™s crown at her. 
 	â€œIâ€™m hungry!â€​par 	â€œMe too,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œNext summer,â€ said Ruth, giving in and turning for the door, â€œweâ€™l do it right.â€​par 	
 CHAPTER 1

 	WHOâ€™S done what now?â€ â€œLaura. In the two weeks that that child has been hereâ€”â€​par 	Â 
 	â€œEight days.â€​par 	â€œIn the eight days that seem like two weeks that that child has been here, she has broken four cereal bowls, two mugs, three plates, a mirror, a Waterford bowl, two pots with plants, three pots without plantsâ€”â€​par 	Their voices came clearly through the closed door of the study. Laura crouched further behind the Japanese screen they kept in the hal . Three cereal bowls, she thought. 
 	â€œâ€”and, just now, the stained-glass window in the bathroom.â€​par 	â€œWhere is she?â€​sked her uncle. 
 	â€œI donâ€™t know.â€​par 	â€œDid she run? Poor kid.â€​par 	â€œPoor kid?â€ Her auntâ€™s voice rose to a squeak in the way her motherâ€™s would when you said something sil y. But her mother would not think that her uncle was being sil y. 
 	â€œSheâ€™s also cut herself picking up al the pieces,â€ said her uncle. â€œAnd fal en down the front stairs twice. Not to mention cracking her head onâ€”â€​par 	â€œAnd she wonâ€™t let me cut her hair.â€​par 	Maddeningly, at this most important point, her uncle lowered his voice to answer. Laura, wondering if she dared to stand right at the door and listen, put her head around the edge of the screen and saw her older brother standing in the middle of the hal . He looked disgusted. 
 	â€œTed!â€ she hissed. To her great satisfaction, he jumped and looked around in the wrong direction before he spotted her on the floor. He came and leaned against the wal next to her. 
 	â€œJenâ€™s up crying in the bathroom,â€ he said, just above a whisper. â€œShe liked that window.â€​par 	â€œIt was an ugly window,â€ whispered Laura, who had liked it too. 
 	â€œHow did you break it when itâ€™s up so high?â€​par 	â€œThere was a wasp.â€​par 	â€œI told you, you want something kil ed, come and get me.â€​par 	â€œI can kil my own wasps!â€​par 	â€œTheyâ€™l kil you, â€ said Ted, pointing at the door of the study, â€œif you break anything else. Theyâ€™l put you in an orphanage for the summer.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™m not an orphan.â€​par 	â€œYou are for the summer.â€​par 	â€œSo are you! If I go youâ€™re coming with me!â€​par 	â€œYou donâ€™t have to go if youâ€™d justâ€”â€​par 	â€œTheyâ€™l hear you,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œTheyâ€™re talking too loud themselves,â€ said Ted. 
 	They listened again. 
 	â€œI know her parents are in Australia, I know she misses them, I know sheâ€™s shy, I know she doesnâ€™t get along with our kids. Does that mean she can turn the whole house into a wreck and kil herselfâ€”and probably usâ€”in the process?â€​par 	â€œAl Iâ€™m trying to sayâ€”â€​par 	â€œShe wants to cut my hair,â€ said Laura, watching Ted try to catch what her uncle was saying. Her uncle had lowered his voice again. 
 	â€œWhat good would that do?â€ said Ted absently, his eyes on the study door. 
 	â€œShe says it makes me look like a waif.â€​par 	â€œBe quiet a minute,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œItâ€™s her own fault. She canâ€™t braid hair,â€
 	said Laura. Ted squinted at the door. â€œWhatâ€™s a waif?â€​he asked him. 
 	â€œA beggar child. Youâ€™ve been one in the Secret, donâ€™t you remember?â€ said Ted, stil looking at the door. 
 	â€œI donâ€™t look like a waif.â€​par 	Ted final y looked at her. â€œIt wouldnâ€™t hurt you to cut it,â€ he said. â€œJen says it takes you forever to wash it.â€​par 	Laura was stung. â€œWhose side are you on anyway?â€​par 	â€œIâ€™m not on anybodyâ€™s side, I just talked to Jen. We have to live here, you know. Jenâ€™s al right; she asks us to play tag.â€​par 	So what, thought Laura. â€œI hate tag.â€​par 	â€œSo do I, dimwit. Thatâ€™s not the point.â€​par 	
 	â€œYes it is. Itâ€™s a stupid game. Al their games are stupid.â€​par 	â€œWhy donâ€™t you let them cut your hair?â€ said Ted. â€œItâ€™l grow again.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™m a princess,â€ said Laura, who had never had her hair cut and was not about to entrust the process to people who talked about her the way her aunt and uncle did. 
 	â€œNot this summer youâ€™re not a princess. Come on, Laurie.â€​par 	â€œNo.â€​aura forgot to whisper. 
 	â€œShut up,â€​aid Ted. 
 	They both shut up, but the voices in the study went on. Ted sat down on the floor and scowled at Laura, who scowled back. 
 	â€œYouâ€™ve got to do something. Theyâ€™re real y mad.â€​par 	â€œI canâ€™t help it if I break things.â€​par 	â€œBut you can cut your hair. Then theyâ€™l see you want to be nice.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t want to be nice. I donâ€™t like them and I want to go home.â€​par 	â€œWel , so do I. Youâ€™l just make it worse if you donâ€™t like them. Come on. Letâ€™s go in the study and tel them youâ€™l cut your hair. Then they wonâ€™t be so mad about the window.â€ He studied her with a look she had not seen since last summer, and his voice became formal. â€œYou could do it for a penance.â€​par 	That was too much. You did penance for things like murder not for breaking a window when you hadnâ€™t meant to. Laura jumped to her feet, crying â€œLeave me alone!â€ and bumped her elbow on the screen, which tilted dangerously. She put her hands out to catch it. Ted, who was quicker, had already caught the screen, but he pushed it right into them. The taut paper gave suddenly with a horrible popping tear; the screen, trailing shreds, crashed past a shocked Ted to the floor of the hal , and their aunt flung the study door open and caught them in the wreckage. 
 	Â 
 	The problem was that they were staying with the wrong cousins. Ted and Laura had been spending summers with the Carrol cousins for as long as they could remember, and probably, said Laura, longer. They had never stayed with the Barretts before and they didnâ€™t want to. 
 	The worst of it was that there was real y nothing wrong with the Barretts. Tommy was too little to bother anybody. 
 	Jennifer was almost Lauraâ€™s age and delighted in letting guests have their way. David wouldnâ€™t talk to them, but he wouldnâ€™t talk to anybody else either, and he let Ted read his books. Katie was seventeen and presumably too old to bother with cousins of fourteen and eleven, but she had some of the best books they had ever read, and she didnâ€™t care who read them as long as they were given back in one piece. Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jim, as other peopleâ€™s parents went, were bearable. 
 	The Barretts were very good people with whom to spend a nice, ordinary summer playing tag and hide-and-seek and red light, green light and watching television. But Ted and Laura had never spent a summer like that in their lives, and hadnâ€™t wanted to, and didnâ€™t like it. The Secret had grown every year with Ruth and El en and Patrick, and after a whole winter of deprivation, they wanted to get back to it. 
 	
 	Besides, Jennifer and David were never very enthusiastic about playing anything, even when they suggested it themselves. Worse yet, they objected to snide remarks about the television shows they watched. Ted and Laura came from a family in which a television show that could wring fifteen minutes of silence from its audience was rare and valuable. The reverent attitude of Jennifer and David bewildered them. 
 	But they were stuck with Jennifer and David, because the right cousins had moved to Australia and Ted and Lauraâ€™s parents had gone to visit them for the summer. 
 	It cost too much to let Ted and Laura go too. 
 	Ted and Laura did not even have the solace of letters from their cousins. They had tried to write to them. Laura had suggested doing it in the alphabet of the Secret Country. They excitedly got out their key sheet, which contained not only English and Secret Country alphabets, but the Sorcerous Letters and the Runes of the Eight Ghostly Kings. They tackled the date and â€œDear Ruth, El en, and Patrick,â€ with great satisfaction. But then they looked blankly at each other. What was there to say? They felt that the Secret was not a subject to be trusted to the mails, and they had nothing else to say that was of any interest to their cousins, or indeed to themselves. So they ceremoniously burned the unfinished letter, which gave them a melancholy sort of pleasure and got them into trouble with their aunt, and gloomed through the long days, which gave them no pleasure at al . 
 	And now this. Laura had broken things al the eleven years of her life, but nobody had ever been so upset about it as the Barretts were. 
 	
 	Their upset this time extended only to sending Laura to the room she shared with Jennifer, and Ted to the one he had to himself. Laura, feeling certain that this was only a method of getting her and Ted out of the way until a suitable punishment could be devised, became reckless and sneaked along to Tedâ€™s room as soon as her auntâ€™s footsteps went away down the stairs. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s the good of having things if they break?â€​he demanded of her brother. 
 	Ted was reading, as usual. He turned a page, and Laura sighed. 
 	â€œMom doesnâ€™t scream when I break something.â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™ve never broken so many things before.â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said Laura, putting her hand flat down in the middle of his book, â€œI canâ€™t help it.â€​par 	â€œYou could be more careful,â€ said Ted, pul ing his book out from under her hand. 
 	â€œI am careful!â€​par 	â€œSo how come you break so many things?â€ Ted asked the book. 
 	â€œTheyâ€™re always in the way,â€ said Laura sul enly. 
 	She did not know how she broke so many things. It was much more as if they broke themselves. 
 	â€œSo are you,â€​aid Ted. â€œAlways.â€​par 	â€œWel , I donâ€™t have anything to do!â€ said Laura, furious. 
 	â€œRead,â€​aid Ted, and went on doing so. 
 	â€œIâ€™ve read al the ones I can. The words in the rest of them are too hard.â€​par 	â€œLaurie!â€ yel ed Jennifer from downstairs. â€œMom says you can come play tag.â€​par 	 â€œIâ€™m too hot!â€​ shrieked Laura. 
 	The back door banged. 
 	â€œWould you read to me?â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œIâ€™m in the middle of the book. You wouldnâ€™t understand anything. You donâ€™t like the way I read anyway.â€ He did not say, â€œGo away and leave me alone,â€​ut Laura knew he wanted to. 
 	â€œTag is a penance,â€​he said. 
 	â€œSo go play.â€​par 	Laura went resignedly downstairs and outside. It was very hot and bright and stuffy. 
 	There was no one in the backyard, so she started around to the front. There were lilac bushes al along one side of the house, in which they were not supposed to play. The bushes would have made a fine Green Caves for the Secret, but here it didnâ€™t matter. As Laura came around the corner of the house, she heard people talking among the bushes. 
 	â€œWhat did she say?â€​par 	â€œThere are spies among us.â€​par 	Laura pushed her hair away from her ears. Something in their voices was familiar to her. 
 	â€œWho are they?â€​par 	â€œThis place is probably bugged.â€ Laura moved guiltily away, but only a few steps. It was Jennifer and David talking, but she had never heard them sound like this. 
 	
 	â€œSo speak crookedly,â€​aid Jennifer. 
 	â€œThey are those who eat and sleep with us and share our bathing place.â€​par 	â€œWhere are they from?â€​par 	â€œI fear the Imperium.â€​par 	â€œWel , then, letâ€™s tel the captain.â€​par 	â€œShe may be one of them.â€​par 	â€œNonsense!â€​aid Jennifer, in her own voice. 
 	â€œSheâ€™s shown them documents,â€​aid David. 
 	â€œSheâ€™d never betray us,â€ said Jennifer; once more her voice had the quality Laura had found familiar. 
 	Now she recognized it. Ted had just used it to suggest she do a penance. They were playing: not this business of running around and hiding for no reason, but a real play, with parts. 
 	â€œThe documents had red covers,â€​aid David. 
 	â€œOh, no!â€ said Jennifer. â€œNot the plans for the black-hole gun!â€​par 	Laura went tearing into the house and back up to Tedâ€™s room, banging doors. She skidded on a braided rug in the upstairs hal , but caught herself on the edge of Tedâ€™s door. 
 	 â€œTed!â€​
 	â€œWhatâ€™s wrong?â€​par 	â€œTheyâ€™ve got a secret too!â€​par 	Ted put his book down. â€œQuit yel ing. How do you know?â€​par 	
 	Laura told him. Ted shrugged. â€œProbably just some s-f show they saw on TV.â€ Laura hauled him down to the side of the house. 
 	â€œThe crew al love her,â€ said Jennifer earnestly, out of the bushes. â€œIf we put it to the vote she wil go free and the spies wil be able to work their wil unchecked.â€​par 	â€œNo doubt,â€ said David, â€œwe can think ofâ€”we can 
 	devise 
 	other 
 	means 
 	to 
 	rid 
 	ourselves 
 	of
 	thisâ€”thisâ€”maggot.â€​par 	â€œWe could hireâ€”â€​egan Jennifer. 
 	â€œHirelings talk,â€ said David. â€œWeâ€™l have to do it ourselves.â€​par 	Laura looked at Tedâ€™s face and was satisfied. There was a note in Davidâ€™s voice that told her a scene had just ended. Ted had heard it too. They crept around the house, eased themselves up the creaky steps of the porch, and went back to Tedâ€™s room. 
 	â€œHow can they have a secret?â€​emanded Laura. 
 	â€œAl that tag was just for us,â€ said Ted. Laura looked at him and was alarmed as wel as puzzled. She had not seen Ted look so worried since two summers ago, when they lost El en in the Thorn Forest during the Secret. They had almost had to ask their parents for help, and they would never have been able to explain what they were up to. 
 	â€œWe shouldnâ€™t be here,â€​aid Ted now. 
 	â€œWhat?â€​par 	â€œWe couldnâ€™t work our Secret with a lot of strange kids around.â€​par 	Laura was horrified. â€œNo, we couldnâ€™t.â€​par 	
 	â€œWeâ€™l have to keep out of their way,â€​aid Ted. 
 	Laura showed her teeth at him. â€œItâ€™s not fair. 
 	Itâ€™s bad enough we have to be in this place al summer and not have any Secret, without having to keep out of the way and have any fun, either.â€ That was more horrifying than interfering with somebodyâ€™s secret. 
 	â€œYou donâ€™t like tag anyway.â€​par 	â€œBut if they donâ€™t like tag we couldâ€”â€​par 	â€œWould you let them in our Secret?â€​par 	â€œNo!â€​par 	â€œWel , then.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s not fair. Tagâ€™s better than nothing.â€​par 	â€œLaurie,â€​aid Ted in a way he had. 
 	Laura looked at the rug. 
 	â€œIt wonâ€™t be so bad,â€ said Ted, as comfortingly as he could. â€œIt didnâ€™t sound like a real y good Secret, you know.â€ Laura was not comforted. Ted hardly ever tried to comfort her, so he was no good at it; anyway, she could tel that he could not see anything to be comforting about. 
 	She looked at him, trying to decide whether to hit him or to start crying. 
 	â€œLook,â€ said Ted desperately. â€œDo you want to go to the library? We could find some more books you could read.â€​par 	â€œAl summer?â€​par 	â€œWeâ€™l think of something for al summer, okay? 
 	Right now we need something to do while weâ€™re thinking, thatâ€™l get us out of Dave and Jenâ€™s way.â€​par 	â€œOh, al right.â€​par 	They found Katie and told her what they wanted to do. She gave them a shrewd look. â€œMom wanted to know if you wanted to go horseback riding this afternoon.â€​par 	Laura shuddered. 
 	â€œLaurieâ€™s afraid of horses,â€ said Ted, â€œand we would real y rather read.â€​par 	Katie told them where they could find the library, and where in it they could find the sort of books they wanted. She gave them Jenniferâ€™s card, Jennifer having lost Katieâ€™s. 
 	The library was an old building with many steps and many smal rooms. Ted and Laura came in by a door nowhere near the checkout desk, to which they eventual y had to ask directions. Then they were so excited about the books they had found that they went out the nearest door and walked several blocks, reading first paragraphs aloud to each other. 
 	Ted, as was his exasperating habit, became absorbed and began to mumble. Laura, knowing that to read while walking was a good way to fal down, put her books under her arm and surveyed the neighborhood. 
 	â€œLook at that house!â€ she said, pul ing her brotherâ€™s arm. â€œItâ€™s a secret house!â€​par 	It was an enormous gray stone house, bigger than the library, and it had had pieces added onto it here and there, some of brick, some of wood, and some of a different gray stone than the original. It had mul ioned windows. It had two towers with round windows and peaked red roofs. Around its yard was an overgrown viny hedge with a brick arch and an iron gate in it. Weeds, some as tal as Laura, and violets and dandelions grew in the yard. There were dark pines, and cedars, two hoary oaks and many maples. The sunlight fal ing through their leaves was dusty. The flagstone walk leading to the front door was covered with dry brown maple seeds. It was a very secret house. Laura looked at Ted, expecting him to be pleased, but he was alarmed. 
 	â€œWhere are we?â€ he said. â€œWe didnâ€™t go by here on the way to the library; weâ€™d remember.â€​par 	A cardinal whistled somewhere in the trees. Laura felt a shock of delight. Here was a secret house, and there was the most secret of al the secret birds. Al members of the Secret, even those in exile, must pay heed to cardinals, she decided. 
 	â€œItâ€™s the Cal !â€ she yel ed at her brother, and dived into the hedge. She caught her foot in a twist of root, came down on her knees, and felt a pain in one of them that made her shriek. 
 	She struggled through the hedge into the tal grass on the other side, and stared at her knee. It was covered with blood. She was too impressed to shriek again. 
 	â€œWatch out,â€ she said to the cracking and rustling that was Ted trying to get through the hedge. â€œI fel on something sharp.â€​par 	Ted wormed his way through. â€œAre you al right?â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s awful y bloody,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œIf I tie my handkerchief around it itâ€™l stick,â€ said Ted, with the certainty of experience. 
 	â€œGive it to me,â€ said Laura. She wiped the blood off. 
 	â€œEch!â€​he said. â€œThatâ€™s a cut! Look at that!â€​par 	
 	â€œWhat did you fal on?â€​par 	â€œIt was in the hedge,â€ said Laura, busy with the handkerchief. 
 	Ted ducked back into the hedge. â€œI can see something shiny in here,â€ he said. â€œAt least you wonâ€™t get tetanus.â€​e rustled about in the dead maple leaves. The cardinal sang suddenly overhead. 
 	â€œWhat is it, a broken bottle?â€ asked Laura, obliterating the last clean spot on Tedâ€™s handkerchief. 
 	Ted did not answer her. 
 	â€œHey,â€​aid Laura. 
 	Ted backed out of the hedge, holding a smal sword. 
 	There was no dirt on it. The hilt was black and set with blue stones. Neither Ted nor Laura knew anything about jewels, but they both agreed that the stones did not look like sapphires. Lines they could not quite make out ran down the blade. It caught a stray sunbeam and dazzled their eyes. 
 	â€œIt doesnâ€™t have any blood on it,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œItâ€™s the only thing under there.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s so little,â€ said Laura. â€œSecret size, for a sword.â€​par 	â€œMaybe it belongs to the people who live here. We should ask.â€​par 	â€œNobody lives here,â€ said Laura, who was afraid of strangers and wanted the sword. She put her hand out for it. 
 	â€œThey could,â€ said Ted, pul ing it out of her reach and standing up. He started for the door, which opened. A tal woman with a broom came out onto the path. 
 	
 	â€œHow came you here?â€ she demanded, and her voice made the fine hairs stand up on the backs of their necks. Ted dropped the sword and hauled his sister to her feet, trying to push her through the hedge. Laura, surprising herself, shoved him, and he fel through it himself. 
 	Laura grabbed the sword and scrambled through after him. Instead of ending up on the sidewalk, she fel into cold water, sword and al . 
 	
 CHAPTER 2

 	LAURA stood up in the stream. Its gravel y bottom had taken some skin off an elbow, but at least she had not fal en on the sword. She wiped her wet hair out of her face and shook water from the sword. The sun struck the swinging blade, making a flash that brought tears to her eyes. 
 	She put the sword behind her and looked at where she was. The house was stil there, but there was no woman at the door. There were no Ted, no street, and no other houses. The stream went down a hil and vanished into a forest, and everywhere else were green fields. It was very hot and bright, but not stuffy. Laura looked at the pattern the oak and maple leaves made against the sharp sky, and felt something poke at the back of her mindâ€”nothing so clear as an apprehension nor so definite as a memory, but something. The leaves looked right. So, in this desolate setting, did the house. She frowned at the house. She felt, somehow, that she ought to be afraid of it. 
 	Laura floundered to the sandy edge of the stream and climbed up onto the grass below the hedge, dripping. 
 	â€œTed!â€​he yel ed through the hedge. 
 	No one answered. 
 	Laura screamed at the top of her lungs. â€œTed!â€​par 	No one answered. Laura drew in her breath to cal again, and changed her mind. The hot stil air made her feel as if she were shouting into a pil ow. If Ted was not in the yard, he was probably not where he could hear her, and who knew what was where it could hear her? 
 	
 	Thinking about that made her remember the sword. She did not think being wet could be good for it. She lifted it out of the stream, holding it at armâ€™s length, and stared up at the house. There were lace curtains at the windows, and she was trying to remember if there had been curtains there before, when she heard voices. 
 	She turned and looked across the stream. Three figures, one tal and two not, were just coming down a long slope. 
 	When they got to the bottom, there would be only a narrow flat space before they came to the stream. If they looked up from their conversation they would see her. 
 	Laura was under the hedge in one bound, dragging the sword with her. The thought of the woman with the broom kept her sitting in the middle of the hedge instead of going al the way into the yard. But when it seemed clear from their gestures that the three people were interested in the house, and coming to the house, she panicked and rol ed into the yard, stil clutching the sword. 
 	â€œLaurie!â€ It was Tedâ€™s voice, from the other side of the hedge, back on the sidewalk. A shadow fel over Laura and the prickling voice of the woman said, â€œStay!â€ Laura plunged through the hedge again, caught the sword in a tangle of branches, and wrenched at it. â€œStay, in the nameâ€”â€ said the voice. Laura abandoned the sword and flung herself onto the sidewalk, skinning both knees. Ted picked her up and grabbed her by the hand, and they ran. 
 	After three blocks and a corner they stopped. 
 	â€œYou idiot!â€​aid Ted. â€œIs your leg al right?â€​par 	â€œYes, listenâ€”â€​par 	â€œIt doesnâ€™t look like it. What were you doing in there?â€​par 	â€œI found a secret country!â€ Excitement poured into her, although while she had been in the other place she had felt only a sort of exploratory wariness. 
 	What she had said took much explanation before Ted so much as understood it, and before he believed it, Laura had to sit down on the curb and say passionately, â€œAs I am a Bearer of the Secret, I am tel ing you the truth.â€​par 	It helped that she was very wet, although it had not rained for three weeks and the yard of the secret house had been as dry and dusty as everywhere else. But they were left with many problems. If she real y had found a secret country, they should certainly go back and see if it was their Secret Country or if it belonged to someone else. It had looked, to Laura, immensely Secret but, though right, not familiar. It could have been anybodyâ€™s, even, they supposed reluctantly, Jennifer and Davidâ€™s. But there was the problem of just how to get in, and there was the woman with the broom. 
 	â€œShe didnâ€™t just want to sweep the sidewalk,â€
 	said Laura, shivering as much from the voice as from her wet clothes. 
 	â€œNo,â€ said Ted. â€œWhile you were off fal ing in streams she beat the hedge with the broom and yel ed.â€​par 	â€œWhat did she say?â€​par 	â€œ â€˜he devil damn thee black,â€™ â€ said Ted, not without relish, â€œand things like that. Never mind her. Why did you push me?â€​par 	â€œYou wanted to leave the sword there, and I wanted to take it.â€​par 	
 	â€œDishonest child.â€​par 	Laura was furious. â€œI bet it wasnâ€™t hers at al !â€​par 	â€œThen why was she after us with the broom?â€​par 	â€œWel , it is her yard,â€ said Laura. She was possessed of a vague feeling that nobody could defend something so vehemently unless he had no right to it, but she could not explain this to Ted. â€œAnyway, if the sword is hers why does she keep it under the hedge? Why doesnâ€™t she lock it up?â€​par 	â€œWel , where is it now?â€​par 	â€œI dropped it under the hedge,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œYou would,â€ said Ted. Then he opened his eyes so wide that Laura forgot she wanted to hit him. â€œExactly when did you have the sword and when didnâ€™t you?â€​par 	Laura considered this. â€œI had it when I went through the hedge the first time and then when I saw people I brought it back into the yard.â€​par 	â€œYou had it with you,â€ said Ted, â€œand you crawled under the hedge and fel in the stream.â€​par 	â€œYes,â€ said Laura, â€œand you and that lady werenâ€™t there. Andâ€”â€​par 	â€œAnd you crawled back under the hedge with it and then the lady and I were here?â€​par 	â€œYes,â€ said Laura. â€œAnd I came back this way without it and you and the lady were stil here.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s the sword,â€ said Ted. â€œI thought there was something about it. Thatâ€™s how we get to the other country. You dummy, why did you leave it under the hedge?â€​par 	
 	â€œYou wouldnâ€™t have tried to take it at al !â€​par 	â€œWel , I didnâ€™t know what it did!â€​par 	â€œIt got stuck,â€ said Laura, â€œand she was coming.â€​par 	â€œLaura.â€​par 	â€œWhatâ€™s the matter with you now?â€​par 	â€œWe left the library books back there.â€​par 	â€œAnd Jenâ€™s card.â€​par 	â€œAnd youâ€™re wet.â€​par 	â€œAnd we donâ€™t know where we are.â€​par 	They did some sneaking about, which under other circumstances would have been fun, and recovered their b o o k s . The house was shuttered and silent. Laura wondered about the curtains behind those shutters. Ted peered and squinted and managed to read the houseâ€™s address. Complex letters over the porch said, ONE
 	TRUMPET STREET. They had just begun to think about trying for the sword again when the front door opened, and they took off. They got safely out of sight by becoming even more lost than they had been, and stood looking at one another. 
 	â€œWhy donâ€™t you just run up to that door there,â€
 	said Ted to Laura, â€œand ask how to get to Mercer Street?â€​par 	â€œWhy donâ€™t you shut your fat mouth?â€ said Laura bitterly. 
 	â€œCome on, itâ€™s good for you. Mom says so.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t care.â€​par 	
 	â€œWel , then, weâ€™l just stand here al day.â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s fine with me,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s the matter with you? They donâ€™t bite.â€​par 	â€œWil you shut up!â€ shouted Laura, and punched him in the stomach. He was not supposed to hit her, but nobody had told her not to hit him. 
 	â€œYou are a coward,â€ said Ted, doubled over and glaring at her. â€œHow can you deserve a secret country?â€​par 	Laura burst into tears. 
 	Ted asked the woman who came to the door of the brick house on the corner how to get to Mercer Street, and she told him, and they went home. Laura squelched and sniffled. 
 	â€œAunt Kathyâ€™l wonder what happened to you,â€
 	Ted told her. 
 	â€œIâ€™m not going to tel her.â€​par 	â€œShe has to take care of your knee.â€​par 	â€œYou do it.â€​par 	â€œNo.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™l tel her you hit me.â€​par 	Ted smuggled her into the downstairs bathroom. They investigated the medicine cabinet, and derived some comfort from the fascinating behavior of hydrogen peroxide. 
 	â€œCan we go back this afternoon?â€ said Laura, regarding her foaming knee with satisfaction. 
 	â€œI think,â€ said Ted, trying to stick a bandage onto her knee, â€œthat we should give that lady a chance to calm down. She was madder than Aunt Kathy was when you broke the window.â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œWeâ€™ve got books to read. Theyâ€™l think itâ€™s funny if we go back to the library so soon. We can go back tomorrow. Hold stil . I think this bandageâ€™l work.â€​par 	â€œBut if she was mad because I took the swordâ€”â€
 	began Laura. 
 	â€œShe didnâ€™t say what she was mad at. Hold stil .â€​par 	â€œBut if she was mad because I took the sword, wonâ€™t she put it where we canâ€™t get it?â€​par 	â€œWel , maybe. But sheâ€™l do that right away, so it wonâ€™t hurt to wait to find out.â€​par 	â€œButâ€”â€​par 	â€œHold stil !â€​par 	â€œOw!â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™l stay.â€​par 	â€œThat was a sharp sword,â€​aid Laura, sadly. 
 	There was a pounding on the bathroom door. â€œHurry up!â€​el ed Jennifer. They shrugged at each other and went out. 
 	â€œYouâ€™re wet,â€​aid Jennifer to Laura. 
 	Laura regarded her with distaste. Grown-ups with nothing better to think about kept saying that Jennifer and Laura looked like sisters. It was true that they both had straight light brown hair and blue eyes. But Jenniferâ€™s short hair fitted her head like El enâ€™s velvet cap, and her eyes were almost as piercing as Patrickâ€™s. Laura thought her own eyes always looked as if she wanted to be somewhere else. She hated to look at Jenniferâ€™s and remember this. 
 	â€œWhat happened to your knee?â€​sked Jennifer. 
 	â€œShe tripped on somebodyâ€™s sprinkler,â€ said Ted, while Laura stood dreamily imagining how Jen would look if she should say, â€œSomebody shot me with a black-hole gun.â€​par 	â€œFigures,â€ said Jennifer, and shut the bathroom door. 
 	â€œJerk,â€​aid Laura, bitterly, to the door. 
 	â€œYou did trip.â€​par 	â€œWe wouldnâ€™t have found the sword if I hadnâ€™t!â€​par 	Between then and supper Ted read his books and Laura pestered him to stop reading and go back to the secret house. After supper she pestered him to help her spy on Jennifer and David, who were in the backyard doing something which involved Tommy and the largest soup kettle. 
 	â€œI think the people in their secret must be cannibals,â€
 	said Laura, hunched up on Tedâ€™s windowsil . 
 	â€œOn a spaceship?â€​par 	â€œI think theyâ€™re on a planet now. I think theyâ€™re going to betray their captain to the cannibals.â€​par 	â€œHeh,â€ said Ted, turning a page. â€œAt least when Lord Randolph decided to kil the King, he did his own dirty work.â€​par 	
 	â€œI miss Lord Randolph,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œI miss Princess Laura,â€ said Ted. â€œShe was too busy with her music to bother anybody.â€​par 	Laura sighed. Ted turned a page. Laura went back to the window, and watched David and Jennifer as they danced around the soup kettle, waving lilac branches and singing. 
 	The next day Ted made Laura wait until after lunch to leave, so he could finish his book, and he made her read one of hers. Once again they borrowed Jenniferâ€™s card from Katie, who looked at them pityingly and asked them if they wouldnâ€™t like to go rol er skating. They said they would not, and she told them to try E. Nesbit if they could stand a little stickiness. 
 	They returned their books. They did not bother to get any more, asking instead for directions to Trumpet Street. They found their way to the secret house, and stood on the sidewalk and looked at it. It seemed the same. The front door was shut. 
 	â€œDo you want to go first?â€​sked Ted. 
 	â€œNo,â€ said Laura, hoping he would cut his knee on the sword. 
 	Ted crawled under the hedge. â€œItâ€™s stil here,â€ he said, sounding nonplussed. Laura grinned to herself. No wonder he had been in no hurry. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Ted, â€œneither of us can go first, or the other one canâ€™t come at al .â€​par 	Laura squeezed in next to him and put her hand on the hilt of the sword above his. They knee-walked awkwardly out of the hedge and stood up in the yard. It looked greener than the yard on the other side had looked. Laura felt the same waiting quiet al around them. The cracked bluish flagstones of the front walk pricked at the back of her mind; they looked as they ought to. 
 	â€œIt doesnâ€™t look any different to me,â€ said Ted, looking at the house. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s go through the gate,â€​aid Laura. 
 	This turned out to be locked, but looking through it was enough to convince Ted that they were indeed somewhere else. He leaned on it for a long time, staring out over the long empty plain while the stream mumbled along over its rocks and the wind lifted Lauraâ€™s damp hair off her neck and the delicate leaves and flowers of the black wrought-iron gate suddenly fel into place like the right piece of a jigsaw puzzle. If Laura had been able to explain what she meant, she would have asked him if anything here affected him in the same way. As it was, she kept quiet and let him stare as long as he liked. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ he said final y, â€œis there a way across the stream?â€​par 	â€œIt isnâ€™t deep,â€​aid Laura, who was hot. 
 	â€œActual y,â€ said Ted, â€œthe first thing is to get through the hedge. How did you get home again?â€​par 	â€œDropped the sword in the middle.â€​par 	â€œSo if we donâ€™t drop the sword in the middle we should come out in the right spot?â€​par 	â€œI guess.â€​par 	They held the sword again and squirmed through the hedge. Laura was getting tired of the hedge. Ted thrust his arm in front of her in time to keep her from fal ing into the water, let go of the sword, and stood up. â€œNow about this water, let go of the sword, and stood up. â€œNow about this stream,â€​e said, and stopped. 
 	Laura looked where he was looking. Over the same hil came what looked like the same three figures, one tal and two not, gesturing at the house. 
 	â€œI bet theyâ€™re the same people I saw yesterday,â€
 	said Laura, and took a step backward into the hedge. Ted caught her as she ducked to go through it. 
 	â€œOnly one of them is bigger than I am, and weâ€™ve got the sword.â€​par 	â€œYou take it, then,â€​aid Laura, holding it out to him. It was making her hand prickle; she thought it must be too heavy for her. 
 	â€œWait a minute,â€ said Ted, squinting across the water. 
 	The three people were coming down the long slope before the stream. 
 	â€œThe tal one looks like Ruth,â€​aid Laura. 
 	Ted squinted again. â€œIt is Ruth,â€​e said. 
 	Laura looked at him, suspecting him of teasing her, and saw that he was so stunned that he had no energy left to sound surprised. She looked at the tal person again. 
 	â€œIt is?â€​par 	â€œSure. Look at her hair.â€​par 	â€œThen thatâ€™s El enâ€”and Patrick!â€​par 	â€œIt is our Secret Country!â€​par 	â€œRuth!â€​el ed Laura. â€œEl en! Patrick!â€​par 	The tal person jerked its head up. One smal er person stopped. The second smal person bumped into the first, said â€œHel !â€ quite audibly, and then gaped at Ted and Laura. They al stood there. 
 	â€œHey!â€ shouted El en, the smal one who had bumped the other. She always found her voice first and had often gotten them out of trouble. â€œHave you got a sword?â€​par 	Patrick held one up, and Laura waved theirs back at him. 
 	â€œIs this house in Australia?â€​he yel ed. 
 	El en and Ruth and Patrick came down the hil and across the flat space in a sudden bound, al talking at once. 
 	â€œWeâ€™ve been here for weeksâ€”â€​par 	â€œWe found the sword under a bottle tree, andâ€”â€​par 	â€œWhere have you been?â€​par 	â€œHow do we cross the stream?â€​emanded Ted. 
 	â€œThereâ€™s a bridge in the woods,â€ said Patrick. 
 	He began hurrying his sisters, who were involved in complicated explanations of enormous gardens and too many prickly pears and the essential oddness of Australia downstream. Ted and Laura hurried along on the other side of the water. Its banks grew steeper as it went into the woods, and Laura slid down one of them suddenly and found one foot in the water and the other in mud. 
 	Ted pul ed her out. â€œGive me the sword,â€ he said. 
 	â€œYouâ€™l kil yourself.â€​par 	Laura let him take it. As she scrambled to her feet, she looked across the stream and caught Patrick giving her a look of great concentration, as if he or Ted or Ruth or El en had not been pul ing her out of pools, streams, ditches, swamps, and patches of mud ever since she could walk. 
 	She wondered what was the matter with him. 
 	
 	Just when the thickening trees were beginning to crowd and poke them uncomfortably close to the edges of the stream, they came to the bridge. It was an unassuming bridge of wooden planks, with one handrail. Ted and Laura bolted across it. Laura tripped on the last plank and fel flat. 
 	El en picked her up, and Patrick gave her that look again. 
 	â€œHow did you get here?â€ asked Laura, pointedly addressing El en. 
 	â€œI was throwing a bal for the dog,â€ said Patrick. He did not look like his sisters. They had black hair, but he had pale brown hair and blue eyes, like Ted and Laura. He seemed never to blink, and he could stare anyone down. 
 	â€œAnd the bal went smack into the middle of this clump of bottle trees. And I went crawling after it, and I put my hand down on something sharp, and sliced it good. So I was almost to the other side of the clump anyway, so I just grabbed the thing, and slithered on through, so I could look at it better. And then I was here. The house and the dog and El en were al gone, and it was dark. So I took the thing back through with me and crawled out the side I had come in, and I was stil here. So I went back under the trees and left the sword, because it was a nuisance and I couldnâ€™t see it anyway and I only had one good hand. I came out again, and I was back in Australia, and it was day again. So I told Ruth and El en, and we al came.â€​par 	He sat down on a stump, looking satisfied. 
 	Ted told him about what had happened to himself and Laura. 
 	â€œSo,â€ said El en to Laura, â€œweâ€™ve been wandering around for days looking for you.â€​par 	â€œLiving in the woods?â€ said Ted. â€œOr have you met anybody whoâ€”â€​par 	â€œNo,â€​aid El en, â€œwe had to go home.â€​par 	This isnâ€™t a very good secret country,â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œTime is the same. If you spend three hours here, itâ€™s three gone at home too.â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s stupid,â€​aid Ted, outraged. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s not al ,â€ said Patrick. â€œYou know whatâ€™s even worse? The time zones. With us in Australia and you in the States. I figured it out last night.â€
 	Laura thought that he did not sound very happy about it, which was unusual for something he had figured out. 
 	â€œItâ€™s spooky. Youâ€™re on central daylight, right? 
 	Wel , thatâ€™s twelve hours from us. When itâ€™s midnight for you, itâ€™s noon for us.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s two in the morning in Australia?â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s nothing,â€ said Patrick. â€œItâ€™s three in the afternoon here. Weâ€™re on eastern daylight here.â€​par 	â€œHow do you know?â€​emanded Ted. 
 	â€œThereâ€™s a clock in that house,â€ said Ruth, shivering. 
 	â€œDid you get in?â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œNo,â€ said Ruth, â€œand I donâ€™t want to. You can hear the clock from out here. You can hear it from a long way away and it soundsâ€”each stroke sounds like somebodyâ€™s head being chopped off.â€​par 	â€œHow do you know?â€ said El en. â€œHave you ever heard anybodyâ€™s head beingâ€”â€​par 	â€œShe can start with yours if you donâ€™t shut up,â€
 	said Patrick. He addressed Ted. â€œWeâ€™re on eastern daylight here,â€​e said again. 
 	â€œJust like Pennsylvania; just like on the farm,â€ said Ted slowly. 
 	â€œBut daylight savings time isnâ€™t real,â€ said Laura. 
 	â€œDarn right it isnâ€™t,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œIt might make sense,â€ said Ted. â€œMaybe we couldnâ€™t have found out about the Secret Country if we hadnâ€™t been spending al those summers in a place that has the same time as it does. I mean, eastern daylight isnâ€™t real time for Pennsylvania, but it is for somewhere out in the Atlantic, soâ€”â€​par 	â€œYou think this is somewhere out in the Atlantic,â€
 	said Patrick. 
 	â€œNo,â€ said Ted, irritated. â€œObviously it isnâ€™t.â€​par 	Patrick looked very much as if he were going to say something unpleasant, but he didnâ€™t. Laura knew what he had wanted to say. He had wanted to say that they had not found out about the Secret Country, they had made it up. 
 	But he knew better than anyone, having been shouted at for it so often, that the one thing you did not do during a game was to so much as hint that it was one. 
 	There was a wary silence; they al knew that look. 
 	When El en was sure that Patrick was not going to say anything after al , she said, â€œDo you want to see the wel ?â€​par 	â€œSure,â€​aid Ted, formal y. 
 	â€œItâ€™s back over the hil ,â€ said El en. She let Ruth and Ted and Patrick go on before her, and waited for Laura. 
 	â€œIs it real y the wel ?â€​aid Laura eagerly. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said El en, â€œI suppose. I thought it ought to have a roof, instead of a stone lid, and Ruth wanted it to be more mossy, and Pat said the tree by it ought to be hol ow. But it looks right somehow.â€​par 	â€œIs it an oak tree?â€​par 	â€œYes,â€​aid El en. â€œAnd a very good one.â€​par 	â€œDo the acorns fal into the water?â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said El en, â€œthey would if you left the lid off.â€​par 	â€œHeh,â€​aid Laura. â€œAre the stones white?â€​par 	â€œNo,â€​aid El en. â€œPink.â€​par 	â€œPink?â€​par 	â€œWel , spotted. Patrick says theyâ€™re granite.â€​par 	â€œButâ€”â€​par 	â€œI know,â€ said El en. They came out from the shade of the trees, blinking in the sudden heat. They were across from the house again. Ted and Ruth and Patrick, talking and waving their arms, turned to go up the long slope, and Laura and El en fol owed them. 
 	â€œSo is it our Secret Country or not?â€​sked Laura. 
 	â€œPatrick,â€ said El en, â€œwas happy that it didnâ€™t look the way we wanted it to, and said of course it wouldnâ€™t. He became very superior,â€ she said, burying both hands in her mop of hair in a way she had, â€œand wouldnâ€™t tel us why it shouldnâ€™t look the way we thought it should. He has ideas about this place.â€​par 	
 	Laura, who liked Patrick but did not trust him, and who knew about his ideas, had a brief but vivid desire to have gone rol er skating this afternoon. She did not say anything because they had caught up with the other three. 
 	â€œNow look,â€ said Patrick, pointing before them, â€œand tel me what you think this is, Ted and Laura.â€​par 	Down at the bottom of the hil was a round stone wel beside a warped oak tree. Laura knew immediately what El en had meant by cal ing the tree a good one. It, like the pattern of leaves and the flagstone and the iron gate, was right. The wel was far from right; it looked even worse than El en had said it did. A road began at the foot of the tree and ran straight away from them to the horizon through a flat grassy plain. Here and there beside the road were a few more warped oaks. It was blazing hot and the air wavered like water. 
 	â€œThe Great Plain,â€ said Ted, â€œand the road to Fenceâ€™s Country.â€​e sounded as if he were reciting a poem he liked very much but was not sure he remembered. 
 	â€œAnd the Wel of the White Witch and the Sorcererâ€™s Tree,â€ said Laura. She felt strange. She did not recognize these things; she did not remember having seen them; it was more like looking at something you had read a lot about, but never seen a picture of. Parts were right and parts were not. She wasnâ€™t sure which disturbed her more. 
 	She and Ted looked at one another. Ted observed that Lauraâ€™s hair was ful of leaves from the hedge, and Laura that Ted was very red in the face; they both looked back at the dry plain and the sinister trees and felt that perhaps those things were truly there after al . 
 	
 	â€œBut the wel ought to have brambles around it,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œIt should be white,â€ said Laura. â€œLike the witch.â€​par 	â€œBut we al know what it is,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œWhat else have you found?â€ asked Ted. He shifted his sweaty grip on the hilt of the sword. Laura wondered if it might be too heavy for him too. 
 	â€œThis is al ,â€ said Ruth. â€œRemember we al agreed that it was ten leagues to Fenceâ€™s Country? It real y must be. A whole afternoon walking along that road got us nowhere.â€​par 	â€œOh, fine,â€ said Ted. â€œWonderful. And four leagues to High Castle . . . which way?â€​par 	â€œEast from the wel ,â€​aid Ruth, â€œbut which way is that? Does the sun rise in the east?â€​par 	â€œYes,â€ said Patrick, â€œor we couldnâ€™t tel stories of how the unicorns came out of it. Let me seeâ€”the house is south of the wel , so High Castle is that way, to our right. Because weâ€™re facing north. I told you people we shouldnâ€™t make the distances so large.â€​par 	â€œWe didnâ€™t make them,â€ said El en impatiently, â€œthey were already here.â€​par 	â€œAnd donâ€™t sound so smug,â€ said Ruth to Patrick, â€œyou didnâ€™t know this would happen; youâ€™re just picky.â€​par 	â€œBut thatâ€™s why Iâ€™m picky, because things might happen, and if youâ€™re picky you have a better chanceâ€”â€​par 	
 	â€œBesides,â€ said El en, â€œit didnâ€™t matter so much. We had horses. What happened to them? Were they spirited away from us in the night by theâ€”â€​par 	â€œWel , not real y we didnâ€™t have them,â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œWe said we had them,â€ said El en, scowling ferociously, â€œandâ€”â€​par 	â€œLetâ€™s get a drink,â€ said Laura, hoping to stop a fight, or at least get away from it, and she lay down in the grass and rol ed down the hil . It was a hard and prickly rol , as it had always been at the farm, and the grass smel ed hot and brown, as it always had. But she was not used to having a real wel at the bottom the hil , and before she realized how close it was it hit her in the back, which hurt. Complaining might make Patrick give her that look again, so she rubbed her back in silence and lay waiting for the others. 
 	El en came running down the hil , flung herself over the stone lid of the wel , and shrieked, â€œI won!â€​par 	Ted and Ruth panted up behind her. â€œYou didnâ€™t put your foot in a gopher hole,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œItâ€™s a good thing Laurie didnâ€™t try running down that hil ; sheâ€™d have broken her neck,â€​aid Ted. 
 	Patrick came placidly up beside Ruth, carrying both swords. â€œGet up, Laurie, and help us get the lid off the wel . This was your idea; get to work.â€​par 	Patrick laid the swords in the grass. â€œThere are grooves to put your hands under,â€ he said. â€œIf El en would remove herself from the lid, she could take the third groove.â€​par 	With some scraping of both stone and hands they managed to lean the lid against the side of the wel nearest the hil . The wooden bucket was in a niche in the inside wal of the wel , and the rope tied to its handle was fastened at the other end of an iron ring in the niche. They leaned over the edge of the wel , and a damp green air smote their hot faces. 
 	Ted reached for the bucket and stopped. â€œMilady Ruth,â€​e said, and bowed, and stood aside. 
 	â€œIâ€™d almost forgotten,â€ said Laura to El en, â€œonly a sorcerer of the Green Caves may draw water from this wel .â€​par 	â€œAnd remember what happens if anybody else tries it.â€​par 	â€œDo you suppose it real y would?â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t want to find out.â€​par 	â€œShut up,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	Ruth took a ring from her finger and dropped it into the wel . 
 	â€œThatâ€™s not a good ring?â€​hispered Laura. 
 	â€œNo, no, just the one we always used.â€​par 	â€œShut up,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œWe are travelers in great need,â€ said Ruth. â€œI am a maiden of One We Do Not Name. We beg your aid.â€
 	She lowered the bucket. Ted had to help her raise it again, which was something they had not thought about at home. 
 	They had used a plastic bucket, not a wooden one, and Ruth had not had very far to lift it. But the wel did not seem to object. 
 	â€œRemember the gift of the ring!â€ said Ruth, and cupped up some water in her hands and drank. 
 	â€œShe always picked the bucket up before,â€ said Laura. 
 	â€œToo heavy,â€ said El en. â€œReal water. Sheâ€™d dump it al down her front.â€​par 	â€œWil you two shut up!â€ said Ted. They glared at him, but they shut up. Here, he was the Prince. 
 	Ruth stood staring at her dripping hands. A look of surprise stole over her face, and she cupped up a little more water and drank that. â€œThat,â€ she said, passing the bucket to Patrick, â€œis very good water.â€​par 	â€œI should hope so,â€ said Patrick austerely, but after he drank he looked back at her and said, â€œYes, it certainly is.â€ He held the bucket for Laura while she scooped up water. 
 	â€œItâ€™s weird,â€ said Laura, who was a fussy eater, â€œbut itâ€™s better than faucet water.â€ She caught with her tongue a drop running down her chin and suddenly scooped up another handful. It was much better than faucet water. She took one more handful, and almost choked on it. 
 	As the smel of summer savory always brought back to her al her memories of Thanksgiving, the taste of the water suddenly fil ed her mind with bits and pieces that seemed right but were not familiar to her. 
 	â€œDonâ€™t kil yourself,â€ said Ted, and took the bucket away from her. 
 	El en was the last to drink. â€œYou guys didnâ€™t leave much,â€ she said, tipping the bucket. â€œHey, thereâ€™s something in there.â€​par 	â€œDrink first!â€ said Ruth sharply. â€œRefuse at your peril.â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™l be sorry if I choke to death,â€ snapped El en, but she drank. Ruth was after al a sorcerer of the Green Caves. â€œWel ,â€ said El en, â€œno wonder you didnâ€™t leave much.â€​he scrabbled with her hand in the bottom of the bucket and found what she had seen. It was silver, with a blue stone. It was not Ruthâ€™s ring, but it looked like the kind of ring Ruth had always said Lady Ruth had. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s that supposed to mean?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	El en held it out to Ruth, who put it on her finger. 
 	â€œIt was never a real gift, was it?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œYes, it was,â€ said Ruth. â€œBut I never used this ring. I mean, we used the same ring for everything we did, but we always said that the rings we gave to the wel were just ordinary rings. But this is my Ring of Sorcery.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s no more that than it is any other if we saidâ€”â€​egan Patrick. 
 	â€œIt is now,â€ said Ruth. â€œThis is a real silver ring, not the thing from the dime store I put in there; itâ€™s my Ring of Sorcery. It feels like the sword did when we picked it up.â€​par 	â€œOh,â€​aid Laura, â€œdoes yours do that too?â€​par 	â€œHere,â€ said Ted, holding out their sword with its winking blue stones. â€œThese are the same kind of stones as the one in the ring.â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s reasonable,â€ said Ruth. â€œThe swords are certainly magic. But wil someone kindly explain how I put in a fake ring made of plastic and got back a real one made of silver with a magic stone in it?â€​par 	
 	â€œItâ€™s a magic wel ,â€​aid Ted, hopeful y. 
 	â€œIt never did things like that before.â€​par 	â€œHow do you know?â€ said Ted. â€œYou put rings in al the time and they never came back, so how do you know?â€​par 	â€œListen,â€ said Patrick, â€œshe has never put a ring in that wel before, andâ€”â€​par 	â€œThis is my wel ,â€ said Ruth to Ted, â€œand I know what itâ€™s supposed to do, and itâ€™s not supposed to do this.â€​par 	â€œWhat do we do now?â€ asked Laura, who saw another fight trying to start. 
 	â€œWel , we canâ€™t go anywhere,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œWhat about the house?â€​sked Ted. 
 	â€œItâ€™s locked,â€ said Patrick, â€œeverywhere. And curtains over al the windows. You canâ€™t see a thing.â€​par 	â€œEl en!â€ said Laura. â€œThat must be the house you and I were born in!â€​par 	El en and Laura were sisters, in the Secret Country. Ted and Patrick were brothers, and they were cousins to El en and Laura. Ruth had been born their sister, but now she was no oneâ€™s sister and no oneâ€™s child. She was a sorcerer of the Green Caves. 
 	â€œThen why wonâ€™t it let us in?â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œPatrick,â€ said Ruth, â€œwhat did you mean, I never putâ€”â€​par 	â€œI hear something,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œI donâ€™t,â€ said Ted, â€œand what did you mean, Patrick?â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™re right,â€ said Patrick to El en. â€œItâ€™s horses.â€​par 	â€œWhere?â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œFrom the east,â€​aid El en. 
 	Laura laughed. â€œItâ€™s Benjamin from High Castle out looking for us!â€​par 	â€œWe never did that,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œWel , we talked about it.â€​par 	â€œIt is Benjamin, I bet,â€ said El en, squinting across the plain. In the Secret Country she had excel ent eyesight. In fact she had been told she needed glasses, but she would not wear them. â€œHe has a black horse,â€ she added. 
 	â€œIsnâ€™t that Ebony?â€​par 	â€œHe has a red cape; Benjamin always wears a red cape,â€ said Ted, who real y did have good eyes, although Prince Edward did not because he read too much. â€œAnd a beard, I think. Criminy,â€ said Ted. He looked at the sword, and Laura saw him shiver. â€œWeâ€™re here,â€
 	he said. 
 	â€œWhoâ€™s on the other horses?â€​sked El en. 
 	â€œNobody,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œEl en,â€ said Laura, who had stopped laughing, â€œheâ€™s bringing five empty horsesâ€”â€​par 	â€œHorses arenâ€™t empty,â€ said Ted, snorting. 
 	â€œEmpty saddles.â€​par 	â€œAnd there are two white,â€ said Laura, â€œand two bay andâ€”â€​par 	
 	â€œOne black pony,â€ said El en. She and Laura looked at each other. 
 	â€œBut we didnâ€™t real y have horses,â€​aid Laura. 
 	Patrick laughed. 
 	â€œWe do now,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™l we do?â€​par 	â€œRide them,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œYou can talk,â€​aid Laura. â€œYou can ride.â€​par 	â€œI was afraid of this,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œYou already knew it,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œDonâ€™t you remember,â€ Patrick said to her, stooping for his sword, â€œthat Princess Laura of High Castle can ride better than any of the others even though sheâ€™s the youngest? And sheâ€™s remarkably light of foot, donâ€™t you remember?â€​par 	â€œI want to go home,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œGive me that sword,â€ said Patrick to Ted. â€œI donâ€™t think weâ€™re supposed to have swords.â€​par 	â€œSure weâ€”â€​par 	â€œAnyway, we arenâ€™t supposed to be carrying them around naked. â€​par 	â€œThereâ€™s nowhere to hide them.â€​par 	â€œThe wel would protect them,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œMaybe behind the cover,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	Laura watched him and Ted slide the swords between the wal of the wel and the cover that stil leaned against it. 
 	Patrick busily brushed the long grasses back up against the cover. Laura marveled at his calm. She herself was fighting an urge to run up the hil and hide in the hedge. She wanted nothing to do with this. 
 	â€œHeâ€™s getting closer,â€ said El en, so Laura looked at her. She wore the face of pleased expectation that Laura was accustomed to seeing on her face on the morning of her birthday, which fel in August. Wasnâ€™t anybody else afraid at al ? 
 	â€œHeâ€™s seen us,â€​aid Ruth, and waved. 
 	â€œOh, donâ€™t,â€ said Laura. That seemed to show how Ruth felt. 
 	â€œHow else can we get to High Castle before suppertime?â€ said Ted. And that seemed to show how Ted felt. 
 	â€œWe wonâ€™t be able to get back here by then and hereâ€™s where we have to be to get home!â€ wailed Laura, before she could stop herself. Al of them were true adventurers, and she was the coward. 
 	â€œBe quiet,â€ said Ruth, â€œitâ€™s unseemly to argue before him. Besides, if he heard what we were saying heâ€™d think we were crazy.â€ She was playing. That was Lady Ruthâ€™s voice. 
 	â€œArenâ€™t we?â€ said Patrick. He wasnâ€™t playing, but he wasnâ€™t scared, either. 
 	Laura saw Ted look at him sharply, but there was no time to ask what he meant. The man under discussion had drawn up his horse and dismounted so neatly that Laura hoped he had done it by magic, which he could teach her. He was very angry, and strode toward them scolding vigorously. They could not quite tel what he was saying, but the tone of his voice made them gather themselves into a bunch against the wel . That everybody else seemed alarmed now did not comfort Laura. 
 	The man stopped before them and looked them over one by one, grimly. When they talked about it later, Ruth thought that his hands should have been bigger, and Ted that he should not wear brown beneath his red cape, and Patrick that his mouth was wrong somehow, and El en that his hair had too much gray in it. Laura was astounded at how big he was. But no one doubted that he was Benjamin, Royal Groom, whose father was a cobbler in Fenceâ€™s Country, and under whose care, for some reason they had never decided, the children of High Castle came when they had grown too old to have a nurse. No one doubted, either, that Benjaminâ€™s temper was just as they had imagined it. 
 	â€œNot only truant,â€ said Benjamin, â€œnot only negligent, not only disobedient, late, shoddily attired, and cowering, but treacherous.â€​par 	He addressed this last epithet, with a particularly grim emphasis, to Ted and Ruth, who seemed at a loss, when Laura looked at them, to account for being singled out. 
 	â€œWe are not,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œItâ€™s a ceremony of the Green Caves,â€ said Ruth, surreptitiously patting El enâ€™s shoulder. â€œWe could not choose our garb or our companions; we were sent for.â€​par 	Benjamin was dumbstruck. He was usual y what El en, when writing down descriptions of the main characters, had been pleased to cal â€œof a ruddy complexion,â€ but he looked quite white when he had heard what Ruth had to say. 
 	He stood perfectly stil and stared at her for so long that she could think of what to say next. 
 	â€œIt was a hasty summons,â€ she told him happily, â€œin the dead of night. I was reading in my chamber, and a white bird fluttered through the window and flew three times around my candle and made great shadows on the wal .â€ Laura began to feel a little better. â€œAnd it spoke with a voice like the Green Witchâ€™s, and it said to meâ€”â€​par 	â€œRuth,â€​aid Patrick, â€œdonâ€™t.â€​par 	â€œ â€˜here is great peril from across the sea,â€™ â€
 	said Ted with alacrity, â€œâ€˜nd by the oaths ye swore when Shan the first wizard delivered you fromâ€”â€™ â€​par 	â€œAngels and ministers of grace defend us!â€ shouted Benjamin. He was once more of a ruddy complexion. 
 	Lauraâ€™s stomach clenched itself tight. Ruth looked appal ed. 
 	â€œWhy are thy tongues not black in thy conniving heads!â€​par 	â€œI knew it!â€ said Patrick, not appal ed at al , but extremely angry at Ruth. 
 	â€œAnd where,â€​enjamin demanded of him, â€œwere thy wits that thou stil dangled after, if thou knewest so much?â€​par 	Patrick had nothing to say. Laura did not think this as funny as she might have expected. 
 	Benjamin flung his hands out in a gesture that rejected al of them. â€œIâ€™ve no words for you,â€ he said. â€œI must take you al home and you shal go to bed without supper; when I myself have supped and can, perhaps, bear the sight of you again, we shal see whatâ€™s to be said and done.â€ He turned away from them, and Ted and Ruth fol owed him to the horses, which had been munching grass al the while. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™d we do?â€​hispered Laura to El en. 
 	â€œTed and Ruth,â€ said Patrick quietly on her other side, â€œare Romeo and Juliet. We are al the old nurse.â€​par 	â€œI went to bed early when they read us that one,â€
 	said El en. â€œI hate love stories. When did we act this out, anyway?â€​par 	â€œYou and Laurie had the mumps,â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œSummer before last. The King had Ruth betrothed to Lord Randolph when she was just a baby, but Ted and Ruth want to marry each other.â€​par 	â€œHow boring,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œBenjamin doesnâ€™t think so,â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œHe thinks we are al scheming, and he thinks Ruth lied to him about the ceremony of the Green Caves so she couldâ€”â€​par 	â€œCome your ways!â€ cal ed Benjamin, and they hurried over to the horses. 
 	Laura stood and watched El en and Patrick struggle onto their horses. Their difficulties did nothing for Benjaminâ€™s temper. He scowled at them and then looked down at Laura. 
 	â€œWel ?â€​e said. 
 	Laura, who did not like the way the horses smel ed, the way they moved sideways as if they wanted to go somewhere very fast, or the way they eyed her, looked straight up at Benjamin and was speechless. 
 	â€œIâ€™l have none of your big blue eyes,â€ said Benjamin sharply, and he picked her up as if she were a much smal er child than she was, and put her on the black pony. 
 	After she had fal en off it for the fifth time, he hauled her up by an elbow with considerably less care than he had exhibited the first four times, and boosted her up in front of Ruth, who was almost unseated herself by this sudden maneuver. Benjamin looked at her for a moment as if this were more than he was prepared to manage, then turned and busied himself with Lauraâ€™s pony. 
 	â€œYou okay?â€​hispered Ruth. 
 	â€œSure,â€ said Laura; it was, after al , no worse than mistiming a jump from a swing in the school playground. Of course, she had never misjumped four times in a row. But the first grateful moment of stil ness, when you were lying on a piece of ground that wasnâ€™t going anywhere, was almost worth the pain of the bruises. 
 	Laura settled herself as securely as she could in Ruthâ€™s trembling grip and took her first good look at where they were heading. She was too outraged to speak, which was no doubt just as wel . High Castleâ€”if it was High Castleâ€”looked like a piece of peppermint candy, concentric rings of pink and white. It was supposed to be a square whiteâ€”or maybe grayâ€”fortress with towers at its corners and a moat around it. Laura drew in a breath to protest to Ruth, and let it out again suddenly as the horses began to move. Benjamin set a much slower pace than he had tried earlier, but it was stil far from comfortable. 
 	The flat plain was not real y flat, but ful of smal rises and fal s of ground. As they came down the rise from which Laura had first seen High Castle, it lost its aspect of peppermint and became simply a line of pink barring the way before them. Behind it the land rose again in long slopes of dark green forest, and beyond those were misty humps that Laura at first took for clouds on the horizon. It was not until Ruth said in her ear, â€œThe Mountains of Duskâ€ that she realized what they were. She had never seen mountains, and these did not look as they ought to. 
 	She had imagined sharp dark triangles standing up out of a flat green plain like something in a pop-up book. She squinted at the betraying cloudy masses, and thought she saw hints of blue and purple in them, and an underlying solidity not owned by clouds; she was not comforted. 
 	That first pink wal of High Castle turned out to be immense, six stories tal or more. Most of the stones that made it were longer than Laura was tal . They were smooth and sharp edged, and looked very new. The wal had a tower on each corner and three more along its length, and two smal er ones flanking its gate. The gate was open, which confounded Laura almost as much as the color of the wal s. They passed into a short, wide tunnel lit from above and paved in the pink granite, with another gate at its far end, which was also open. There were, at least, two guards at this gate, and they even had long spears. They did not, however, leap up and bar the way with these spears. On second reflection, Laura was just as glad that they had not. 
 	They did stand up, looking remarkably as if they were trying not to laugh, and bowed briefly. Benjamin got down from his horse. So did Ted and El en. Ruth gave Laura a smal shove, so Laura slid down haphazardly and sat down hard on the cold stone. Ted picked her up quickly. Patrick dismounted with a show of ease that made Laura want to hit him. A number of young men who had appeared through the gate took the horses away. Benjamin marched between the gate took the horses away. Benjamin marched between the guards as if he were daring them to say a word, and the five children fol owed him onto a wide space of short grass. 
 	This looked a little more like High Castle. There was the moat, just as it ought to be, sailed on by white swans and cluttered with lily pads, and holding upside-down a perfect glassy image of the white wal s and towers on its far side. 
 	The drawbridge was directly before them; it was down. 
 	Patrick muttered something about this, but nobody cared to answer him with Benjamin so close. There were stil too many towers in the white wal , and it was circular, not square. 
 	They went over the drawbridge, past two more amused and easy guards, and were confronted by yet another pink wal . The stones of this one were rough and pitted, but the wal itself was, at least, properly square, and had towers only at its corners. Between it and the previous white wal was a huge and somewhat untidy rose garden, on the left, and on the right a herb and vegetable garden that looked as if it had been laid out on a gigantic piece of graph paper. 
 	Laura wondered if the respective gardeners glared at one another over the pink marble path that separated their domains. As far as she knew, High Castle had only one gardener, a dour and silent man named Timothy. But one look at the vast stretch of these gardens told her that there must be more than one person to care for them. Even in the rose garden, the grass had been mowed and most of the weeds hacked from around the white stone seats. Laura craned her neck longingly after the rose garden, with its mossy paths and mysterious nooks, but the thought of being lost in this enormous and unfamiliar labyrinth of castle wal s made her hurry after the others. 
 	They went through the open gate in the pink wal and into a smal paved yard. And there before them, final y, was the High Castle of Lauraâ€™s mind, white towers and red roofs and bright banners flying. 
 	â€œPage!â€ shouted Benjamin, at the top of his considerable voice. 
 	Laura saw El en leap forward, then stop and look furious. 
 	Benjamin had not noticed her. A yel ow-haired boy perhaps a few years younger than Laura came hurrying across the yard to them, and bowed to Benjamin. 
 	â€œFetch me Agatha,â€ said Benjamin, much more kindly than he had spoken to any of the five of them. 
 	â€œMy lord,â€​aid the page, and went away again. 
 	There fol owed a very uncomfortable interval. Benjamin had turned his back on them, but was far too close to permit the kind of outraged conversation they needed to have. 
 	Laura occupied herself with staring at High Castle, and almost forgot to worry. Aside from the moatâ€™s being two wal s back, everything was perfect. She admired the narrow windows, the moss growing between the cobbles of the yard they stood in, and even the distant blue of the mountains stil visible over the wal . The lake that fed the moat was on the other side of the castle, and so was the room shared by the princesses Laura and El en. Ted and Patrickâ€™s room, though, should look out on this very courtyard, and Ruthâ€™sâ€” 
 	â€œSuffering, deception, and mercy!â€ said a vigorous voice behind them. 
 	Laura jumped, bumping Ruth, who took no notice of her. 
 	They al turned around, and there, larger than life and half as natural, stood Agatha. There was nothing right about her except her voice and her gray dress. She was plump where she should have been bony, young where she should have been old, pretty where she should have been dignified, and she had a great deal of straight, smooth black hair that ought to have been white. 
 	â€œYou may wel say so,â€ said Benjamin to Agatha, over their five heads. â€œTake you these four, and Iâ€™l manage His Highness.â€​par 	â€œCome then, my lords and ladies,â€ said Agatha, in a tone of faint mockery. And she ushered Ruth, Patrick, El en, and Laura into High Castle, leaving Ted to stand with Benjamin in the courtyard. 
 	
 CHAPTER 3

 	BY the time Benjamin got the five of them back to High Castle, Ted was too battered to be exasperated and too tired to be thoughtful. He was beginning to be afraid instead. 
 	Benjamin was too big, the horse was too big, High Castle itself was too big, too high, and too grim. Benjamin had said they were al treacherous, and he had sounded as if he meant it. Ted kept remembering that this was a country in which a page could be hanged for mouthing off. Nobody had mouthed off to Benjamin on the way back, but Benjamin had looked at Laura every time she fel off that pony as if he would have liked to hang her for that. And as Agatha led the other four off into High Castle, Benjamin stood looking at Ted as if he would stil like to hang somebody. 
 	â€œIâ€™d give thee worse than bed without supper,â€
 	he said, â€œhadst thou chosen thy time differently.â€​par 	â€œWhat?â€ said Ted. Benjaminâ€™s face took on an expression common to grown-ups everywhere, and Ted added, â€œSir.â€​par 	â€œWhat is the date, then?â€​enjamin asked him. 
 	â€œI thinkâ€”I think itâ€™s June the fourteenth. Sir.â€​par 	â€œThink!â€ said Benjamin. â€œIf thinking made things so, things would be otherwise.â€​par 	Ted, trying to remember what date it was and why it should matter, only looked at him, and wished he would back away a little. He was tal er than Tedâ€™s father, who was not a smal man. 
 	â€œHas that child bewitched al of you?â€ demanded Benjamin. 
 	â€œWhat?â€​sked Ted, giving up. 
 	Benjamin flung up his hands. â€œThe King thy father,â€
 	he said, â€œwas to hold a council at midday today, and thou wast summoned toâ€™t.â€​par 	Already, thought Ted. Weâ€™ve missed the whole beginning of the game. While Laurie and I were playing tag and everybody else was running around looking for us, they started the game. That doesnâ€™t make any sense; how could they start it without us? It is us. â€œHeh,â€​e said. 
 	â€œDidst remember, then?â€​par 	â€œNo! I meanâ€”â€​par 	â€œShe hath bewitched thee.â€​par 	â€œWho has?â€​par 	â€œThy spitfire cousin!â€​par 	Whoâ€™s my cousin here? he thought. Laura and El en. 
 	My spitfire cousin. Does he mean El en? Ruthâ€™s the only one who can bewitch anybody, but sheâ€™s not my cousin. 
 	Minions of the Green Caves have no family save the leaves. 
 	Benjamin, in a tempestuous motion like that of a startled man trying to catch a fal ing vase, came to his knees in front of Ted and took him by the shoulders. â€œLook at me,â€
 	he said. 
 	Ted blinked at him. 
 	Benjamin stared him in the eyes for much too long. Eyes like Benjaminâ€™s could find out anything. Ted tried to back into the cold stone of the wal , and a cardinal whistled the first three notes of its cal somewhere over his head. Ted jumped; Benjamin let go of him, but did not get up. Ted looked grateful y at Benjaminâ€™s shirt lacings. 
 	â€œI never thought to say so,â€ said Benjamin, stil too close for comfort, â€œbut I would Fence were here. I have sorcery in my blood and my bones, but none in my learning; I wil not come between the cardinal and its charges. If thou art one. If thou art.â€ He put a hand under Tedâ€™s chin and made Ted look at him again. â€œEdwardâ€”â€​par 	â€œBenjamin,â€ said Ted, who understood none of this and was not sure he wanted to, â€œyouâ€™re getting al muddy.â€​par 	â€œI am fresh laundered next to thee,â€ said Benjamin, â€œand the Kingâ€™s council is in a quarter of an hour. 
 	Come away.â€​par 	He let go of Ted and stood up, and they started across the yard. 
 	â€œI thought it was this morning?â€ said Ted, too bewildered to be cautious. 
 	â€œIt was planned so,â€ said Benjamin, â€œtil I found thee gone. I contrived to change the time and came ahunting thee. Thy father knows nothing of this, yet.â€​par 	â€œOh,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œI would not trouble him with more troubles than he hath withal,â€​aid Benjamin. 
 	â€œOh.â€​par 	â€œBut I can deal with thee myself if the occasion warrants.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t think it warrants nearly as much as you think it does,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œNo doubt,â€​aid Benjamin, dryly. 
 	
 	â€œRuth hasnâ€™t bewitched me,â€ said Ted, â€œand I donâ€™t want to marry her.â€​par 	â€œOh, excel ent,â€ said Benjamin. â€œ â€™Twil do thee no great hurt to forgo her company, then.â€​par 	Ted was furious, and speechless. He was afraid to say too much. Benjamin might ask just what the five of them had been doing out by the Wel of the White Witch, if they had not been arranging a secret meeting between Ted and Ruth. 
 	They came through the last set of doors, past yet two more unconcerned guards, and into a high dim drafty hal strewn with what Ted supposed were rushes. Three dogs lay by the fire, and Ted almost tripped over a cat, but there were no people there, and almost no furniture. It felt like a place where you waited. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Benjamin, â€œgo dress thyself as wel as thou canst, and I wil do likewise.â€​par 	Ted froze. He had only a vague idea of where his room was, or wherever it was he should go to dress himself. Nor was he sure what he should dress himself in. He looked at Benjamin hopelessly, and Benjamin scowled at him. 
 	â€œNow, Edward, whatâ€™s the matter?â€​par 	â€œWel .â€​par 	â€œLast time,â€ said Benjamin, â€œâ€™twas stuffing it up the chimney to stop the draft. And the time before that â€™twas using it as a lake for thy sisterâ€™s dol s to play at swimming in. What is it now?â€​par 	â€œWhat?â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œPlague take thee!â€ said Benjamin, and catching his arm, hustled him through the hal into an even draftier stair. 
 	
 	â€œI thought as much! An it were not my ears as wel as thine would ring with thy fatherâ€™s wrath, Iâ€™d leave thee to it.â€​par 	â€œBut what are you going to do?â€​aid Ted feebly. 
 	â€œHide thy scrapes, as always,â€ said Benjamin; he sounded cross, but not actual y furious anymore. â€œThou shalt wear one of the robes iâ€™ the West Tower, and drown in it, and look a fool, and serve thee right.â€​par 	â€œThe dol s didnâ€™t drown,â€​aid Ted, tentatively. 
 	Benjamin cuffed the side of his head, and Ted shut up. 
 	The blow did not feel unfriendly, but it did hurt. He began to wonder whether, when Benjamin had said their ears would ring with the Kingâ€™s wrath, Benjamin meant more than that the King would yel at them. 
 	â€œWhile I have thine ear,â€ said Benjamin over his shoulder, â€œhow didst thou come by that outlandish garb, and what perversity led thee to wear and not burn it?â€​par 	Ted produced the reason which explained more sins than any other. â€œWe were playing a game,â€ he said, â€œabout people who wear outlandish garb.â€​par 	â€œ â€™Twas sweet and commendable in thee,â€ said Benjamin, in a tone Ted did not like, â€œto find time to play with thy cousins.â€​par 	â€œThank you,â€​aid Ted, trying not to grin. 
 	â€œThe devil damn thee black,â€ said Benjamin. He said it mildly, about in the tone Tedâ€™s mother might have used to say â€œYou are a nuisance,â€ but Ted was shocked into stopping. This was what the lady with the broom had said, back at the secret house. 
 	â€œWhat?â€​e said. 
 	
 	â€œI do not want,â€ said Benjamin, stopping, turning, and taking hold of Tedâ€™s T-shirt as if it were a dead spider, â€œto see any of these garments again.â€​par 	â€œYes, sir.â€ Wonderful. We can go back home in whatever they give us to wear here. And they may not tel us they never want to see those garments again, but theyâ€™l sure want to know where they came from. Or we canâ€” 
 	â€œTel thy brother and thy cousins likewise.â€​par 	â€œEven Ruth?â€​aid Ted, daring. 
 	â€œThe Lady Ruth is not dressed so. The Lady Ruth,â€
 	said Benjamin grimly, â€œknoweth better than to irk me in smal matters.â€​par 	â€œShe doesnâ€™t mean to irk you in large ones,â€
 	said Ted. 
 	Benjamin snorted. â€œDo not tel me,â€ he said, â€œthat any minion of the Green Caves doth what he meaneth not.â€​par 	Ted decided that anything he said would make things worse. 
 	Benjamin hurried him down several windy passages, up a winding staircase, and into a high room which even in the dim dregs of the sunset glowed with color. It was hung and draped and piled with clothes. Ted could see a sleeve here or a col ar there, but for the most part nothing looked like anything he had ever worn or seen worn or imagined wearing. The room smel ed of cloves and dust. Ted sneezed. 
 	Benjamin turned his back on him and began burrowing in a mound of blue. He shook out several massive robes of velvet, scowled at them, and flung them down again. Final y he thrust one at Ted, who pul ed it over his head, sneezed again, and sat down on the floor, the weight of the material having upset his balance. He sat there in the stuffy spicy dark, feeling the cold of the stone floor seep through his jeans, and wished he were playing tag. 
 	â€œOne would think,â€ grumbled Benjaminâ€™s voice above him, â€œthat thou hadst never worn a robe in thy life. 
 	Up with thee.â€ He parted the material and briskly thrust it down over Tedâ€™s shoulders, and Ted blinked at him and stood up, staggering a little. â€œThank you,â€​e said. 
 	Benjamin jerked and tugged at the heavy folds of the garment, straightening it on Tedâ€™s shoulders and turning up the sleeves for him. Ted stood meekly, trying not to sneeze again as Benjamin stirred up more dust from the velvet, and feeling as if he were Lauraâ€™s age and being dressed for Hal oween. If only that were al it was. 
 	â€œThis was Lord Justinâ€™s robe,â€ said Benjamin, shaking a sleeve, â€œand even when thou hast thy ful growth, â€™twil be too large for thee.â€​par 	Ted scowled. Who had Lord Justin been? He could not remember. Maybe El en would. She was the one who had written down al the history. 
 	He watched Benjamin pul a robe over his own head. Why would Benjamin keep his robe up here in the dust, even if people didnâ€™t sneeze here? 
 	â€œHey,â€​aid Ted. â€œWhereâ€™s your robe?â€​par 	â€œLord Randolph hath the loan of it,â€ said Benjamin shortly. 
 	â€œAnd whereâ€™s his?â€​par 	
 	Benjamin did not smile. â€œHe hath lent it to thy cousinsâ€”â€​par 	â€œFor their dol s to play at swimming in?â€​par 	â€œEâ€™en so.â€​par 	Benjamin stil did not smile. Ted tried not to. He was delighted and afraid at once. He had gotten the better of Benjamin. But this was no scene he had ever played in the nine summers of the Secret. He had never thought of Lord Randolph, bril iant counselor, apprentice wizard, Kingâ€™s man, and murderer, as the sort of person who would lend his counselorâ€™s robe to anybody to play dol s with. Ted felt that things were getting away from him. 
 	â€œWhy canâ€™t he have one of these old dusty ones, then, and you wear your own?â€​par 	â€œWhat wil pass muster in me and thee, my young lord, wil not so in Randolph. Come away; by now the council stays for us.â€​par 	Outside it was dark now, and although Ted saw sockets for torches set in the wal s every few feet, most of them were empty. Benjamin strode along as if he were in broad daylight, his robe floating behind him, and Ted stumbled in his wake, clutching handsful of his own heavy velvet, and fuming. The floors and steps near the tower room were rough, and invited one to trip. As they came back to the central part of the castle, the floors, worn with greater use, became smooth, and invited one to slip. Ted began to feel like Laura. 
 	They came up one last flight of stairs. There was a door at the top of it, and a man-at-arms before the door. There was a torch above his head and a short sword in his hand. His shadow, in the pulsing light of the torch, clawed at the ceiling. Ted gaped at him under Benjaminâ€™s elbow. He had never seen a man-at-armsâ€”the casual guards at the gates did not countâ€”and he wished the light were better. 
 	â€œGood even,â€ said Benjamin to the man-at-arms. 
 	â€œIs the King before us?â€​par 	â€œNo, my lord,â€ said the man, â€œyouâ€™re safe. 
 	Neither the King nor Lord Randolph is there yet.â€ He did not speak as Benjamin did, which Ted found a relief. 
 	Benjamin was hard to keep up with; if everyone talked like that, things here would be even harder than they already were. 
 	The guard pushed the heavy door open for them, standing aside to let them through. Light and a clamor of voices poured down the stairs and engulfed them. It was much warmer in this hal , and torches blazed from every socket. 
 	Ted noticed for the first time that they smel ed like turpentine. 
 	He and Benjamin went down the hal toward the voices and light that spil ed from a wide doorway. Ted would have liked to inspect the carving of the double doors, which had been his idea and which he had even drawn in pen and ink, with great care, for El enâ€™s history. But Benjamin hustled him on into the room. Like everything else, it was too big. 
 	So were the people in it. They al knew him, and he recognized none of them. He looked up, grinned, and murmured, â€œMy lord, good even, my lord,â€ at a series of faces, some bearded and some smooth, mostly young, and thanked his stars that Prince Edward was shy and scholarly and not good for much. He had not started out that way, but Ted and the others had soon discovered that there were not enough of them to play more than a few interesting characters. Ted had had to play the King, until the King was poisoned. Then Prince Edward could be dragged out of his library and become interesting, but right now he was of little account. 
 	As soon as he and Benjamin had greeted everyone, the clamor began to settle, as noise in a classroom subsides just before the bel rings. People began to take their places. 
 	Ted, backed against a tapestry he had not had time to look at, felt his stomach lurch as he realized that he could not remember where he should sit. He had played the King in this scene. When Patrick or Ruth got tired of being counselors, he had played himself so one of them could play the King. He had also played Lord Andrew, the Secret Countryâ€™s vil ain. He could not remember, in this room that could hold a table big enough for six games of hopscotch, swimming with torchlight, where any of them was supposed to sit. 
 	He scowled. King Wil iam always sat at one end of the table, with Lord Randolph on his right and Benjamin on his left. Prince Edward sat at the other end of the table. If only Benjamin or Randolph would sit down. But Benjamin, across the table, was talking to a thin man with an elegant moustache, who might be Lord Andrew, although Ted would not have wanted to bet on it. And the man-at-arms had said Randolph was not here yet. 
 	The man with the elegant moustache was trying to convince Benjamin of something, and it was clear to Ted that Benjamin did not want to talk to him at al , let alone be convinced by him. The moustached man began to look a little tight around the mouth, and over Benjaminâ€™s face settled the lowering anger that had been there when he found the five children at the wel . 
 	
 	Get mad and sit down, Ted begged him silently. Benjamin went on getting angry, but he did not sit down. Ted became aware, in the quieting room, that he was not the only one watching them. Ted was reasonably sure by now that the moustached man was in fact Andrew. The man did not look like Andrew, but he acted like him. His voice was becoming steadily more unpleasant. Head after head turned in his direction, and voice after voice petered out, until Ted could hear him clearly. 
 	â€œNo evidence,â€ he was saying, â€œneither in action nor in reason nor in philosophy.â€​par 	My God, thought Ted, he sounds just like Patrick. 
 	â€œNor in magic?â€​par 	Andrew snorted. 
 	â€œSo,â€ said Benjamin, in a tone that stil ed the last murmurs, â€œnow we come toâ€™t.â€​par 	Ted, who did not remember this scene, struggled to make sense of it. Andrew, he knew, did not believe in magic. 
 	Patrick had fought bitterly against this, maintaining that, in the Secret Country, not believing in magic was about as sensible as not believing in the law of gravity. El en informed him that she did not, in fact, believe in the law of gravity. 
 	Patrick said that he had hoped for a vil ain who was smarter than his sister, Ruth made him shut up, and Andrew had continued to disbelieve in magic. 
 	Ted wondered if Benjamin was just now finding this out. 
 	Even if he was, should he be so upset? What had he said in the courtyard? I have magic in my blood and my bones, but not in my learning . . . I wil not come between the cardinal and his charges. Oh, of course. Benjamin came from Fenceâ€™s Country, where, instead of keeping little kids from fal ing into puddles, you had to keep them from summoning thunderstorms. He, too, would probably think that disbelieving in magic was about as sensible as disbelieving in the law of gravity. Although, come to think of it, he probably didnâ€™t even know about the law of gravity. 
 	Ted was lost in this swamp of thought, and Benjamin and Andrew were stil looking at each other like two cats deciding whether to fight, when the double doors opened, sending in a draft that slanted every flame, made Ted abandon his thoughts, and caused Andrew and Benjamin to jump guiltily. 
 	Two men came into the room. The first was clearly the King. He did not look much as Ted had imagined him, perhaps because the torchlight did strange things to peopleâ€™s faces. But he was old and he wore a crown. 
 	Ted was reminded, by something about his eyebrows, and the way he fixed Benjamin and Andrew with his stare, and the way he held his head, of Patrick. 
 	Wel , he is Patrickâ€™s father, thought Ted. I guess he should look like him. Heâ€™s my father too; I wonder if he looks like me. Heâ€™s awful y old to be either of our fathers. I wonder how old we are? I forget. 
 	Finding this direction of thought unsettling, he looked from the King to the second man, and could not breathe. This was Lord Randolph. He was tal er and thinner than Ted thought he should be, and he resembled Ruth and El en to an alarming degree, much more strongly than the King resembled Patrick. But Ted was certain that this was Lord Randolph, and something in the look of him almost stopped Tedâ€™s heart. He was smiling, and everyone in the room except Andrew smiled back at him. Even Benjamin, whose furious scowl had smoothed to a sort of blank inquiry when the King came in, smiled at Randolph. 
 	â€œSo here be our truants,â€​aid Benjamin. 
 	Randolph made him a bow, a very brief and tidy one, and Ted blinked. That bow meant things, among them that Randolph liked Benjamin very much, that he had no intention of tel ing Benjamin why he and the King were late, and that he was tired. He reminded Ted of an actor, whose every move meant something. 
 	And how do you know what that bow means? he demanded inwardly. Have you ever seen any other bow that you thought meant anything at al ? 
 	â€œMy lord,â€ said Benjamin to the King, â€œal ow me.â€ He assisted the King into the end chair nearest the door. Ted, shaking off the paralysis with which the sight of Randolph had afflicted him, made a beeline for the chair at the other end, and was arrested by Benjaminâ€™s voice. 
 	â€œWhat dost thou think on so deep, my young lord, that thou canst not greet thy father?â€​par 	Ted, his face hot, turned slowly so as not to trip on Lord Justinâ€™s robe, and made his way past amused and sympathetic faces to stand by the Kingâ€™s chair. 
 	Benjamin looked the way Ted felt when Laura broke something: He was tired of it, but he was used to it. Ted, once more grateful for Prince Edwardâ€™s being an impractical daydreamer, bowed to the King. 
 	â€œSir,â€ he said, groping for his lines. This scene he had played, though it was not one of their favorites. He caught with the corner of his eye the expression on Andrewâ€™s face. Andrew looked both pleased and pained. Ted had once seen a similar expression on his motherâ€™s face when the child of a neighbor she disliked had spil ed grape juice on a white velvet chair. She was unhappy that the chair was ruined, she said later, but it was almost worth it to see the consternation of the neighbor. The hel with you, thought Ted at Andrew, you wonâ€™t see my consternation. 
 	â€œHow does your honor for this many a day?â€ he asked the King. 
 	â€œI thank thee, wel ,â€ said the King. His voice was a little husky, but it was not old. â€œAnd thou?â€​par 	â€œVery wel , sir,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œHow fare thy studies?â€​par 	â€œSome wel , my lord, and some indifferent.â€​par 	â€œAnd which indifferent?â€​par 	Tedâ€™s next line dealt with his inability to learn to handle a sword, but he balked. He did not want to admit to incompetence before Andrew. He looked involuntarily at Randolph, who was his fencing master. 
 	Randolph surprised him by giving him a companionable wink and speaking. â€œSire,â€​e said. 
 	The King turned to him. Ted looked at them looking at one another, and shivered. They had known each other for a long time and they were fond of one another; Randolph was going to kil the King, and Randolph knew it now. 
 	â€œHis Highness thinks,â€ said Randolph, â€œbecause I have told him so, that he is but an indifferent swordsman. 
 	He grows smug when praised, my lord, and while a smug scholar is a fool, a smug swordsman is a dead man. But it were shameful for him to say before your council that he is an indifferent swordsman, and since it is not true, he shal not say it. He does very wel , my lord. The blood of King John shows in him.â€​par 	The King, who had appeared pleased during most of this speech, scowled suddenly at the name of King John. 
 	Randolph raised an eyebrow at the King, and Ted recognized the gesture as a chal enge. 
 	â€œIt delights my heart to hear thee say so,â€ said the King to Randolph, a little stiffly. Randolph nodded at him. 
 	The King turned back to Ted. â€œThis likes me wel ,â€ he said, â€œthat thou art skil ful outside thy books. A bookish king is a shaky fortress.â€​par 	Ted, who had no lines for this scene because he had never played it, bowed again. From the corner of his eye he had seen Randolph wince at what the King said. 
 	The King nodded at Ted in what Ted took for a gesture of dismissal, so he turned and made his velvet-encumbered way to the other end of the table. Andrew and Benjamin, final y, moved for their seats. Ted saw that Benjamin seemed taken aback, and that on Andrewâ€™s face was a sort of outraged bewilderment, which made Ted want to laugh. 
 	He dragged out his heavy wooden chair with a horrible scraping on the stone floor, and crammed himself and his robe into it. 
 	Everyone he knew was at the other end of the table. On his right he had a lean young man, clean shaven, with a mass of red hair and a sardonic eye. If Ted had not heard the moustached man and Benjamin, he would have thought that this was Andrew. The young man grinned at him. Ted smiled back, not very wel , and looked at the man on his left. 
 	This was a large, older man with very little hair on his head and a vast black beard. He, too, looked like Ruth and El en. 
 	
 	Ted, struggling with his memory, produced triumphantly the knowledge that this was Conrad, Laura and El enâ€™s father and, he thought, Randolphâ€™s brother. That would explain, at least, why Randolph looked like El en. 
 	King Wil iam, fifteen feet away, rang a bel , and everyone was instantly quiet. 
 	â€œMy lords,â€ said the King. His voice carried clearly down the long table; Ted might have been sitting next to him. 
 	â€œWe are met with ye this fourteenth day of June, in the forty-sixth year of our reign, the four hundred and ninetieth year since King John vanquished the Dragon King, that we may impart to ye such matters as ye may aid us in the resolution of.â€​par 	Ted, puzzled by a scratching sound at his elbow, looked around and saw that the young man on his right was scribbling with a quil pen on some thick stuff. Ted knew then who he was: Matthew, the Kingâ€™s scribe. He was in fact much more like a secretary, but Ruth and El en had objected to this term, so he was cal ed the Scribe. Ted, who had thought Matthew would take his notes on wax tablets and commit them to parchment only for presentation to the Kingâ€™s library, felt chagrined, and wondered how he could keep Patrick from saying I-told-you-so. 
 	â€œWe have spoken to our scouts,â€ said the King, â€œthose who returned at monthâ€™s end; their tale is al of disquiet. Keeping watch in their accustomed places, where from yearâ€™s end to yearâ€™s end only the sheep have walked, they have seen the very stones rise and hurl themselves through the air; they have discerned wisdom in the eye of the sparrow, malice in the cal of the dove, cunning in the step of the hare.â€​par 	
 	Ted sat with his eyes widening. Nobody he knew had written this speech. They had decided that the Dragon King had sent his shape-changers as harmless animals to spy out the southern reaches of the Secret Country, but they had never said it like this. 
 	Conrad saw him staring, and leaned and spoke to him. 
 	â€œA speaketh as one in thy books, eh, lad?â€​par 	Ted grinned. That much was true. â€œAye, my lord,â€ he said. From clear down the table he felt Benjaminâ€™s glare, and he looked quickly back at the King. 
 	â€œThey say sorcery stalks our southern lands, as has not been since King John rode out to quel the Dragon King,â€​aid King Wil iam. 
 	â€œThey say that the rivers stand in their beds or run uphil , that the very trees walk so that a man may wake of a dawn and find his cornfield a forest. They say the fish speak and the children are dumb.â€ The King stopped to clear his throat. The room was stil except for the scratch of Matthewâ€™s pen and the hiss of the torches. â€œThey say there are plagues of man and dog and crop, and they say the people beg our aid.â€​par 	He stopped, and Andrew put out his hand palm up in the middle of the table. 
 	â€œOur Lord Andrew,â€​aid the King. 
 	â€œSaving Your Majesty,â€ said Andrew. He said this less pleasantly than he might have, and Ted saw Randolphâ€™s brows draw together. â€œIf these tales did come at last monthâ€™s end, why a fortnightâ€™s delay in the tel ing of them?â€​par 	â€œThey also say,â€ said the King, quite pleasantly, â€œthat Fence cometh, with better report and ful er. I have sent physicians to the ailing, but this bodes some strange eruption to our state, more than a plague of nature. We needs must conclude what mean these things and how we shal meet them.â€​par 	Andrewâ€™s hand was stil palm up on the table, and the King nodded to him. 
 	â€œSire,â€ said Andrew, â€œhave our scouts seen these things themselves, or do they but repeat the tales of the wild, the ignorant, or the mad? I know wel how the work of our guardians has turned to rumormongering in these fat and pursy times.â€​par 	Randolph flung his hand down upon the table with a crack that must have hurt his knuckles. 
 	â€œOur Lord Randolph,â€​aid the King. 
 	â€œI,â€ said Randolph, with great precision, â€œhave spoken to the scouts. Among them are Morgan, Gregory, and Suzanne. I think, my lord, you wil al ow that these are neither wild, nor mad, nor ignorant?â€​par 	Andrew nodded. 
 	â€œThey did indeed begin by hearing rumors,â€ said Randolph, â€œbut they ended by being themselves besieged. Fence delivered them, or we might have no report at al . These are no idle tales, my lord. Our own men have seen these things, and some nearly died of it.â€​par 	Andrew took his hand from the table. He did not seem distressed. Randolph left his where it was, and the King nodded to him. 
 	â€œSire,â€ said Randolph. â€œSince I spoke with the scouts I have been studying the Book of King John. I have shown some part of it to the more trustworthy of the scouts. 
 	My lords,â€ he said, looking up and down the table with an economical movement that made every one of them sit forward, â€œthe scouts agree with me that the things they have seen are precisely the warnings, in the Book of King John, of another rising of the Dragon King. His agents are among us, and we must prepare for battle.â€​par 	Conrad put his hand down. 
 	â€œOur Lord Conrad,â€​aid the King. 
 	â€œMy lords,â€ said Conrad, â€œI do not doubt these tidings, but I doubt their import. There has ever been grave doubt that indeed King Johnâ€™s book is history and not fable. Nature does not teach us of such things as he has written. But she teaches much of sham and trickery. The only spel s anyone has witnessed for a generation have been spel s of il usion. Methinks these are none other than such.â€​par 	â€œAnd what then,â€ said Randolph, â€œis their import?â€​par 	â€œNo doubt, my lord,â€ said Conrad, leaning across his neighbors so that he could see Randolph, â€œthat some power in the south sends spies to us, and doth indeed contemplate an invasion. But how to meet that power is what we must contend. To meet these signs with King Johnâ€™s tactics is to meet our end.â€​par 	Matthewâ€™s hand came down on the table, stil holding his pen, and startling Ted. Randolph quickly took his away, and Conradâ€™s stayed where it was. 
 	â€œOur lord Matthew,â€​aid the King. 
 	â€œTwo points,â€ said Matthew. â€œFirst, King Johnâ€™s book is not the only record of his battle. Worthy generals fil ed pages with their wonder that he had won with such outlandish strategies. They quarreled with him bitterly about his battle plans, using just such speeches as we hear from Lord Conrad, and when they went to battle â€™twas with the certainty that they but trailed a madman to his death and theirs.â€​par 	â€œThose documents,â€ said Conrad, â€œare but doubtful.â€​par 	â€œSo are al documents,â€ said Matthew. â€œWe can but use what we are given.â€​par 	He looked as if he would say more, but Ted, quaking, put his hand down on the table. 
 	â€œYour Highness,â€​aid the King. 
 	â€œMy lords,â€ said Ted. His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. Speech class would be nothing after this. 
 	â€œMy lords, I have made a study of these documents. The men who seemed to doubt them were not scholars. They were renegade wizards who wished to make al men disbelieve in magic, that in secret their power might be greater. Nothing they say is to be trusted.â€ He took his hand away and wiped sweat from it onto Lord Justinâ€™s robe. 
 	Matthew and Conradâ€™s hands remained on the table, and both lords looked at the King. 
 	â€œYour second point,â€​aid the King to Matthew. 
 	â€œJust this matter of wizards,â€ said Matthew, inclining his head to Ted. â€œI grant, my lord Conrad, that indeed there are spel s of il usion which can deceive an ordinary man. But which of them can deceive Fence? If he says these things are real, then they are real.â€​par 	Conrad snatched his hand from the table as Andrew slapped his down again. 
 	â€œAndrew,â€​aid the King. 
 	â€œYour pardon,â€ said Andrew, â€œbut our young scribe is perhaps too honest in his own mind to perceive the crookedness of others.â€​par 	Ted stole a glance at Matthew, who was taking down Andrewâ€™s words in a series of vicious stabs which could not have been good for the pen but which Ted was entirely in sympathy with. 
 	â€œPrince Edward has spoken of renegade wizards,â€
 	said Andrew. â€œI submit, my lords, that those of whom he spoke were not vil ains, but honest men endeavoring to show forth the trickery of their fel ows. I submit that al wizardry is but trickery, and al spel s but il usion. That Fence says the signs reported by the scouts are real, means nothing unless Fence is to be trusted. My lords, no wizard is to be trusted.â€ Randolphâ€™s hand came down on the table, very gently. Andrew went on. â€œThey are no manâ€™s servants; they pursue their own ends. The wizards of Fenceâ€™s Country were ever ready to aid our enemies. Shan himself served the Dragon King for a score of years. My lords, Fence is a traitor, using the ignorance of our ancestors as a trap to catch us in.â€​par 	Even in the uncertain and ruddy light of the torches, Ted could see that Randolph had turned red. The King looked toward Randolph and began to nod, but Benjamin put a hand on Randolphâ€™s wrist, and Matthew put his own ha nd down quickly. The King surveyed them al for a moment. â€œRandolph?â€​e said. 
 	
 	â€œI yield to Matthew,â€ said Randolph, with no particular emphasis, but Ted shivered. 
 	â€œShan did not serve the Dragon King in his wars against us,â€ said Matthew, â€œand, even were Shan a blacker traitor than Melanie, that says nothing of Fence. 
 	Wizards go their own ways, they have no common goals, they are not a force, together. They cannot work together, and they dislike one anotherâ€™s company.â€​par 	â€œSo,â€ said Andrew, without permission, â€œthey would have us believe.â€​par 	â€œCease,â€ said the King. Andrew was silent, but only, Ted knew, because he had no more to say. â€œMatthew,â€​par 	said the King, â€œwrite not that remark.â€​par 	â€œSire,â€ said Matthew, â€œI would prefer to let it remain. I yield to Andrew, that he may have said it.â€​par 	â€œAs you wil ,â€ said the King. Matthewâ€™s pen scratched on. Benjamin lifted his hand from Randolphâ€™s wrist, and Randolph moved the hand a little further out onto the table. â€œRandolph,â€ said the King with a trace of resignation. 
 	â€œAndrew,â€ said Randolph. â€œWith regard to Shanâ€™s serving our enemies, may I remind you that he left the service of the Dragon King and aided King John in the battle against him, and that he later worked for us the Border Magic. He did these things because it was in plans to attack us that the Dragon King first revealed his true purposes and his madness.â€​par 	â€œSo Shan said,â€ said Andrew, one hand under his chin and the other in his lap. 
 	â€œCease,â€​aid the King, more sharply this time. 
 	
 	Andrew bowed his head. â€œYour pardon, Sire,â€ he said; he did not sound sorry. 
 	â€œMatthew, write not that remark,â€ said the King. 
 	â€œRandolph, pray continue.â€​par 	â€œSire, I would prefer to let it remain,â€ said Randolph, â€œand I yield to Andrew that he may have said it.â€​par 	â€œAs you wil , then,â€ said the King. â€œThis courtesy among my counselors is more strange than Fenceâ€™s reports, I think. I prithee, say on.â€​par 	â€œSire, I cannot see that there is anything more to say,â€ said Randolph. â€œIf there is a conspiracy of wizards against us, then whatever we say, Andrew wil but answer â€˜o say they.â€™ To prove him wrong, we have history, which may be lies; eyewitnesses, who may have been deceived by il usion; and Fence, who may be a traitor. 
 	I would fol ow Fence to war with a childâ€™s hoop for my weapon, if he told me â€™twould serve me best. He is my master and my friend, and I think that, were he treacherous, it must have shown itself to me in some way in the years we have worked together. But unless you trust my judgment, Sire, which Andrew wil say may be overturned by spel s of il usion, nought that I say can help you. Andrew has no proof except to say, if things are as he says they are, then indeed there would be no proof. We have no proof of which he cannot say â€˜his is il usion.â€™ If we march to meet the Dragon King with the weapons and strategies which wil vanquish men, we wil have our proof when we are vanquished by monsters. And that wil be too late.â€ He took his hand from the table, in a motion so final that Ted shivered again. 
 	Matthew put his hand down. 
 	
 	â€œMatthew,â€​aid the King. 
 	â€œMy lord Andrew,â€ said Matthew, â€œgranted that your view of the nature of wizards answers al our arguments, what reason do you have for such a view? Why should there be such a conspiracy? What would it profit them? Why have none discovered it earlier? Can you at least show that what you say is probable?â€​par 	â€œAndrew?â€​aid the King. 
 	â€œMy lords,â€ said Andrew, â€œit is more probable than the opposite view. It is more probable than the existence of magic.â€​par 	Benjamin, Randolph, Matthew, Ted, and someone Ted did not recognize and who had not spoken, al put their hands down at once. The King sat stil , studying them. 
 	â€œMy lords,â€ he said, â€œthis is not a conference of philosophers. We do not see the profit in wrangling, and that is what it would come to should we let ye speak. I wil ponder what has been said here. Any of ye who yet hath arguments to make, when the blood hath cooled a trifle, speak to Lord Matthew, and he wil see that ye have audience with me. I thank ye for your aid.â€​par 	He stood and bowed to them. With a tremendous scraping of chairs, they stood and bowed back to him. He gestured to Benjamin, shook his head at Randolph, and swept from the room. Ted, even in his consternation, wished he could manage his own robe like that. 
 	The room erupted into babble. Matthew turned to Ted. 
 	â€œI thank you for your help,â€ he said. â€œI had not known that anyone had doubted the generalsâ€™ writings, let alone who or why.â€​par 	
 	â€œIâ€™m afraid Andrew turned the information to his own ends,â€ said Ted; he was much too angry to be worried about what he said. 
 	â€œThat is the way of Andrew,â€ said Randolph, behind Ted. Ted nearly jumped. Randolph edged himself between Ted and Matthew, dropping a hand on Tedâ€™s shoulder. 
 	Ted did jump. 
 	â€œI cry you mercy,â€ said Randolph, letting go of him. 
 	â€œSo you are nervy after al . How many times have I sat in council, knowing what you knew wel enough to see it should be said, but not wel enough to say it; how often have you avoided my eye? When you spoke today, I thought my praise of your fencing had suddenly made you fearless.â€​par 	â€œNot that,â€ said Ted. â€œI didnâ€™t even know whether to believe you. It was Andrew; he made me angry.â€​par 	â€œHe makes me angry thrice a day,â€ said Randolph, dryly, â€œbut it does not start me from my accustomed way.â€​par 	â€œDonâ€™t tel me,â€ said Ted, rendered reckless by a desire to impress Randolph, â€œthat you always let Benjamin keep you from speaking in council.â€​par 	Matthew, who had been gathering up his writing paraphernalia, laughed. â€œA hit, Randolph, a very palpable hit.â€​par 	Randolph eyed Ted with a curiosity that made him uncomfortable. â€œItâ€™s true enough,â€ said Randolph, â€œI do not.â€​par 	â€œRandolph,â€ said Matthew, serious again, â€œdoes he believe what he says, think you, or is it he who is the traitor?â€​par 	â€œMind your tongue,â€ said Randolph. â€œI do not know, but you should not make that accusation lightly.â€​par 	â€œAndrew accused Fence!â€ said Ted. This had not happened in their play, and he was both dismayed and furious. 
 	â€œHe may wel pay for it,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	â€œNot â€˜e wil â€™?â€ asked Matthew. He looked over his armful of paper and pen and ink at Randolph, and Ted saw that they understood each other and that they were afraid. 
 	â€œMy prince,â€​aid Benjamin from across the room. 
 	â€œSir?â€​par 	â€œA word with you.â€​par 	â€œPlease excuse me,â€ said Ted to Randolph and Matthew, his Secret language having deserted him. He went to Benjamin. Everyone else had gone. 
 	â€œI fear thou must share the fate of thy brother and thy cousins,â€ said Benjamin. â€œTo bed with thee; may thy hunger sharpen thy wits for the future.â€​par 	â€œButâ€”â€​par 	â€œI have giâ€™en thee as much aid as I have stomach for; away wiâ€™ thee.â€​par 	Ted, remembering suddenly that he and his companions had to get home before their other set of grown-ups was as angry as Benjamin had been at the wel , nodded. He hoped that al the royal children were, in fact, quartered in the east wing (where the game had put them). He bowed to Benjamin and again to Matthew and Randolph. Benjamin scowled. Matthew and Randolph bowed back. Ted went away quickly. 
 	
 CHAPTER 4

 	ELLEN and Laura sat in the room they shared. Exploring it had occupied them for some time. It was as large and as green carpeted and as hung with tapestries as it ought to have been. They had delved into large cedar and oaken chests and pul ed out odd underwear packed with sweet herbs, and thick woolen blankets, and quilts worked with dragons and unicorns and foxes and flutes and stars. They had opened the enormous oak wardrobe and stared half in delight and half in horror at the far-too-many, far-too-lacy dresses and the velvet cloaks and feathered hats. They had subjected the tapestries to a historical scrutiny that left El en with very little to complain about. Laura objected to one tapestry because it was ful of white horses, but El en reminded her that the Princess Laura loved horses, and Laura had to shut up. 
 	They had found a bone flute, a wooden lap harp, three daggers, about two dozen rag-and-china dol s, and a pile of sloppy-looking embroidery spotted with what El en said were Princess El enâ€™s bloodstains, Princess El en having little use for the domestic arts. They had bounced on the feather bed and discovered that it had no springs, but that the feather pil ows worked far better in a pil ow fight than foam or Dacron polyester. They had crawled over their green carpet, admiring the blue birds and curlicues it was worked with. They had found their bathing room, which had a tub about the size of a normal bathroom, with al its bronze fixtures in the shape of dragons. Laura was taken aback by the realization that this real y was a bathroom, nothing more nor less, but then El en found its other half, lavishly done in some carved golden wood. El en announced with considerable delight that this was a garderobe. It was slightly smel y but a considerable improvement over the latrines at Girl Scout camp, and therefore not to be complained of. On a shelf in the garderobe they had found a black cat that refused to wake up and pay attention to them. 
 	But they were not happy now. They had been sent to bedâ€”where they had not gone, except for the pil ow fightâ€”without any dinner. Laura was hungry. El en was hungry and sleepy both, because dinnertime in the Secret Country was breakfast time in Australia and she had, by her reckoning, been up al night. She was nervous because soon her mother would be coming to wake her and she wouldnâ€™t be there. Laura sat envisioning the Barrettsâ€™ frantic search of the library, and nursed her bruises. Only the dol s surprised her; she did in fact feel at home in this room. But she had too many things to worry about to enjoy the feeling. 
 	They were locked in, and even if they had not been, they had no idea where any of the others were. They were especial y worried about Ted, because Benjamin had kept him in the courtyard. 
 	â€œWe have to get out of here!â€​aid El en. 
 	Laura rattled the heavy door for the fourth time, and then went over to the window and knelt on the cushioned seat. 
 	This time she spared no notice for the red fox worked on the blue cushion, but just opened the shutters. They opened outward; there was no glass in the window. It was tal , deep and narrow, and narrower at the outside than at the inside. 
 	â€œEl en!â€​aid Laura, staring. â€œCome look.â€​par 	El en uncurled herself from the enormous bed and stalked over to the window, pushing handsful of hair out of her eyes. 
 	â€œWhat?â€​par 	Laura pointed. â€œDown by the lake.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s a horse,â€ said El en. â€œDrinking. So what?â€​par 	â€œThat isnâ€™t a stupid horse.  Wait til itâ€™s finished.â€​par 	â€œI thought you meant the view at first,â€ said El en, obligingly fixing her eyes on the animal. â€œItâ€™s pretty.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™ve never seen real mountains before,â€ said Laura. 
 	She was stil not sure she liked them. They floated over their reflections in the glassy lake like drifts of snow, as if they might melt by morning and flood the castle. Their trees were as tiny as the little curly weeds that grow between cracks in the sidewalk and look like forests seen from a long way up. Laura did not recognize them at al . 
 	â€œThis must be the famous view the famous artist came to paint, and we had to go live in Ruthâ€™s room,â€ said El en. They giggled. 
 	The animal drinking at the lake raised its head. Its long horn was red in the light of sunset. 
 	â€œOh,â€ said El en. Then she frowned. â€œI thought they lived in the Enchanted Forest. Whatâ€™s it doing in our backyard?â€​par 	â€œThat is the Enchanted Forest, where the mountains turn west,â€ said Laura. â€œThis was Princess Margaretâ€™s room, remember, and she looked out at the Enchanted Forest al day and wrote songs about it, because her fatherâ€”â€​par 	â€œI stil donâ€™t think it belongs in our backyard.â€​par 	â€œWel , if you can cal that a backyardâ€”â€​par 	â€œI bet it Means Something,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œI hope not,â€ said Laura, her pleasure in the animal considerably diminished. 
 	The door clanked and rattled and scraped, and they jumped. The door opened, and Ruth and Patrick came in. 
 	Patrick wore a leather belt with a scabbard on it around his waist. The scabbard was empty, but he seemed to have trouble walking with it. 
 	â€œYou could have knocked,â€ said El en. â€œWe might have been timid ladies-in-waiting or spies plotting or anything, for al you knew.â€​par 	â€œWhereâ€™s Ted?â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œHeâ€™s attending a council,â€ said Patrick. â€œIt was supposed to be this afternoon, but of course they couldnâ€™t find Ted.â€​par 	â€œWhich was why Benjamin was angry even before he thought that Ted and I were plotting to elope,â€ said Ruth, sourly. 
 	â€œAnd we did too know it was you in here,â€ said Patrick, â€œbecause in my room thereâ€™s a historical map of High Castle. I know your room used to be Princess Margaretâ€™s chamber, and Ruthieâ€™s was where Mad John hanged himself afterâ€”â€​par 	â€œI canâ€™t imagine,â€ said Ruth hastily, â€œwhat made me think it would be fun to live in a haunted room.â€​par 	
 	â€œYou donâ€™t like it,â€ said Patrick, â€œbut Lady Ruth of the Green Caves loves it.â€​par 	â€œLady Ruth of the Green Caves is a weird person.â€​par 	â€œWel , youâ€™d better start acting weird, then.â€​par 	Laura wished she had only to be a weird person, instead of an expert horsewoman and the best dancer in six kingdoms. 
 	â€œAre you and Ted planning to elope?â€ said El en to Ruth. 
 	â€œNo,â€ said Ruth, â€œand I ought to slap your face for even asking.â€​par 	Laura looked at her with admiration. She had always liked Ruthâ€™s sorceress voice, as long as the Lady Ruth and Princess Laura were on the same side. 
 	El en gaped at her sister, who had never hit anybody in her life. But she recovered quickly. â€œYou touch me, milady,â€ she said, â€œand Iâ€™l speak to my undergardener about that hemlock.â€​par 	â€œCut it out,â€ said Patrick, earning himself three scandalized looks. â€œWe have to decide how to escape. 
 	Tedâ€™s coming here when the councilâ€™s overâ€”or I hope he is. I left him a note in our room.â€​par 	â€œHowâ€™d you get out?â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œI got him out,â€ said Ruth, sitting in their rocking chair. â€œLady Ruth has a set of al the keys in High Castle. 
 	Sheâ€™s trusted.â€​par 	â€œIf sheâ€™s so trusted,â€ said Patrick, maneuvering himself and his scabbard onto the bed, â€œhow come Benjamin can send her to bed without dinner?â€​par 	
 	â€œI think Benjamin might have overstepped himself,â€
 	said Ruth; she sounded smug. â€œI have a lady-in-waiting, or a chambermaid, or somethingâ€”not Agatha, somebody elseâ€”and when I told her what heâ€™d done, first she thought I was joking and then she was shocked. She was the one who mentioned the keys.â€ Ruth patted the waistband of her skirt, which jingled. 
 	â€œIf youâ€™d wear pants like a normal person,â€ said El en, â€œyou could just keep the keys in your pocket.â€​par 	â€œDonâ€™t start that,â€ said Patrick. â€œHow are we going to get out of here?â€​par 	â€œYes,â€ said El en, â€œwe must finish our interrupted ceremony before the Spirit of the Green Caves blights al ourâ€”â€​par 	â€œCut it out,â€ said Patrick. â€œThis is serious. Good grief, weâ€™re stuck in a magical country and we have to sneak past the best guards in it and ride four leagues in the dark and then sneak back into our housesâ€”isnâ€™t that enough? Do you have to play too?â€​par 	El en and Ruth looked at Patrick. Laura looked at the floor. 
 	â€œWhich door,â€ said Ruth at last, â€œis the least guarded?â€​par 	And they argued about escaping. Ted did not come for several hours, so it was quite an argument. The main problem was that Ruth or El en would say, â€œLetâ€™s say Benjamin had too much wine and fel asleep,â€ or â€œLetâ€™s say they left that little window open in the stable and . . .â€ and Patrick, nastily, would remind them that no matter what they said, Benjamin would remain sober and the window would remain locked. Then he would add, thoughtful y, that they didnâ€™t even know if there was a little window in the stable. 
 	About halfway through the discussion, Laura asked, â€œBut what about al those extra wal s?â€​par 	â€œThe outer one isnâ€™t on the map in my room,â€
 	said Patrick. â€œBut there are lots of little doors and gates in the other ones. Theyâ€™ve got real y rotten security around here.â€​par 	â€œWel , of course they have,â€ said Ruth patiently. 
 	â€œOnly the two innermost castles were ever used as a fortress. The rest were built after we got the Border Magic.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s stil too easy for prisoners to escape,â€ said Patrick. â€œAnyway, Laurie, I think there are lots of ways for people to get to the gardens and the lake. We just have to worry about stealing the horses.â€​par 	The sun had been almost down when Ruth and Patrick came in. Eventual y they had to light the lamps. This diverted one argument and began another. Ted walked into the middle of it. He wore a long blue robe and an unhappy expression. Laura, who had not been arguing, looked at him and giggled. 
 	â€œYou shut up,â€ he said heavily, and sat upon the bed. 
 	H e scowled lengthily at Laura and El en and Patrick, and then he looked at Ruth. â€œOh, I see,â€ he said to her. 
 	â€œYouâ€™re lucky youâ€™re wearing that.â€​par 	â€œWhat?â€ said El en, looking at her sisterâ€™s long skirt and lacy blouse. 
 	â€œOn top of everything else,â€ said Ted, â€œI got a lecture on proper attire which I was told to pass to you al . 
 	
 	Benjamin never wants to see any of these garments again.â€​par 	â€œWhatâ€™s wrong with us?â€​aid El en bel igerently. 
 	â€œYou,â€ said Ted, â€œare wearing very dirty blue jeans with holes in both knees, and a blouse I guess is Ruthâ€™s, because it sure is too big for you. Also it has chocolate stains on it. Your brother has red paint al over his jeans.â€​par 	Laura stared at him. This was not like Ted, who didnâ€™t care what anyone wore, and it was not like Prince Edward, who did care but was much too shy to say anything about it. 
 	â€œLaurie,â€ said Ted, staring back at her, â€œis wearing one of Davidâ€™s T-shirts that David slid down the dirt slide in yesterday and there are gravy stains on her shorts. Under this stuffâ€â€”he plucked at the shining folds of his robeâ€”â€œI have this T-shirt my mother hates because itâ€™s only got one sleeve, and old patched blue jeans. Benjamin wants to know where in the world we found this stuff and how we could possibly want to wear it.â€​par 	â€œWhat did you tel him?â€​sked Laura, fascinated. 
 	â€œWe have to get home,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œIâ€™ve been thinking about that,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œWe were here before we were here, if you know what I mean. So maybe weâ€™re back home too, doing just what weâ€™re supposed to do, and nobody is worried.â€​par 	â€œThe only way to find out is to go home and see,â€
 	said Patrick, â€œand if youâ€™re wrong then the sooner we get home the better.â€​par 	â€œBut we have to have a conference,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œThat councilâ€”â€​e shook himself a little. 
 	
 	â€œWas it like the wel ?â€ said El en. â€œNot quite right?â€​par 	â€œWorse,â€ said Ted, thoughtful y; â€œsome of it was too right.â€​par 	â€œLetâ€™s have our conference tomorrow, then,â€
 	said Patrick. 
 	â€œOh, al right.â€ Ted stood up and clambered out of his robe. â€œI found a sheath for the sword,â€ he said, patting it. 
 	â€œMe too,â€​aid Patrick. â€œCome on.â€​par 	â€œYou do look grubby in those other clothes,â€ said El en to Ted. â€œHowâ€™d you get Benjamin to let you keep them?â€​par 	â€œYou should talk. He was in a hurry.â€​par 	Patrick stood up. â€œLetâ€™s go.â€​par 	â€œGo how?â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œJust come on,â€ said Patrick. They trailed him out of the room, muttering at one another. 
 	They had trouble finding their way out of the castle. They were acquainted with its floor plan, but they were used to certain landmarks which did not exist here, such as the rose trel is, the doghouse, and the hammock, and they were not used to having things be as big as they had said the things were. 
 	Laura, whose legs were the shortest, scrambled behind the other four, tripping only occasional y and wondering how it could be so cold in here when it was so hot outside. This was better than the Barrettsâ€™ stuffy house, but there was no time to enjoy it. Laura tried to decide whether she preferred the Barretts without horses or the Secret Country with the horses, tripped on a spot where a paving stone was missing, and gave up trying to think. 
 	It was very dim in the passages; torches burned in brackets on the wal s, but not many and not bright. Final y they found the door that would take them down to the south side of High Castle. It creaked. It was supposed to, so that the vigilant guards of the Crown might discover Lord Randolph as he tried to sneak through it. It had never occurred to any of them that they might one day need to sneak through it themselves. 
 	â€œI hate this,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œShut up!â€ said Patrick, patiently easing the door open and drawing its squeaks out so long that they were hardly noticeable. 
 	â€œYou donâ€™t have to open it al the way,â€ said Laura, who by now was in a fever to be gone. â€œWe can squeeze through.â€​par 	â€œNo we canâ€™t,â€ said Patrick. â€œWe donâ€™t want somebody fal ing down the stairs.â€ Laura knew whom he meant by â€œsomebody.â€​par 	â€œWe need a flashlight,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œBe quiet,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	They huddled against the wal and let Patrick finish opening the door. Laura wanted to ask El en whose idea it had been to make the hal s so drafty. She thought of the vast spaces of High Castle above them, and wondered where al the guards had gone, and kept stil . 
 	â€œAl right,â€ said Patrick final y. Colder air came out of the open doorway at them. The stairs were not lit at al . 
 	
 	â€œKeep close to the wal s,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œAnd not too close together,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œTed,â€ said Ruth, â€œyou should go first and I last.â€​par 	Nobody contradicted this, so Ted put a foot out and felt cautiously for the first step. Laura cringed, expecting it to creak as the door had. Then she remembered that the steps were stone, and felt foolish. Ted meanwhile had felt his way down two more steps. 
 	â€œAl right,â€ he said, his voice a little hol ow in the stairwel , â€œfirst Laurie, and then Patrick, and then El en.â€​par 	Laura heard Patrick grumbling under his breath as she started after Ted, and she wished he were not behind her. 
 	She started cautiously down the stairs. There was no banister or handrail, and the wal was cold. When the wal stopped she knew she was at the bottom. The lower hal was not lit either. She took two more steps so she would be out of Patrickâ€™s way when he got there, and bumped into Ted. 
 	â€œDammit, you made me blink!â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™d better watch your language,â€ said Laura automatical y. 
 	â€œOh, shut up. Lookâ€”do you see light?â€​par 	â€œNo.â€​par 	â€œLook. Here. Patrick, donâ€™t bump into her,â€ said Ted over her head. â€œTurn and look down the hal to the right.â€​par 	â€œYes!â€ said Patrick immediately, in Lauraâ€™s ear. 
 	
 	â€œIt must be moonlight through the crack in the door.â€​par 	â€œWhat crack?â€​emanded Laura. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s the Great South Door,â€ said Patrick, â€œand the crack is where the Dragon King hit it with his battering ram. He had a bet with King Conrad, you know, which is why they never mended the door and why itâ€™s not guardedâ€”ow!â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said El en, â€œyour foot was where my foot had to go next.â€​par 	â€œBe quiet, â€​aid Ruth, behind El en. 
 	They blundered down the hal toward the faint splinter of light until Laura found the door by hitting her head on it. She was glad it was a plain door, not carved. Ted moved her out of the way and fumbled with the bolts. â€œHow many of these are there?â€​e asked. 
 	â€œThree,â€​aid El en. 
 	Ted drew the first two back with nothing worse than a little rattling, but the third one screamed. They al froze. This was the worst noise yet. Nothing happened. Ted final y pushed the door open to a rush of pale warm air and the smel s of mud and herbs. 
 	â€œCareful down the steps,â€​e said. 
 	They stumbled down the steps and stood in the shadow of the castle wal . A wide path, probably pink by day, but pleasantly pearly in the moonlight, ran from the south door to an open gate in the far wal of the garden. Through the gate they saw the shift and glint of moonlight on the water of the moat, with the shadow of the next wal black at its far side. 
 	â€œThe stables should be through there, across the moat, and to the left,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	
 	moat, and to the left,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œStay on the path,â€ said Ted. â€œThere are snares for rabbits in there.â€​par 	â€œRabbit snares?â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œThey eat everything,â€ said Ted patiently, and began to lead the way along the path. The moon was lopsided, not quite ful , but it gave more light than was comfortable. Laura felt like a strayed hamster in a flashlight beam. She took hold of El enâ€™s blouse and was towed along in her wake as El en, crowding behind Ted and stepping on his heels, demanded, â€œDid you put those rabbit snares in that garden?â€​par 	â€œThe gardener did, dummy . . . whatâ€™s his name, anyway?â€​par 	â€œTimothy,â€ said El en. â€œYou know what I mean. 
 	Did you put those rabbit snares in that garden? Because that is my garden and if I want rabbits kept out, I wil â€”â€​par 	â€œEl en,â€ said Patrick wearily, â€œwe donâ€™t even know for sure if there are rabbit snares. Weâ€™d just rather be safe than sorry.â€​par 	They crowded through the open gate and stared across a little lawn at the broad waters of the moat. 
 	â€œLaurie canâ€™t swim,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œConradâ€™s Bridge,â€ said Patrick, herding them al to the left along the outside of the garden wal . â€œIt should be right before the moat empties into the lake.â€​par 	They fol owed the wal as it curved around to form the eastern boundary of the garden. Something splashed in the moat, and Laura was grateful she could not swim. Then again, walking wasnâ€™t pleasant either; she had stumbled over every stone and stick for the past ten yards. 
 	â€œHow long is this wal ?â€​he asked. 
 	Ted stopped, letting El en bump into him and Laura into El en. Patrick and Ruth managed to stop without bumping. 
 	â€œDo you people suppose you could possibly be just a little bit quieter?â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œYes,â€ said Patrick, quietly enough. â€œWhere are the great skil ed catlike guards that are supposed to be lurking al over the place?â€​par 	â€œSo how long is this wal ?â€​hispered Laura. 
 	Ted pointed along the white lumpy line of the wal to a bright patch about twenty yards ahead of them. â€œThat is the lake. Now come on and be quiet.â€​par 	They came on, being quiet. There had been a path of sorts when they started, but it kept getting rockier and weedier, and they had not gotten very much farther when it turned into wet knee-high grass. 
 	â€œOh, criminy,â€​aid Ted, in a startled tone. 
 	â€œShhh!â€ said Laura, stepping into the grass behind him. A cold and wet and horribly close sensation overtook her, as if she were in a slimy cave. She shook her head and looked up, and shrieked. 
 	Of what real y happened next she missed almost al . Of what she thought happened next she remembered almost al and wished she did not. Discussing it later, they found that Patrick, Ted, and El en were in similar straits. Only Ruth knew what had real y happened, and this is what she said it was. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s the matter!â€​el owed El en. 
 	
 	â€œShut up!â€ hissed Patrick, but it was too late. Right above them torches flared upon the moon-silvered battlements of High Castle. El en shoved Patrick, who stepped into the grass. 
 	â€œRun!â€​ried El en. 
 	â€œNot that way!â€ shouted Patrick. Ruth watched him swing his sword at the empty air, duck away from nothing, and deliver to El en a push in the stomach that knocked the breath out of her and sent her right into Ruth. 
 	â€œWil you move!â€ said Ruth, pushing her back the other way. 
 	El en fel flat on her stomach into the grass, and then she yel ed. Ruth picked her up and ascertained that she was not bleeding or dead. El en went on yel ing. Ruth looked over her shoulder. More torches were coming to light on the wal s, and people were shouting up there now. Ruth looked for the rest of them. Ted and Laura were running, but not very wel . Ted was flailing his arms around his head as if to keep off flying things, and Laura kept screaming â€œGo away!â€ to the moonlit air. El en suddenly kicked Ruth in the shin, and Ruth dropped her. El en screamed again. 
 	Ruth took two steps into the grass, which twined itself around her ankles with blades as sharp as swords and began climbing up her legs. Ruth flung herself backward out of the grass, landing painful y on several inconvenient stones. She looked at her legs, and felt them for blood, and stood up, looking across the grass at the others. None of them seemed to be afflicted with climbing plants, although they were certainly afflicted with something. 
 	â€œOh,â€ said Ruth. She had remembered a piece of the Secret Countryâ€™s history that might account for al this. Then she heard the grate of wood on stone as the Great South Door was opened, and the clank of mail as men-at-arms came out of it. 
 	Ruth caught El en, who was wrestling on the ground with nothing in particular, by the col ar of her blouse, and dragged her into the grass. The grass sank itself into her legs again, and every time she took a step she felt as if it were cutting her legs to ribbons. But she went on being able to walk on them long after they should have been hacked to mincemeat, and after a few strides she was able to ignore the feeling. A more serious problem was El en, who was kicking and scratching and seemed inclined to bite as wel . 
 	Ruth clutched her harder, which produced a lul , and grabbed Patrick with her free hand. He was dangerous; he had the sword. 
 	â€œPatrick,â€ said Ruth urgently, â€œcut it out. Itâ€™s me. You know what this is, you idiot, this was part of your coming-of-age, stop it!â€​par 	Patrick immediately closed his eyes. â€œYouâ€™re right,â€ he said. â€œCome on.â€ He took one of El enâ€™s arms, and he and Ruth dragged her along. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s it doing to you? â€ asked Ruth, who thought that fighting a sturdy twelve-year-old was hard enough without being aided only by someone who refused to open his eyes. â€œCanâ€™t you look where weâ€™re going?â€​par 	â€œNever mind,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	They caught up with Ted and Laura. Ted had his sword out now. Laura was engaged in a vicious battle with her own hair. Patrick looked behind and saw the guards, the great skulking catlike guards, reach the edge of the grass. 
 	
 	He clamped his arms around El en as Ruth let go of her, and was rewarded by being bitten in the shoulder. He pushed her away. 
 	â€œEl ie, if you donâ€™t cut it out Iâ€™l trample your broccoli when we get home. I swear it. Close your eyes!â€​par 	El en did so. â€œOh,â€ she said. â€œThey arenâ€™t roaring after al .â€​par 	â€œTed,â€ said Ruth, catching at Tedâ€™s sword arm, â€œyou made this up, itâ€™s not real, stop it! Close your eyes,â€​he added hopeful y. 
 	Ted closed his eyes, and opened them again immediately. â€œItâ€™s worse that way,â€ he said, â€œbut now that you mention it, itâ€™s not so bad.â€ He col ared his sister. â€œShut your eyes!â€​e commanded. 
 	â€œThey are!â€​par 	â€œWel , open them, then! This isnâ€™t real!â€​par 	Laura did as she was told. â€œAre you sure? Watch out, itâ€™s coming at you! â€​par 	The guards stepped into the grass and roared. 
 	Al five children ran. 
 	â€œKeep your eyes closed!â€ hol ered Patrick as he stumbled out of the grass and tripped over something at the edge of the lake. Laura fel over him and began beating on him with both fists. 
 	Ruth stepped into the cold water of the lake and involuntarily opened her eyes. Ted came up beside her and attempted to deal with Laura. â€œThatâ€™s Patrick,â€ he told Laura, â€œleave him alone.â€ He tried to pick her up, and she hit him in the eye. 
 	
 	El en staggered up in time to help Ruth prevent Ted from hitting Laura back. 
 	â€œItâ€™s you?â€ said Laura. â€œYour bones arenâ€™t coming out?â€​par 	â€œNot yet,â€​aid Ted, trying to get his eye open. 
 	They al stared at one another for a moment, panting. The guards were yel ing and cursing on the other side of the field. 
 	â€œHereâ€™s the bridge!â€​al ed Patrick. 
 	They pounded across the bridge, slithered through a muddy space covered inadequately with straw, and leaned on the back wal of the stables, gasping. The noise of the guards did not seem to be coming any closer. 
 	â€œWhat was that?â€ said Laura, wrapping her arms around herself and shivering. 
 	â€œWhy are you cold?â€ demanded El en. â€œIt was like a volcano and the grasses burned our feet.â€​par 	â€œIt was wet,â€ said Laura, â€œand I donâ€™t want to talk about it.â€​par 	â€œHow do we deal with Benjamin?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œAnd al the undergrooms and stable boys and al that,â€​dded El en. 
 	â€œIâ€™l bet you theyâ€™ve gone to see what al the noise is about,â€ said Laura, more hopeful y than firmly. 
 	She could not break the habit of deciding what would happen according to the necessity of the moment. 
 	They went to find out, and Benjamin and everyone else had done just that, leaving the stable door wide open. 
 	
 	â€œHeâ€™s not supposed to do that,â€ said El en as they struggled with saddling the horses, which did not like the noise from outside and were not inclined to be forgiving of incompetence. Only Patrick had been taught to saddle a horse, and he was not forgiving either. 
 	â€œMaybe he recognized our voices,â€ said Laura, who was standing as far away from the horses as she could get. 
 	â€œHe always comes if weâ€™re in trouble.â€​par 	â€œHe ought to be right here, then,â€ said El en. 
 	â€œWhere does this go?â€​par 	â€œNever mind the saddles, there isnâ€™t time,â€ said Patrick. â€œJust do the bridles. Here, El ie, like this.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s al slobbery!â€​aid El en. 
 	From outside came three splashes and renewed cursing. 
 	It sounded much too near. Laura considered hiding in an empty stal . 
 	â€œHurry up, â€​aid Ruth. 
 	Patrick got four horses bridled, and Laura watched the other four manage to get themselves onto the horses. Then Ted had to dismount and boost Laura, whom everybody had forgotten, up behind Patrick, who was the only one among them with any real claim to horsemanship. They clattered and jingled and creaked out of the stable. The noise from the guards was stil going on, but it came from the garden now. 
 	â€œI bet there were rabbit snares in that garden,â€ said Ted. â€œListen to them swear!â€​par 	Feet pounded across the stableyard. They took their horses out the southern door of the stable and stopped, staring at the outermost wal s that stil towered above them. 
 	
 	â€œThereâ€™s a postern at the southeast corner,â€
 	said Patrick, neatly turning his horse in that direction. Laura suspected that the other horses fol owed him because they felt sociable rather than because anybody else knew how to tel a horse what to do. She was already having difficulty staying on the horse, and felt that being caught, even by furious guards, would be more a relief than otherwise. 
 	Patrickâ€™s postern was right where he had said it was. 
 	It was bolted on the inside and not very large, but Patrick dismounted and got it unbolted and they al got the horses through it without mishap. The horses needed no encouragement to gal op across the plain, and since Patrick had managed to head his in the right direction, they al went that way. They heard no new outcry behind them, and began to feel hopeful. After a few horrible jolting moments, Patrick even convinced his and Lauraâ€™s horse to assume a smoother gait, and Laura thought she might manage not to fal off after al . 
 	They did not real y know the way from High Castle to the Wel of the White Witch, but the horses did. It seemed a very long ride. Laura knew that four leagues was twelve miles, a distance one could travel in a car in about fifteen minutes. 
 	She did not know how fast horses could go. 
 	She tried to look around her. The land was flat and dark. 
 	The moonlight laid a skin of silver over it that revealed nothing except an occasional stream or pond. Laura tried the sky instead. The stars were huge. It was hard to be sure with the jouncing of the horse, but she could not find any of the familiar constel ations, and the whole of the heavens looked wrong somehow. 
 	â€œPatrick,â€​he said, â€œare the stars right?â€​par 	
 	Patrick looked up, bumping her nose with the back of his head. â€œHeh,â€ he said. â€œI donâ€™t think so. Those arenâ€™t the northern constel ations. I havenâ€™t real y learned the southern ones yet.â€​par 	â€œDoes the Secret Country have any constel ations?â€​par 	â€œI didnâ€™t make any up,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	Laura spent part of the rest of the trip trying to remember if anyone had, and another part trying not to fal asleep, and suddenly they were there. They slid off the horses and stood around uncertainly. The wel glowed a faint pink, but no one seemed to have the strength to remark on this. Patrick pul ed the two swords from their hiding place and gave one to Ted. Laura hoped it was the right one. 
 	â€œWhat do we do with the horses?â€​sked El en. 
 	â€œThey know their way home,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œHow do we tel them thatâ€™s what we want them to do?â€​par 	There was a brief argument which involved examples from most of the history of the Secret Country; final y Ruth agreed to say a spel over the horses which would make them go home. She whispered sorcerous words into their ears, and they plodded off in the direction of High Castle. 
 	â€œThey donâ€™t act very eager,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œWe didnâ€™t give them any water,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œTheyâ€™l survive,â€ said Patrick. â€œWhen and where do we meet again?â€​par 	â€œHere,â€ said Ted, â€œbut how do we know when weâ€™l be able to get away?â€​par 	â€œWel , why donâ€™t we try to be here twice a day, at noon and midnight?â€ said Ruth. â€œIf nobodyâ€™s here, wait half an hour and then go home.â€​par 	â€œAl right,â€ said Ted â€œand the first thing we do is have a conference.â€​par 	â€œGood-bye,â€​aid everyone. 
 	Ruth and Patrick and El en went toward the woods where their bottle trees must wait. Laura wondered how a bottle tree liked Pennsylvania weather. Feeling grateful that they did not have to go through the woods in the dark, she fol owed Ted up the hil to their stream. 
 	â€œWhy donâ€™t you put some water on your eye?â€
 	she suggested as they stepped into the stream. â€œItâ€™s cold enough,â€​he added. 
 	â€œNothing but an ice bag wil do any good,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œYou real y hit me, you little beast.â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said Laura, â€œI thought you were a big beast.â€​par 	â€œWhat did it look like?â€​par 	â€œWhat did yours?â€​par 	â€œNever mind,â€​aid Ted. 
 	They climbed the other bank of the stream and Ted held out the sword to Laura. They held on to it together and got themselves through the hedge. After some discussion involving whether magic swords rusted, whether anyone would take this magic sword away, and how they could hide it if they took it to the Barrettsâ€™, Ted left the sword, belt and al , under the hedge. They walked home slowly. They were so late that there was no use in hurrying. 
 	â€œWhat are we going to tel them?â€​sked Ted. 
 	
 	Lauraâ€™s empty stomach felt ful of snowbal s. 
 	â€œOh.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t suppose we can lie,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œWho could think up a good enough story anyway?â€​par 	â€œI could,â€​aid Ted, stung. 
 	â€œYou donâ€™t know how to make up that kind of story.â€​par 	â€œWeâ€™re late and wet,â€ said Ted. â€œAnd beat-up,â€ he added. â€œWe could say we got lost and were knocked around by some high school kids and had to hitchhike home.â€ He considered this. â€œThey took us to their clubhouse in the woods and we had to struggle through fields and streams before we found a road.â€​par 	â€œWouldnâ€™t the people who gave us a ride come in with us and talk to Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jim?â€​par 	â€œWel , maybe,â€ said Ted, discouraged. â€œThey might cal the police too, I guess.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™m not lying to any policeman!â€​par 	â€œOkay, okay.â€​par 	There was a terrible scene when they got home. Their aunt, even without tales of high school bul ies, had been about to cal the police, their three older cousins were combing the neighborhood for the third time, and their uncle was driving around town searching theaters and rol er-skating rinks and swimming pools. 
 	Al of them descended upon Ted and Laura with the fury of relief, and demanded explanations. Ted told his aunt that he and Laura could not tel her where they had been, and she would just have to take his word for it that it had not been perfidious mischief, and they could not help being late and battered. This line of argument had been known to work with his mother. It did not work with Aunt Kathy. Having been cleaned, dried, and bandaged where necessary, they were sent to bed without supper a second time, which made them even hungrier. They were also grounded for two days. 
 	Neither of them knew what that meant. Laura asked Jennifer, who had fol owed her upstairs to the room they shared and hung around, looking intrigued, while Laura changed into her nightgown. 
 	â€œIt means you have to stay in the house.â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s barbaric!â€​par 	â€œMom says weâ€™re barbaric.â€​par 	â€œHeh,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œWhere were you?â€​par 	â€œI canâ€™t tel you.â€​par 	â€œMom sure was mad,â€​aid Jennifer. 
 	Laura shrugged. 
 	â€œIf you do it again sheâ€™l probably write your parents.â€​par 	â€œOh.â€​par 	Jennifer glared at her. â€œWe could try some different games.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s not your fault,â€ said Laura, relenting. 
 	â€œWe had something we had to do, thatâ€™s al . And we hate games, truly.â€​par 	Jennifer went away to brush her teeth, slamming the bathroom door, and Laura went to tel Ted what being grounded meant. 
 	â€œWe canâ€™t wait two days!â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œBenjaminâ€™l kil us!â€​par 	â€œ Theyâ€™ll kil us if we donâ€™t wait two days,â€
 	said Laura. 
 	â€œMaybe we could sneak out at midnight,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œRuth and El en and Patrick are more likely to be there then; thatâ€™s daytime for them.â€​par 	â€œIf we get caught theyâ€™l write Mother and Dad.â€​par 	â€œBenjamin wil tel the King if we stay away two days.â€​par 	That was clearly worse. â€œOh, al right,â€​aid Laura. 
 	They sat glumly. 
 	â€œI donâ€™t think I like this,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œI know I donâ€™t,â€ said Ted, with such emphasis that Laura looked at him. 
 	â€œYou look like Randolph,â€​he observed. 
 	â€œHow the hel would you know?â€​emanded Ted. 
 	â€œI only meant,â€ said Laura, taken aback, â€œthat you look like you do when youâ€™re playing him.â€​par 	â€œWonderful,â€ 
 	said 
 	Ted. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s 
 	just
 	wonderful.â€​par 	â€œWhat,â€ demanded Laura in her turn, â€œare you trying to decide? Thatâ€™s Randolphâ€™s problem, trying to decide what to do about the King? So what are you tryingâ€”â€​par 	â€œNever you mind,â€ said Ted, firmly; that was one of Randolphâ€™s lines to Princess Laura. 
 	
 	Laura looked at him a little fearful y. She was used to living with Ted, and she could manage with Prince Edward, but she was not sure she wanted to live with Randolph. 
 	
 CHAPTER 5

 	LAURA had no trouble staying awake; she was hungry, and she ached. When Ted padded into her room, she sat up so quickly that Ted made a frightened hiss, and Jennifer turned over. Ted backed into the hal , and Laura seized her clothes and fol owed him. 
 	â€œYou get dressed,â€ whispered Ted, â€œand Iâ€™l get some food.â€​par 	He creaked off down the stairs, leaving Laura cringing. 
 	High Castle was less nerve-wracking than this. She put her clothes on, started down the stairs with her shoes in her hand, then remembered the flashlight under Tedâ€™s pil ow. It was half hers, through one of their parentsâ€™
 	infrequent departures from good sense. But since she and Jennifer were obliged to share a room, while Ted had his own, it had been decided that the flashlight would be safer under Tedâ€™s pil ow. Laura left her shoes on the stairs, fetched the flashlight, started back down the stairs, and tripped over the shoes. 
 	The kitchen was dark except for a patch of moonlight that made the refrigerator look like a polar bear. Laura did not care to turn the flashlight on it. 
 	â€œTed?â€​par 	The light went on, and the polar bear became a refrigerator with Ted standing to one side of it. â€œWas that you making al that noise?â€​e demanded. 
 	â€œWhereâ€™s the food?â€​par 	Ted looked unhappy. â€œWe shouldnâ€™t take it. It isnâ€™t ours. Weâ€™re just houseguests.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s our dinner!â€​par 	â€œYes, but we got sent to bed without it. And deserved it, you know.â€​par 	â€œHeh,â€ said Laura. She sat on the floor and put her shoes on. 
 	â€œGood, you brought the flashlight.â€​par 	â€œYes,â€ said Laura, slowly, â€œbut I think we should use a candle.â€​par 	â€œDonâ€™t be sil y,â€ said Ted, and Laura shut up. 
 	She decided that she should not have laughed at him in High Castle. 
 	They went out the side door, being careful to let it latch behind them. They did not want anyone to burgle the house because they had left the door unlocked. 
 	They had not had much experience with flashlights, since it would have been cheating to use them in the Secret. After a few blocks, Laura began to hate the way uncomfortable sorts of things seemed to scurry out of the path of the light. 
 	She made Ted, who had thought himself very kind to let her carry it, carry it himself. 
 	â€œItâ€™s just shadows,â€​aid her brother impatiently. 
 	â€œWel , good, it wonâ€™t bother you to hold the light, then.â€​par 	The house, when they got to it, was thoroughly alarming. It had no porch light and no yard light, and the streetlight closest to it was broken. It leaned over them, crooked and black. The night was stil and cloudy, but in the yard a little wind rattled the maple seeds on the sidewalk, as if they were being swept with a broom. Laura stopped dead and wished she had never noticed the house in the first place. 
 	Even Ted stared for a moment before he stooped under the hedge. He swore when Laura bumped into him; she had moved forward smartly to show herself that she wasnâ€™t real y afraid. 
 	Ted shone the flashlight about under the hedge for a moment, making al the sharp shadows of the leaves jump. 
 	Then he dragged the sword and scabbard out onto the sidewalk, and buckled the belt around himself. Laura saw him look up at the house, and then he turned the flashlight off. Laura put her hand on the piece of hilt he had left her, and they scrambled through. The hedge and the tal grass were sopping with dew, and both Ted and Laura acquired a layer of dirt and leaves on the way. 
 	They stood up in the yard, and a great darkness engulfed them. On this side of the hedge, the night was clear and the huge stars steady. But the globes of the working street-lamps, the faint background glow of the city, al the lights of civilization were gone. They were in the deep country on a dark night. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s get out of this yard,â€ whispered Ted, and they slithered back through the hedge. A fine mist drifted along the surface of the stream. 
 	â€œThe flashlight wil come in handy once weâ€™re in the woods, where she canâ€™t see it from the house,â€
 	breathed Ted. â€œCan you get that far?â€​par 	â€œYou canâ€™t use a flashlight here!â€ hissed Laura. 
 	â€œI told you we should have brought a candle.â€​par 	â€œWhy?â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s cheating.â€​par 	
 	â€œLaura,â€ said Ted, â€œhow can it be cheating if itâ€™s real?â€​par 	â€œBut there arenâ€™t any flashlights in the Secret Country.â€​par 	â€œThere would be if I brought one.â€​par 	Laura began to feel stubborn. â€œIt wonâ€™t work.â€​par 	â€œWant to bet?â€​par 	â€œAl right, I wil . How much?â€​par 	â€œFive dol ars.â€​par 	He knew that was her whole weekâ€™s al owance. She snorted at him. 
 	â€œWel , youâ€™l win, wonâ€™t you?â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œOh, al right.â€​par 	They crept careful y along the bank of the stream, hearing no noise but their own feet, and the smal lap of the water. 
 	Except for the awful presence of the house behind them, this night was far less frightening than its equivalent in Il inois. 
 	Laura had just begun to be able to see properly when they moved under the shadows of the trees. She bumped into Ted, and heard the click as he turned the flashlight on. 
 	There was a great flash of blue light from which the crowding trees seemed to retreat hastily. Laura also retreated, into a bush, and was prickled. Ted swore and dropped the flashlight; it rol ed down the bank and splashed into the stream, where it hissed and fizzled in a whole spectrum of sparks, and then went out. 
 	â€œWhat was that? â€ said Laura, trying to get herself out of the bush. 
 	
 	Ted knelt and sloshed his hand around in the water, mumbling. â€œHere it is. Noâ€”what?â€​par 	Laura peered over his shoulder. 
 	â€œItâ€™s metal,â€ said Ted, â€œal curled and twisted, and something in the middle.â€ He stood up and knocked Laura over. 
 	â€œGod damn it!â€ said Laura, in a furious whisper. She was instantly surprised; she never swore at Ted. Perhaps she had done it because, although Laura Carrol was accustomed to being knocked over by larger people, nobody would ever dare do that to the Princess Lauraâ€”and they were on the Princess Lauraâ€™s side of the hedge. 
 	Ted, to whom this had apparently not occurred, laughed, but he did pick her up and brush sand from her back. 
 	â€œYouâ€™d better watch your language.â€​par 	â€œOh, shut up.â€​par 	Ted held the object up in the air, trying to catch enough moonlight to see it. 
 	â€œIt looks like a lantern,â€ said Laura, wishing she could feel better pleased. â€œThatâ€™s a candle in the middle.â€​par 	â€œIt sure isnâ€™t the flashlight. Hel . Momâ€™l have a fit if Iâ€™ve lost it.â€​par 	â€œYou didnâ€™t lose it,â€ said Laura, who had scraped an elbow when he knocked her down, and was not feeling kind. â€œIt blew up. I told you it wouldnâ€™t work, and I want my money.â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™l just get it wet.â€​par 	
 	â€œI want it now.â€​par 	â€œAnd you havenâ€™t won the bet until Iâ€™m satisfied that the flashlight didnâ€™t just rol downstream, or something.â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™re never satisfied,â€ said Laura, who had heard her mother tel him as much, â€œand I want my money.â€​par 	â€œWil you give it back if youâ€™re wrong?â€​par 	Laura was incensed. â€œI can chal enge you to a duel if you question my honor, Edward Bartholomew Carrol !â€​par 	â€œYeah? You canâ€™t even throw a rock straight, what makes you thinkâ€”â€​par 	â€œTed?â€ came a voice from across the stream. Laura jumped. 
 	â€œPatrick?â€​par 	â€œWhat are you guys trying to do? Shut up and come on.â€​par 	â€œTedâ€™s not being a gentleman!â€​par 	â€œOf course he isnâ€™t. Hurry up, wil you? Ruthie has a flute lesson at two, and she hasnâ€™t practiced.â€​par 	â€œWhat do you mean, of course?â€ demanded Ted. 
 	â€œSheâ€™s being a brat, she doesnâ€™t deserveâ€”â€​par 	â€œI,â€ said Patrick, whom they could now see, faintly, against the strange stars of the Secret Country, â€œam going back to the fire before Ruth and El en eat al the marshmal ows.â€​par 	He trudged off along the bank of the stream in the direction of the bridge, and Ted started to paral el his course on their side, saying, â€œCome on.â€​par 	â€œI want my money.â€​par 	Ted made a strangled sound, pul ed something out of his pocket, flung it to the ground, and started away. 
 	â€œPick it up and give it to me,â€ said Laura, astounding herself. She did not like having been right. The transformation of the flashlight had made her feel that she was being laughed atâ€”it had been like a fireworks display, or a stage magicianâ€™s trick. She felt mockery in the very air, as someone wil who walks into his third-grade classroom wearing the shirt his grandmotherâ€™s friend gave him. Feeling al this, she was determined to get what little satisfaction she could out of her brother. 
 	Ted 
 	hurled 
 	himself 
 	around, 
 	fists 
 	clenched. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s the matter with you!â€​par 	â€œIâ€™m a princess, arenâ€™t I?â€​par 	â€œAnd when Iâ€™m king I swear Iâ€™l cut your head off,â€ said Ted, but he searched the ground for a moment, found the five-dol ar bil , and handed it to her. Laura stuffed it into the pocket of her shorts and fol owed him at a safe distance, trying to giggle. What, after al , was the use of feeling like Princess Laura when, in far too many ways, she could not act like Princess Laura? 
 	Princess Laura might not mind walking in the woods at night, but Princess Laura never fel down. It was dark in the woods, and rustly with smal animals, and crossing the wooden bridge was not pleasant. Laura tripped where she had tripped the first time. The whole bridge shook and creaked, Ted tramped stolidly on, and a number of things leaped from the banks of the stream into the water with ominous ploppings. Laura ran to catch up with Ted, and was slapped in the face by al the branches he had pushed out of his way. She fingered the money in her pocket and kept her mouth shut. 
 	It was better when they got out onto the grass where there was nothing in the way, and Laura could let Ted get ahead of her without fear of losing him. And when they had struggled up the hil and looked from its top over the vast dark plain, they saw a fire flickering beside the Wel of the White Witch. The wel itself cast no light this time. 
 	Laura began by running down the hil and finished the journey sitting, and was picked up by Ruth and given a brief brushing and two marshmal ows. 
 	â€œThose were mine!â€ said El en. Laura sat down next to her, chewing. 
 	â€œYouâ€™ve had twelve already,â€ said Ruth austerely. 
 	Ted came up in a dignified silence and accepted a stick and two raw marshmal ows from Patrick. 
 	â€œWe were going to bring food too,â€ he said, â€œbut itâ€™s not real y ours.â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s right, youâ€™re guests,â€ said Ruth. 
 	â€œWe just told Mother we were having a picnic. And she wouldnâ€™t mind feeding you guys, sheâ€™s done it for years.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s too bad you have to bring al the supplies,â€
 	said Ted. 
 	â€œThis summer of al summers you have to be stuck in a house where you canâ€™t do anything,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œIf they werenâ€™t stuck in that house we wouldnâ€™t be having this kind of summer,â€ Patrick told her. â€œWeâ€™d be playing the Secret just as usual.â€​par 	â€œWhat makes you say that?â€​emanded Ted. 
 	â€œWel , I figure the Secret is so important to us that when we were separated and couldnâ€™t play it, our minds just managed things so we could play it anyway.â€​par 	â€œYou think our minds did this?â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œSure, why not?â€​par 	â€œBut itâ€™s real,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œBut what is real?â€​aid Patrick, not jesting. 
 	Laura had a swift intimation that the Princess Laura, in response to that question, would, faster than thought, have leaned over El en and hit him solidly in the stomach, saying, â€œThat.â€​he did not do it. 
 	â€œDo you mean weâ€™re magic ourselves?â€ asked Ted. 
 	â€œNo, no, no. Thereâ€™s no such thing as magic. This is whatâ€™s cal ed mass hal ucination. That means lots of peopleâ€”usâ€”see things that arenâ€™t there.â€​par 	â€œHow do they do that?â€ asked Laura, so skeptical that she chal enged Patrick. 
 	â€œDrugs,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œWhat!â€​par 	â€œIt doesnâ€™t have to be drugs,â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œIt can be nervous tension.â€​par 	â€œI thought that gave you headaches,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œPatrick,â€​aid Ruth, â€œyouâ€™re crazy.â€​par 	â€œI am not. We were nervous because we couldnâ€™t play the Secret, you know we were.â€​par 	â€œI get nervous about my flute lessons too,â€ said Ruth, â€œbut I donâ€™t look out the front window and see Mrs. 
 	Jordan get hit by a truck, do I? I donâ€™t see the dentistâ€™s office burning down before I go in for them to put a fil ing in, do I? I donâ€™tâ€”â€​par 	â€œBe quiet. Thatâ€™s not nervous enough.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™m a lot more nervous about going to the dentist than I am about not having the Secret!â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s not just nervous, itâ€™s upset, or disappointed, orâ€”orâ€”unsettled. Like Macbeth, Ruthie, okay?â€​par 	â€œOh.â€​par 	â€œJust a minute,â€​aid Ted. â€œWhoâ€™s imagining who, then?â€​par 	â€œWhat?â€ said Patrick as Ruth began laughing and El en and Laura looked at each other and made puzzled faces. 
 	â€œWho,â€ said Ted, â€œis imagining who? Is this your hal ucination, so weâ€™re not real y here, or is it ours, so youâ€™re not?â€​par 	Patrick was silent, Laura was sorry. Usual y she would have liked Patrick to be wrong, but at the moment she preferred Ted to be wrong. 
 	â€œMaybe itâ€™s telepathy, then,â€​aid Patrick at last. 
 	â€œBesides,â€ said Ted, â€œyou donâ€™t go places when you have a hal ucination. You stagger around like Macbeth and scare everybody half to death because you see things they donâ€™t. We werenâ€™t home last night, where were we if we werenâ€™t here?â€​par 	â€œListen,â€​aid Laura, who had been thinking, â€œif it isnâ€™t real, shouldnâ€™t we stil be able to change things?â€​par 	â€œWe tried that,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œWe did not,â€ said El en. â€œWe wanted to and Patrick told us it wouldnâ€™t work.â€​par 	Patrick did not al ow them so much as a triumphant pause. â€œI said it wouldnâ€™t work,â€ he said, â€œbut I thought it was too dangerous.â€​par 	â€œWhy?â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œBecause it wouldnâ€™t come out exactly the way any of us expected it to, and then anything could have happened.â€​par 	â€œYou mean the way nothing else has been exactly the way we expected it to be?â€ said Ted. â€œThe wel , and Benjamin, andâ€”â€​par 	â€œExactly,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	Laura snitched three marshmal ows from the bag next to El en and ate them without bothering to toast them. 
 	â€œBut how does that fit in with our having a hal ucination?â€​sked Ruth. 
 	â€œWel . . . Iâ€™m not sure,â€ said Patrick, causing both of his sisters and Laura to stare at him, astonished. 
 	Patrick never said he wasnâ€™t sure. â€œI mean, I never read anything about this, but I thought maybe everybodyâ€™s 
 	hal ucinations 
 	are 
 	interfering 
 	with
 	everybody elseâ€™s, you know, like radio stations or something. What Ted thinks is making my hal ucination look wrong, and what you think is messing up Lauraâ€™s, andâ€”I did say maybe it was telepathy too, you know.â€​par 	â€œPatrick,â€​aid Ruth, â€œyouâ€™re crazy.â€​par 	â€œI am not. You explain it.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t want to explain it, I want to know what to do about it.â€​par 	â€œYou canâ€™t unless you can explain it.â€​par 	â€œNonsense.â€​par 	Patrick became inarticulate, and Ted said to Ruth, â€œWhat do you want to do about it?â€​par 	â€œI want to make it so we donâ€™t have to go back and forth al the time and get yel ed at wherever we go, so we can settle down here and finish the story.â€​par 	â€œMe too,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œYou do,â€ said Ted. Laura looked at him. She knew that tone. If she had told her mother that she wanted to paint her room in red and white stripes, she would have been answered in just that tone. 
 	â€œDo you think this is in our heads?â€​ed asked Ruth. 
 	â€œWhat difference does that make?â€​par 	â€œIt sure as hel makes a difference to me.â€​par 	â€œWhy?â€​par 	El en felt in the bag for marshmal ows and discovered that Laura had eaten them al . â€œYou pig,â€​he said mildly. 
 	â€œShut up,â€​aid Ruth. â€œWhy, Ted?â€​par 	â€œWel , look,â€ said Ted. â€œLord Randolph is going to poison the King, right?â€​par 	
 	â€œI suppose. If this is our game, yes, he is.â€​par 	â€œAnd then I have to kil Randolph, right? Because the King was my father? And Iâ€™m the new King?â€​par 	â€œYes, what about it?â€​par 	â€œRuth, I donâ€™t want Randolph to poison the King.â€​par 	â€œOf course you donâ€™t,â€ said Laura, relieved to hear someone say something she could understand. 
 	â€œThe King is a good, kind man, but heâ€™s been corrupted, and heâ€™s old, andâ€”â€​par 	â€œYou donâ€™t know that,â€ said Ted. â€œI met him, and he is a good, kind man. And I met Randolph, and I donâ€™t want to kil him, either.â€​par 	â€œWel , of course not, thatâ€™s the point,â€ said El en, â€œheâ€™s your best friend, but you kil him for his honor and yours becauseâ€”â€​par 	â€œEl en!â€ Ted shrieked, and startled them al . He stood up and threw his stick into the fire. â€œYou donâ€™t know anything, none of you do.â€​par 	â€œI made up as much as you did!â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s not what he means,â€ said Ruth. â€œSit down, Ted.â€​par 	â€œI have a good mind to quit right now,â€ said Ted, not moving. â€œWhat do I mean, if youâ€™re so smart?â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s real, thatâ€™s what you mean.â€​par 	â€œBut I tel you, it isnâ€™t,â€ broke in Patrick. â€œIt canâ€™t be. Thereâ€™s no such thing as magic.â€​par 	â€œShut up, Horatio,â€​aid Ted, scornful y. 
 	
 	â€œMy philosophyâ€™s as good as yours!â€​par 	â€œBut even if it is real,â€ said Ruth, â€œhow can you miss the Unicorn Hunt and the Banquet of Midsummer Eve, Ted, and Fence fighting the Dragon?â€​par 	â€œHow can I miss watching the King die, and kil ing Randolph?â€ said Ted, stil scornful y. â€œNot to mention dying myself and talking to a lot of ghosts and kil ing God knows what-al al over the battlefield and trying to run a kingdom when I hate politics?â€​par 	â€œDo you have to do al that?â€​sked El en. 
 	â€œYeah!â€ said Laura. â€œCanâ€™t we say Randolph doesnâ€™t poison the King? Then the rest would be fun, until the battle.â€​par 	â€œAnd then what?â€​aid Ted, less scornful y. 
 	â€œWe could go home,â€​aid Laura, dubiously. 
 	â€œWe could see what happens and decide later,â€
 	said Ruth. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Ted. â€œI tel you right now, no matter what happens, I wonâ€™t kil Randolph.â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™d better figure out how to stop him poisoning the King, then,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œI thought you thought changing things would be dangerous,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œWel ,â€​aid Patrick, â€œit might not be so bad if we agreed very careful y on what we want to happen. And youâ€™re obviously going to try to change things no matter what I think, so you might as wel change the right thing.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™m not sure that is the right thing,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œRandolph poisons the King because the King wonâ€™t see sense about the battle strategy, and if the King wonâ€™t, somebody had better poison him, or the dragons wil get us al .â€​par 	â€œSo if we just persuade the King about the battle strategy,â€​aid Ruth, â€œeverything wil be al right.â€​par 	â€œProbably,â€ said Ted. â€œThereâ€™s stil the battle. I stil have to die in the battle. Which I wonâ€™t, I can tel you.â€​par 	â€œNonsense, of course you donâ€™t,â€ said Ruth. 
 	â€œIf we can change the Kingâ€™s mind, we can change anything; it doesnâ€™t have to go the way the game went unless we want it to.â€​par 	â€œDonâ€™t get so cocky,â€ said Patrick. â€œWait until you see how hard it is to change things, and what happens when you try. It real y could be dangerous, you know, if you think itâ€™s real.â€​par 	â€œAl right, we hear you,â€ said Ted. â€œIt canâ€™t be any more dangerous than dying in battle, can it?â€​par 	Patrick was silent. 
 	â€œSo how do we persuade the King?â€​sked El en. 
 	â€œWhy do you have to persuade him?â€ asked Laura. 
 	â€œWhy canâ€™t we just say he decides to fight the battle right?â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s what I meant about agreeing careful y beforehand,â€ said Patrick, approvingly. Laura was dumbstruck. â€œBut weâ€™l have to figure out al the details of who convinces him, if we donâ€™t convince him ourselves.â€​par 	â€œWe could try Laurieâ€™s way on something else first,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	
 	â€œThe time!â€ said Patrick. â€œLetâ€™s try to change the time so we donâ€™t have to sneak around so much. We can tel right away if thatâ€™s worked.â€​par 	â€œHow shal we change it?â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s say,â€ said Patrick, â€œthat no matter how long we spend here itâ€™s only five minutes at home, and weâ€™l be the same age when we get back even if weâ€™ve been here long enough to grow up.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t want to grow up twice!â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œIt doesnâ€™t hurt, Laurie,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œHow would you know?â€ said El en. â€œYou ever been grown up?â€​par 	â€œShut up,â€ said Patrick. â€œLaura, it would be worse the other way, you know. You wouldnâ€™t know how to be grown up in the real world, and if you were a grown-up theyâ€™d expect you to know.â€​par 	â€œMaybe I wouldnâ€™t have to go home at al ?â€​par 	â€œYou sure as hel would,â€ said Ted. â€œDo you know what kind of trouble Iâ€™d get in if I came home without you?â€​par 	â€œOh, al right, Iâ€™l come home and grow up twice.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™l take you two tries to get it right anyway,â€
 	said Ted. 
 	Laura, abandoning herself to Princess Laura, opened her mouth. 
 	â€œAnd other objections?â€​sked Patrick. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Ruth, â€œal those ideas are just out of books.â€​par 	
 	â€œSoâ€™s the rest of the game!â€ said Patrick, exasperated. 
 	â€œAl right,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œDo we al agree?â€​sked Patrick. 
 	They al muttered and nodded. 
 	â€œNow we have to check it,â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œWhatever time it was when we decided, it should stil be then, or only five minutes later, when we get home.â€ He looked at his wrist and yelped. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s wrong with you?â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s not my watch!â€​par 	â€œWhat?â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œLook at that!â€ said Patrick furiously. El en, who was next to him, did so. 
 	â€œHey!â€ she said. â€œThatâ€™s your old watch, Patrick, not the new one with the ugly numbers.â€​par 	â€œDigital,â€ said Patrick, in a tone that told Laura that El en knew perfectly wel what the watch was cal ed, and pretended to forget for the sole purpose of irritating Patrick. 
 	â€œAnd it is not my old watch, either.â€​par 	â€œHow can you tel in this light, anyway?â€ said Ruth. 
 	â€œWhy donâ€™t you go home to check what time it is there, Patrick, and then you can look at the watch better.â€​par 	â€œIt hasnâ€™t been long enough,â€ said Patrick, â€œwe only just decided. Itâ€™s one-thirty. If I leave here at two by this watchâ€”assuming the lousy thing worksâ€”and itâ€™s stil one-thirty when I get home, then weâ€™l know we managed to change something.â€​par 	
 	â€œMy watch says one-thirty too,â€ said Ruth, â€œand it real y is my watch and it does work. If they both say two at the same time weâ€™l know yours is okay.â€​par 	â€œWhat do we do in the meantime?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œIâ€™d better tel you about the council I went to yesterday,â€ said Ted, â€œso youâ€™l know what weâ€™re up against. Arenâ€™t there any more marshmal ows?â€​par 	â€œLaurie ate them,â€​aid El en, righteously. 
 	â€œYou can buy me some more,â€ said Ted to his sister, â€œsince youâ€™re so rich.â€​par 	El en stifled Lauraâ€™s outraged exclamations, and Ted took up his tale. 
 	
 CHAPTER 6

 	THE beginning of his narrative was accorded a polite silence. Laura thought he was doing a good job. He could quote Benjamin and even imitate his voice. This was not like Ted, and not at al like Edward. Laura wondered who Ted was being. Fence was a good storytel er; perhaps Ted was being Fence. 
 	â€œThat was the West Tower,â€ she said, when he told them about the room ful of clothes. â€œFirst floor is oldâ€”â€​par 	â€œWhat in the hel ,â€ said Patrick, â€œare we supposed to do about clothes? If Benjamin says he doesnâ€™t want to see ours again, he means it.â€​par 	â€œOne of us,â€ said El en, â€œmust make a daring foray to the West Tower and find garments that wil fit us withal.â€​par 	Laura, judging by the standards of their game, found this idea good. Then she began to imagine the actual deed, and felt dismayed. 
 	â€œWil you let me finish!â€ said Ted, sounding exactly like Ted. â€œYou think this is bad, just wait.â€​par 	They al shut up, and Ted went on. The further he got into the kingâ€™s council, the more his hearers muttered and fidgeted. â€œAnd then,â€ said Ted, â€œAndrew said Fence was a traitor.â€​par 	â€œWhat!â€​aid the other four. 
 	â€œBut thatâ€™s wrong!â€​aid El en. â€œHeâ€™s just supposed to say that the Dragon Kingâ€™s men dressed themselves up to be the likeness of monsters, and that King John, when he came to write his book, being a manâ€”â€​par 	â€œâ€”of most piercing wit,â€ said Laura, â€œdid devise an al egory of plain fighting strategyâ€”â€​par 	â€œWel , he didnâ€™t say that,â€ said Ted, â€œand youâ€™d better listen to what he did say.â€​par 	They let him finish in peace. 
 	â€œAnd the King didnâ€™t even defend Fence?â€
 	asked Laura. Princess Laura was Fenceâ€™s particular favorite among the royal children, and the real Laura felt outraged on his behalf. Next to the Lady Ruth, Fence was her favorite character. 
 	â€œAnd didnâ€™t let anyone else defend him either,â€
 	said Patrick. â€œThat was unfair. And I wonderâ€”â€​par 	â€œWel , Randolph did get to say something, and the King did say they could come to him privately if they had anything to say,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œThat might be dangerous,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s what Randolph and Matthew seemed to think,â€ said Ted, over El enâ€™s snort and Ruthâ€™s, â€œPatrick, you think everythingâ€™s dangerous!â€​par 	â€œEverything is,â€​aid Patrick, placidly. 
 	â€œNo, but listen, Pat,â€ said Ted. â€œMatthew said maybe Andrew was a traitor, and Randolph told him to mind his tongue. And Matthew didnâ€™t ask him why. They were scared about something.â€​par 	â€œWhatâ€™s going on?â€ cried Ruth. â€œHow can we do anything if it keeps changing al by itself?â€​par 	
 	â€œThat,â€ said Ted, triumphantly, â€œis why I think itâ€™s real. Patrick, you see? None of us thought of what happened, but it stil happened.â€​par 	â€œAndrewâ€™s the one whoâ€™s right,â€ said Patrick. â€œI wish the King had let him argue longer.â€​par 	â€œAndrewâ€™s 
 	the 
 	vil ain!â€ 
 	said 
 	Laura. 
 	â€œ Heâ€™s the traitor.â€​par 	â€œSure, in the story,â€ said Patrick. â€œBut real y heâ€™s right. Thereâ€™s no such thing as magic.â€ He threw another stick onto the fire. â€œIâ€™m afraid this is my fault,â€​e said. 
 	â€œOh?â€​aid Ruth, dangerously, like Lady Ruth. 
 	â€œAndrewâ€™s saying what I think, you see.â€​par 	â€œThat 
 	Fence 
 	is 
 	a 
 	traitor?â€ 
 	said 
 	Laura. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s stupid! What kind of a game is it if Fenceâ€”â€​par 	â€œNo, not exactly,â€ said Patrick. â€œThat thereâ€™s no such thing as magic, I mean. But, you see, if there is no such thing as magic, then Fence has to be a traitor, or at least a quack and a vil ain.â€​par 	â€œGo on,â€​aid Ruth, stil dangerously. 
 	â€œI must think so strongly that thereâ€™s no such thing as magic that itâ€™s warping the whole hal ucination.â€​par 	â€œYou think that your mind is stronger than al of ours put together?â€​aid the sorcerer of the Green Caves. 
 	â€œWel . . . ,â€ said Patrick, â€œI think one thing, you know, strongly, and the rest of you donâ€™t real y think anything one way or the other; you donâ€™t real y believe in magic the way I donâ€™t believe in it.â€​par 	
 	â€œI believe in magic,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œYouâ€™re only a mouse,â€ said Patrick, not unkindly. â€œYouâ€™ve got no strength of wil .â€​par 	This was so much in accord with what Laura thought of Laura, and so little in accord with what she thought of Princess Laura, that she was caught between sorrow and fury, and could say nothing. 
 	â€œBut the hal ucination is magic,â€ said Ted. â€œIf you donâ€™t believe in magic, why did the swords work? Why are we here at al ?â€​par 	â€œNo,â€ said Patrick, â€œthe hal ucination has magic in it. Itâ€™s just a hal ucination. There arenâ€™t any swords, real y.â€​par 	â€œWhy swords, then?â€ said Ted. â€œWe never said there were swords to get us from one world to another. Why should al of us think of the same thing to get us here?â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s where the telepathy comes in.â€​par 	â€œPatrick,â€​aid Ruth, â€œyou are crazy.â€​par 	â€œWe al are,â€ said Patrick, â€œseeing things that arenâ€™t there andâ€”â€​par 	â€œI keep asking you,â€ said Ted, â€œwhere are we real y while we are having this hal ucination? Laura and I got in terrible trouble for being late yesterday; youâ€™re al worried because Ruth has a flute lesson at twoâ€”â€​par 	â€œGood grief,â€ said Ruth, â€œitâ€™s five til now. I have to go.â€​par 	â€œYou canâ€™t,â€​aid Ted, â€œweâ€”â€​par 	â€œMaybe the time changed,â€​aid Patrick. â€œCheck it, Ruthie, when you go back.â€​par 	
 	â€œWel , if it didnâ€™t, Iâ€™m going to be packed off to my flute lessonâ€”without having practicedâ€”and I canâ€™t come back and tel you it didnâ€™t work.â€​par 	â€œSo if you donâ€™t come back weâ€™l know.â€​par 	â€œHow wil you know?â€ said El en. â€œShe might have been hit by a carâ€”â€​par 	â€œIn the west forty?â€​par 	â€œâ€”or gone through the trees into another placeâ€”â€​par 	â€œSo go with her yourself and come back and tel us if the time didnâ€™t work.â€​par 	â€œAnd hurry,â€ said Ruth, leaping up and pul ing El en to her feet. â€œGive me the sword, Patrick.â€​par 	Patrick unbuckled the sword belt and held it out to Ruth, who gathered the whole thing up in her arms as if it were a bundle of laundry. 
 	â€œAnd bring more marshmal ows,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œPig,â€ said El en to Laura, and she and Ruth trudged off into the dark. 
 	Laura felt much less safe when they were gone. 
 	â€œWel ?â€​aid Ted to Patrick. 
 	â€œI donâ€™t know,â€ said Patrick. Laura blinked; this was the second time in two days and the second time in her whole life she had heard Patrick say that. This time, though, he did not sound defeated; he sounded, rather, as if he meant to do something about it, immediately. 
 	â€œI real y have to meet some of these people; maybe that wil tel me something,â€​e said. 
 	â€œIt sure told me something,â€ said Ted, â€œbut you donâ€™t believe it.â€​par 	â€œYou know what we could do,â€ said Laura, moved both by a genuine interest in her idea and by an impulse for mischief. 
 	â€œWhat?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œMe and Ted,â€ said Laura, â€œcould use our swords to meet you here, and then we could use your sword to get to Australia, and then we could just play, there, the way we always did.â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s a terrible waste,â€ said Patrick, â€œwhen weâ€™ve got this whole wonderful hal ucination to play with.â€​par 	â€œTed doesnâ€™t think itâ€™s so wonderful.â€​par 	â€œTed doesnâ€™t think itâ€™s a hal ucination,â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œJust wait,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œBesides,â€ said Patrick to Laura, â€œwe donâ€™t know if that business with the swords would work anyway. 
 	Maybe your sword only works for you and Ted and ours only works for us.â€​par 	He leaned over the fire to put another stick on it, and the red light hol owed his eyes and made crevices in his face. 
 	Ted made the kind of noise you make, if you are not ticklish, when someone pokes you in the ribs. 
 	â€œWhat?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œYou look like the King,â€ said Ted. â€œYou look just like the King.â€​par 	â€œDid I ever play him?â€​sked Patrick. 
 	
 	â€œNo,â€ said Laura, â€œyou said he was a dimwit and you wouldnâ€™t. Is he a dimwit, Ted?â€​par 	â€œNo,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œHa,â€​aid Laura to Patrick. 
 	â€œI wish he was,â€ said Ted, â€œit would make things easier.â€​par 	â€œAnd after al the trouble we went to to make them hard,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œThat was a game.â€​par 	â€œAnd so is this.â€​par 	â€œYou wait,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s that?â€​emanded Patrick. 
 	They al listened. Clearly, over the crackle of their fire, they heard a steady and ominous tramping, overlaid with the crack of twigs and the rustle of branches. Someone large was coming through the wood. 
 	Ted struggled, muttered, stood up, and drew his sword. It blazed out blue, subduing the firelight. Laura saw flicker in the depths of the light faces and other bright blades and, dimly, a rearing shape like a horse, but snakier. Her eyes watered, and she looked away for a moment. The tramping grew quieter, but it did not stop. 
 	â€œLaurie,â€ said Ted, â€œhold one of those dry branches in the fire til it catches, for a weapon.â€​par 	â€œDonâ€™t be sil y, sheâ€™l burn herself,â€ said Patrick. â€œJust take a good heavy piece of wood, Laura.â€​par 	He took one himself and stood up. Laura looked up at their two figures, lit crazily by the light of the fire, and did not know whether to be reassured by their courage or frightened by their stupidity. Whatever was coming, could they real y fight it with a little sword and a stick of wood? 
 	With two sticks of wood, she amended, rummaging in their pile of branches. Most of them were smal and light and tended to crumble when dragged out of the tangle. Maybe they should al run. Laura looked briefly out over the dark fields and, at the thought of running across them with something after her, felt cold. There was nowhere to go. She wished she were back at the Barrettsâ€™. Something was coming down the hil . 
 	â€œWhat on earth are you doing?â€ said the tramper, crossly, and Ruth stepped into the firelight. 
 	â€œGetting ready to hack you up,â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œYou sounded like a large, dangerousâ€”â€​par 	â€œI feel like one,â€ said Ruth, and sat down with a flump. 
 	â€œWel ?â€​par 	â€œIt didnâ€™t work,â€ said Ruth. â€œWe didnâ€™t change the time. I missed the bus to my flute lesson. Mom wouldnâ€™t drive me because I need to learn responsibility. So I asked if I could take a taxi and pay for it myselfâ€”thatâ€™s responsible, isnâ€™t it?â€ Ruth hurled a stick into the fire. â€œSo she said I needed to learn thrift too.â€​par 	â€œWhereâ€™s El en?â€​sked Patrick. 
 	â€œWeeding the broccoli,â€ said Ruth, with a sort of grim satisfaction. She sounded, thought Laura, exactly like Lady Ruth tel ing the unicorns what she thought of them. 
 	
 	â€œI 
 	donâ€™t 
 	suppose 
 	you 
 	brought 
 	the
 	marshmal ows,â€​aid Ted. 
 	Ruth sighed. â€œIâ€™m sorry, I forgot.â€​par 	â€œI 
 	should 
 	hope 
 	you 
 	did,â€ 
 	said 
 	Patrick. 
 	â€œCatastrophes fal ing on our heads, Ted, and you worry about marshmal ows.â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™ve eaten lately,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œPut that sword away, for pityâ€™s sake,â€ said Ruth, â€œand letâ€™s decide what weâ€™re going to do.â€​par 	â€œI want mine back, please,â€ said Patrick. Ruth gave it to him, and he put it back on. 
 	â€œWithout El en?â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œShe said sheâ€™d hurry. Letâ€™s talk about it, at least.â€​par 	â€œWhat can we do?â€ said Ted, putting his sword away. 
 	â€œMaybe you should leave the sword out,â€ said Ruth. 
 	â€œItâ€™s better than a flashlight. Patrick, does ours do that?â€​par 	â€œDonâ€™t,â€​aid Laura. â€œIt hurts my eyes.â€​par 	â€œIt does?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œItâ€™s probably magic light,â€ said Ruth, â€œand we shouldnâ€™t use it until we know what it means.â€​par 	Patrick promptly pul ed his sword out. It pulsed a green with too much yel ow in it to be pleasant, but not enough to be ugly. Laura stared, but saw no shapes in the light or in the blade. 
 	
 	â€œHuh,â€ said Patrick, interested, â€œtheyâ€™re not the same.â€​par 	â€œThat one hurts my eyes,â€ said Ruth. â€œPut it away.â€​par 	â€œDo you see things in it?â€​sked Laura. 
 	â€œWhat?â€​aid Ruth. 
 	Patrick sheathed his sword and sat down. â€œNow. 
 	What are we going to do?â€​par 	â€œWhat can we do?â€ repeated Ted, stil standing. The firelight lit up his face from below. Laura thought once again that he looked like Randolph, or as she imagined Randolph, but she kept her mouth shut. 
 	â€œWe should col ect as much information as we can,â€
 	said Patrick, â€œand see if we can manage to be in on al the action.â€​par 	â€œWe are al going to be out of action for the rest of the summer,â€ said Ted, â€œif we disappear one more time and get any grown-ups anywhere any madder than they already are.â€​par 	â€œI bet we could fix that somehow,â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s figure out how the swords work and then weâ€™l see.â€​par 	â€œYou canâ€™t take them apart like a stereo amplifier, Patrick,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œI donâ€™t mean that,â€ said Patrick, â€œalthough I would like to see whatâ€™s in these blades. And there could be lots of miniature circuitry in the hiltsâ€”â€​par 	â€œPatrick,â€ said Ruth, awful y, â€œI forbid thee to meddle with those swords.â€​par 	
 	Patrick looked at her, and she looked back at him, and the fire crackled. 
 	â€œThe swords arenâ€™t real anyway, according to you,â€​aid Ted to Patrick, â€œso why be interested?â€​par 	â€œI have a new theory,â€ said Patrick. No one asked him what it was. He went on. â€œEither weâ€™re having a hal ucination, or whatâ€™s happening can be explained scientifical y. Maybe this could al happen without magic.â€​par 	â€œI stil forbid you,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œWhat did you mean about finding out how they work if you didnâ€™t mean taking them apart?â€​sked Laura. 
 	â€œI want to run some tests,â€ said Patrick, â€œand see who can go where with these things, and where you can get to from where else, and things like that.â€​par 	â€œDo we have to do it in the dark?â€ asked Laura, who did not like the idea. 
 	â€œI suppose you could sneak out at night, so itâ€™d be light here,â€​aid Ted to the others. 
 	â€œWeâ€™l have to once things get going,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œMost of what happens is in the daytime, except the banquets and reviving Prince Edward.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t expect to need reviving,â€ said Ted, shortly. 
 	â€œBut we donâ€™t want to miss the banquets,â€ said Ruth. 
 	â€œLook,â€ said Patrick. â€œLetâ€™s not waste the time weâ€™ve got. Weâ€™re already in troubleâ€”you guys sneaked out, and Ruthie missed her flute lesson. 
 	Letâ€™s do something now that weâ€™re here.â€​par 	
 	â€œWe do need a light, though,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œIt was stupid not to bring a flashlight,â€ said Patrick, â€œbut I forgot it would be dark here.â€​par 	â€œ We brought one,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œWhere is it?â€​par 	â€œIt turned into a lantern.â€​par 	â€œWhat?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œIt did not,â€ said Ted. â€œI dropped it in the stream, and we found a lantern in the stream.â€​par 	â€œListen,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œYouâ€™ve got your money,â€ said Ted. â€œYou shut up.â€​par 	â€œI wil not,â€ said Laura, incensed at the idea that he was paying her to lie. â€œIt blew up and turned into a lantern.â€​par 	â€œLike your watch!â€​aid Ruth to Patrick. 
 	â€œMy watch didnâ€™t blow up,â€ said Patrick skeptical y. 
 	â€œBut it did change.â€​par 	â€œHeh,â€ said Patrick. â€œWel , whereâ€™s this lantern?â€​par 	â€œUnder the hedge,â€ said Ted. â€œAnd the wickâ€™s wet.â€​par 	â€œWeâ€™ve got a whole fire to light it with,â€ said Patrick. 
 	The lantern, when Ted fetched it back to the fire, submitted to being lighted, but it was not as good as a flashlight. There was no way to direct the light toward what you wanted to see, and if you moved the lantern too quickly, it went out. Even if it had been a flashlight, one would not have been enough for four people. One lantern was even less enough for four people who insisted on scrambling in the dark through the woods from hedge to bottle trees and back again. 
 	Laura, who was always last, could tel by the light where the others were, but not how they had gotten there, and by the time they al col apsed beside their fire again, she had a col ection of scratches and bruises. She was also sure that she had left half of her hair hanging from tree branches and tangled in bushes. Since she had steadfastly refused to do more than fol ow the rest of them around, she had not the remotest idea of what the rest of them had found out. 
 	â€œThis fireâ€™s almost out,â€ said Patrick, cautiously putting a few twigs on the coals and blowing at them. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s better than burning up the plain,â€ said Ruth, â€œwhich it could have done for al we knew. 
 	Weâ€™d better learn to be responsible.â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™re just mad about your flute lesson,â€ said Patrick, â€œandâ€”hey!â€​par 	â€œWel ?â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œYou didnâ€™t have to go to your flute lesson.â€​par 	â€œI couldnâ€™t go,â€ said Ruth, with irritation. She was sounding more like Lady Ruth al the time. Lauraâ€™s eldest cousin had never snapped at anyone. 
 	â€œYes, exactly,â€ said Patrick. â€œYou get nervous about your flute lesson, so your mind creates a hal ucination that makes you not have to go.â€​par 	
 	â€œPatrick,â€​aid Ruth, â€œstop it.â€​par 	â€œBut think about it.â€​par 	â€œJust to avoid a flute lesson?â€ said Ted. â€œAl of this, for that?â€​par 	â€œStop it,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œI wish El en were here,â€ said Patrick, peaceably. 
 	â€œShe could write down what weâ€™ve discovered about the swords.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s nothing useful,â€ said Ruth. â€œWe canâ€™t use our sword, or theirs, to get to America, and they canâ€™t use ours, or theirs, to get to Australia. And the only way to get to the Secret Country from home or to home from the Secret Country is to hold on to the sword; you canâ€™t hold on to someone who is holding on to the sword and get through that way. I stil donâ€™t see how this helps at al .â€​par 	â€œYou just never know,â€ said Patrick, â€œso you canâ€™t know too much.â€​par 	â€œBut what are we going to do?â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s happening next that we want to get in on?â€​sked Patrick. 
 	â€œFence comes back,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œThere are some things before that,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œThe Banquet of Midsummer Eve is the next big thing, I think.â€​par 	â€œFence comes back in the middle of it,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œWhenâ€™s Midsummer Eve, anyway?â€ asked Ted. 
 	
 	â€œMidsummerâ€™s Day is June the twenty-first,â€
 	said Patrick, â€œso the Banquet is the twentieth.â€​par 	â€œWeâ€™re okay until next week, then?â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œNonsense,â€ said Ruth, â€œif weâ€™re gone from here for a week theyâ€™l â€”â€​par 	â€œWhatâ€™s after the Banquet?â€​sked Patrick. 
 	â€œAnother big council,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œAnd the Unicorn Hunt,â€ said Laura, happily, â€œand the Riddle Game.â€ She thought she would even be wil ing to put up with the horses if she could real y go to the Unicorn Hunt. 
 	â€œNow look,â€ said Ruth. â€œWe canâ€™t possibly manage that. Weâ€™d have to be gone for three days, one for each riddle. I keep tel ing you, this whole thing is hopeless unless we can change the time.â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said Patrick, â€œwe canâ€™t do anything outside the Secret Country. So what sources of power are there in the Secret Country?â€​par 	â€œWizards,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œMinions of the Green Caves,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œCould you change it?â€​atrick asked her. 
 	â€œI donâ€™t think so,â€ said Ruth. â€œItâ€™s not my talent, and besides, Iâ€™m only a student. And I donâ€™t even know what Iâ€™m supposed to know, and even if I did know, I stil wouldnâ€™t know it. I meanâ€”â€​par 	â€œCould Fence do it, then?â€​par 	â€œEven if he could,â€​aid Ted, â€œwhy should he?â€​par 	â€œWeâ€™d have to explain everything, I guess,â€ said Ruth. â€œI donâ€™t like the idea.â€​par 	â€œHeâ€™d believe us, I bet,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œDonâ€™t count on it. Heâ€™s a grown-up,â€ said Ted. â€œThey always ask why and they never believe you.â€​par 	â€œHeâ€™s not a normal grown-up,â€​rotested Laura. 
 	â€œHow would you know? I suppose you think Benjamin and the King and Randolph arenâ€™t normal grown-ups, either? You just try sitting through a council with them.â€​par 	â€œUnicorns?â€ said Laura, who had never liked the council scenes even in the game. â€œUnicorns never ask why.â€​par 	â€œCould they do it?â€​sked Patrick. 
 	â€œThey can do anything, canâ€™t they?â€​par 	â€œIf you can convince them,â€ said Ruth. â€œThey donâ€™t care why you want a thing done, but you have to show them how it wil profit them.â€​par 	â€œAnd theyâ€™re sly,â€ said Patrick. â€œIt would be dangerous.â€​par 	â€œYeah,â€ said Ted, â€œremember what happened to Shan. He asked for a magic ring, but he couldnâ€™t tel them what good it would do them if they gave him one.â€​par 	â€œSo,â€ said Laura, â€œbeing a young wizard stil , and hastyâ€”â€​par 	â€œâ€”and too proud,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œâ€”he told them,â€ said Ted, â€œwhat harm it would do them if they didnâ€™t give him a ringâ€”he said heâ€™d curse them.â€​par 	
 	â€œSo,â€​aid Laura, â€œthey gave him a ringâ€”â€​par 	â€œâ€”and wouldnâ€™t tel him what it did, so what?â€
 	said Patrick. â€œThis isnâ€™t helping.â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s it!â€ cried Ruth. â€œThatâ€™s it. The Riddle of Shanâ€™s Ring. Howâ€™s it goâ€”whereâ€™s El en when we need her? â€˜ am a trinket in the worldâ€”sul en stone andâ€”â€™ No, thatâ€™s not right. 
 	Bother!â€​par 	â€œ â€˜nvalued gold and sul en stone,â€™ â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œIâ€™ve got it!â€​aid Ruth. 
 	Â 
 	 â€œ â€˜ am a trinket in the world, 
 	 Unvalued gold and sullen stone; 
 	 But outside power is unfurled, 
 	 When outside Power I am hurled:
 	 Then Time awry is blown. 
 	 What am I?â€™ â€​
 	Â 
 	â€œThe Ring of Shan,â€ said Patrick, â€œand what good is that? The problem is what Shanâ€™s ring does. â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s pretty bad poetry,â€ said Ted. â€œIt could mean anything.â€​par 	â€œOh, who cares!â€ said Ruth. â€œCanâ€™t you see? Shanâ€™s Ring wil change the time for us if we take it outside the Secret Country, outside the Power, outside the magical place. Thereâ€™s certainly no Power in Australia or Il inois. If we take it outside the Power, then outside powerâ€”whatever that meansâ€”is unfurled, and time awry is blown, you see? I bet thatâ€™s it.â€​par 	â€œDo you have to hurl it?â€​aid Laura dubiously. 
 	â€œThat was just for the rhyme,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œWel , it stil says you have to hurl it.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™l throw it up in the air and catch it again,â€ said Ruth. â€œI bet thatâ€™s it, though.â€​par 	â€œIt is if you think so,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œWhat can it hurt to try?â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œWhere,â€​aid Patrick, â€œis Shanâ€™s Ring?â€​par 	
 CHAPTER 7

 	INTO the dumbfounded silence Laura said proudly, â€œIn the West Tower, of course.â€​par 	â€œHow do you know?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œI remember, thatâ€™s how. First floor is old weapons, second floor is old books, third floor is old clothes, fourth floor is old jewelry.â€ It was with some difficulty that she refrained from giggling. Patrick was so obviously irked that someone did in fact know. 
 	â€œHow do you remember al that?â€​e said crossly. 
 	â€œI made it up just last summer,â€ retorted Laura, and stopped. 
 	â€œEven if the fourth floor is old jewelry,â€ said Patrick, after a moment, â€œwould it be there and not in some safe place with the royal treasures?â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s not a royal treasure,â€ said Laura, exasperated. 
 	â€œItâ€™s a royal embarrassment,â€​dded Ruth. 
 	â€œDonâ€™t you remember anything?â€ asked Laura, grinning because she was fairly sure he would not be able to see her in the firelight. â€œEvery year, just to remind us whoâ€™s boss, the unicorns make us bring that Ring and ask that riddleâ€”â€​par 	â€œJust so they can answer, â€˜ am the Ring of Shan,â€™ â€ said Ruth, â€œâ€”which is perfectly true and means nothingâ€”and laugh.â€​par 	â€œAnd Princess Laura gets to go and fetch it,â€ said Laura. 
 	â€œAl right,â€ said Patrick, â€œitâ€™s on the fourth floor of the West Tower. How do we get it out?â€​par 	â€œLetâ€™s not get caught again until after weâ€™ve changed the time, if we can help it,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s sneak up on High Castle, if we can, andâ€”â€​par 	â€œYou canâ€™t sneak up on High Castle,â€ said Lady Ruth. 
 	â€œWhy, because of the guards?â€ said Ted. â€œI didnâ€™t think much of them, myself.â€​par 	â€œNo, fool, because of the grass!â€​par 	â€œListen,â€ said Ted, â€œyou donâ€™t have to cal names.â€​par 	â€œWhat was that grass?â€ asked Laura, feeling the cold again. 
 	â€œIf you had learned your history properly,â€ said Lady Ruth, to Lauraâ€™s delight, â€œyou would remember.â€​par 	â€œHistory!â€ said Princess Laura. â€œHistoryâ€™s nothing. It heals no wounds and gladdens no hearts. Now, musicâ€”â€​par 	â€œIt would have kept you from yowling like a stepped-on cat and rousing the castle,â€​aid Lady Ruth. 
 	â€œListen,â€ said Laura, â€œeverybody else yel ed too.â€​par 	â€œAs the Border Magic protects the Secret Country against invasion from without,â€ said Ruth, â€œso the Nightmare Grass protects High Castle from treachery within the Secret Country. Itâ€™s planted in al the possible sneaking-up placesâ€”â€​par 	â€œWhy wasnâ€™t there any outside the postern, then?â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œThere probably was,â€ said Patrick. â€œYou could hardly expect it to work on horses.â€​par 	â€œâ€”and it makes you see whatever youâ€™re most afraid of.â€​par 	â€œI wasnâ€™t afraid of it until I did see it,â€ said Laura; â€œwhat Iâ€™m most afraid of is telephones.â€ Perhaps she had seen what Princess Laura was most afraid of. 
 	Laura had been afraid of it herself, but she preferred that sort of fear, marrow-chil ing though it had been, to the stomach-sinking dread of picking up the telephone and cal ing to find out when the library closed, or whether Roxanne thought it was her motherâ€™s turn to take everybody to the Girl Scout meeting. 
 	â€œThey donâ€™t have telephones here,â€ said Ruth thoughtful y, and Patrick laughed. 
 	â€œI wonder what wouldâ€™ve happened,â€ he said, â€œif nobody had remembered what the grass was?â€​par 	â€œWeâ€™d al stil be running in circles and screaming,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œOr maybe,â€ said Patrick, â€œit never would have happened at al .â€​par 	â€œNonsense,â€ said Ruth, â€œI remembered what it was after it started doing things to me.â€​par 	â€œBut your subconscious knew.â€​par 	â€œSo did your subconscious know,â€ said Ruth, smugly. â€œYou remembered as soon as I reminded you.â€​par 	â€œRuth,â€ said Ted, â€œwhy didnâ€™t the guards know?â€ Laura saw the firelight gleam in Ruthâ€™s eyes as she turned and stared at Ted. 
 	â€œThey couldnâ€™t have known,â€ said Ted, â€œor they wouldnâ€™t have walked into the grass. If itâ€™s real y a part of the defenses, why didnâ€™t the guards know about it?â€​par 	â€œOh, my God,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œDonâ€™t swear,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œThe grass is a device of the Green Caves,â€ said Ruth. â€œRemember al the feuds between the different kinds of magicians? Probably the ones of the Green Caves thought it would be funny not to tel the other kinds about the grass. It would do its job whether anybody knew about it or not, because people trying to sneak up would make a racket.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t see why you should swear about that,â€
 	said El en. 
 	â€œIâ€™m a sorcerer of the Green Caves. Theyâ€™l think I lured the guards into it as some kind of joke.â€​par 	â€œDonâ€™t knock it,â€ said Ted. â€œThatâ€™s better than their thinking you sneaked off with me.â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said Patrick, â€œhow do we get Shanâ€™s Ring?â€​par 	â€œWe get caught again,â€ said Ted, throwing a stick clear across the remains of the fire and narrowly missing Patrick, â€œand wait until the punishment is over, and then we get the ring and take it home, get caught again and punished again because we wonâ€™t have changed the time yet. Then we change the time. That takes care of home; they wonâ€™t notice weâ€™re gone. But then we come back here and we have to account for the time we spent at home, because they will notice here, if it works the way we think it does, because this wil be our normal time. So we get clobbered again. And then we can settle down and enjoy treason, and murder, and not knowing what weâ€™re doing.â€​par 	â€œCanâ€™t we get the magic to take care of al that too?â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œDonâ€™t make things too complicated,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œWe donâ€™t have much to go on as it is.â€​par 	â€œLetâ€™s get it over with, then,â€ said Patrick, and stood up. â€œLetâ€™s start walking.â€​par 	â€œIn the dark?â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œItâ€™s too far for Laurie,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œIt is not,â€​aid Laura automatical y, â€œbut we have to wait for El en.â€​par 	â€œBenjamin found us here last time,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œMaybe heâ€™l come back.â€​par 	â€œHe probably already did,â€ said Patrick, â€œwhen we werenâ€™t here.â€​par 	â€œCould he have found out anything from the horses?â€​par 	asked Ted. 
 	Patrick snorted. 
 	â€œHe can talk to them,â€ said Ruth, â€œbecause heâ€™s from Fenceâ€™s Country. But only to the ones that can talk. I mean, thereâ€™s a special kind of horses with their own languageâ€”â€​par 	
 	â€œWhich the Unicorns gave Benjamin,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œâ€”and he can speak to them. But I donâ€™t think the ones we rode were that kind.â€​par 	â€œSo letâ€™s start walking,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œListen,â€ said Ted, â€œLaurie and I havenâ€™t had any supper or any sleep. And we have to be back by seven at the latest because they start getting up around then. 
 	Andâ€”â€​par 	â€œWe ought to be back by six,â€ said Patrick, â€œto eat dinner. But what I meant by getting it over was, letâ€™s go and do it, now, no matter how long it takes. The longer weâ€™re gone from High Castle, the worse weâ€™l catch it, so letâ€™s show up as soon as we can.â€​par 	â€œBut the longer weâ€™re gone from home,â€ said Ted, â€œthe worse weâ€™l catch it there.â€​par 	â€œHave some sense,â€ said Patrick, beginning to walk back and forth in his agitation. â€œNothing they can do to us at home can possibly match what theyâ€™l do to us here. At home weâ€™re just irresponsible kids. Here weâ€™re somebody. Theyâ€™l try you for treason and kick milady here out of her magic school if they think you two have sneaked off again. Theyâ€™l probably get the rest of us for conspiracy.â€​par 	â€œAre you sure you donâ€™t think this is real?â€ said Ruth. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s real?â€ said Patrick. â€œYou al think itâ€™s real. You can certainly think yourselves to death, and maybe me too.â€​par 	â€œOh, youâ€™re hopeless,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œAnyway,â€ said Patrick, â€œyou do think itâ€™s real, so you ought to listen. Letâ€™s stay here for as long as it takes to get the Ring. Then letâ€™s go home, change the time, face the music, and come backâ€”â€​par 	â€œAnd face the music,â€​aid Ruth, doleful y. 
 	â€œI know what would be better,â€ said Patrick, stopping in midpace. â€œGet the Ring, go home, change the time, come back here and face the music, but leave facing the music at home until weâ€™re done here.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t like that at al ,â€ said Ruth, â€œleaving them al stuck like that at home the whole summer while weâ€™re here. Iâ€™d rather get it over with.â€​par 	â€œMe too,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s wrong with you?â€ said Patrick passionately. â€œI donâ€™t even believe this and I make more sense than you. They wonâ€™t be stuck there from their viewpoint, and we canâ€™t afford to get in trouble with Benjamin again.â€​par 	â€œYour marvelous plan has us getting in trouble with Benjamin again,â€ said Ruth, in a tone Laura had never heard either from her cousin or from the sorcerer. 
 	â€œBecause we canâ€™t get the Ring without running into Benjamin.â€​par 	â€œSo we should split you and Ted up,â€ said Patrick, â€œso at least he wonâ€™t think itâ€™s as bad as he thinks it was last time.â€​par 	â€œPat,â€ said Ted, â€œif you and I went together we could say weâ€™d dared each other into the Nightmare Grassâ€”say Iâ€™d been irritating you with my learning and you told me you didnâ€™t believe in the stuff.â€​par 	â€œEdwardâ€™s learning wouldnâ€™t include the Nightmare Grass,â€ said Ruth. â€œBut you could say that I told El en about it and she told you, maybe.â€​par 	â€œHuh,â€ said Patrick, â€œand the grass so unsettled our wits that we fled off into the night.â€​par 	â€œHaving enough wit left to take five horses?â€ said Ruth. 
 	â€œNo,â€ Patrick told her, â€œyou must have done that.â€​par 	â€œI know!â€ said Ruth. â€œI was planning to gather herbs by moonlightâ€”and Laurie and El en had been pestering me to let them go tooâ€”you know, anything to postpone bedtime. And we saddled two more horses for my attendants. Iâ€™m sure they wouldnâ€™t want three young girls riding around alone in the dark. But the noise you two made in that grass made the horses bolt with us, before the attendants got there. And the two extra horses just came along too.â€​par 	â€œAnd we were carried far over the plain and lost!â€
 	exulted Laura. 
 	â€œWhy didnâ€™t you keep the horses?â€ asked Patrick. â€œPrincess Laura wouldnâ€™t let a horse get out from under her, even if you and El ie canâ€™t ride. And I think you both can. I mean, I think Princess El en and Lady Ruth can.â€​par 	â€œWe sent them for help,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œWel â€”â€​par 	â€œIâ€™l polish it up before they find us. Iâ€™l say they didnâ€™t enchant right because theyâ€™re not the talking horses.â€​par 	â€œLast time you tried that Benjamin caught you.â€​par 	
 	â€œThat was bad luck,â€ said Ruth. â€œI think he just happens to keep track of when the ceremonies of the Green Caves are, so he knew there wasnâ€™t one. Benjamin canâ€™t know everything about what Lady Ruth can do.â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said Patrick, â€œas long as youâ€™re not with Ted, I suppose it doesnâ€™t matter. So we should split up now.â€​par 	â€œWhat about El en?â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œIâ€™l get her,â€ said Ruth. â€œShe must be sick of that broccoli by now. Please give me the sword.â€ He did, and she tramped off into the darkness. 
 	â€œThereâ€™s one thing I donâ€™t like about this plan,â€ said Ted. â€œTalk about three young girls riding around in the darkâ€”â€​par 	â€œYou can give me our sword,â€ said Laura. â€œI found it anyway.â€​par 	â€œNone of you know how to use it.â€​par 	â€œNeither do you!â€​par 	â€œSheâ€™s 
 	right,â€ 
 	said 
 	Patrick. 
 	â€œAnd
 	Ruthieâ€™s bigger than me or you.â€​par 	Laura grinned to herself. Tedâ€™s height was becoming a sore point with him as al his friends grew tal er and he stayed stubbornly short. She hoped to be tal er than he was someday, although her mother said it was unlikely. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Ted, â€œthereâ€™s probably nothing out there to hurt them anyway.â€​par 	â€œArenâ€™t there wolves?â€ asked Laura, who was determined to have the sword. 
 	
 	â€œNot this near to the wel ,â€ said Ted. â€œItâ€™s a protection against normal dangers. Itâ€™d rather zap you itself.â€​par 	â€œWho thought that up?â€​sked Patrick. 
 	â€œEl en, probably,â€ said Ted. â€œAl the real y weird ideas about things that donâ€™t matter are hers.â€​par 	â€œSome of them seem to matter now,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œI wish we hadnâ€™t been so thorough,â€ lamented Ted. 
 	â€œMom says itâ€™s a virtue to be thorough,â€
 	observed Laura. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s just to get you to clean your closet.â€​par 	â€œOh.â€​par 	â€œIt is a virtue when youâ€™re finding out about things,â€ said Patrick. â€œBut not when youâ€™re making them up.â€​par 	â€œSure it is,â€​aid Laura. â€œIt makes it more fun.â€​par 	â€œBut itâ€™s not fun now.â€​par 	They heard the ominous tramping again, and a cacophony of cracking twigs. 
 	â€œIs that real y only Ruth and El en?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	Ted pul ed the sword out, and it blazed like the sun on a mirror, bright gold and hurtful. Lauraâ€™s eyes squeezed themselves shut and overflowed. 
 	â€œWhat are you doing now?â€ said Ruthâ€™s voice. 
 	Laura swiped at her eyes and made them open. The glow of the sword had steadied down to its kinder blue. Not even the runes she had seen before danced on the blade. Ruth and El en and Ted and Patrick were al standing up, and looking a little ghostly in the sword light. The fire had gone out. 
 	â€œIâ€™d swear there was something besides you two coming through those woods,â€ said Patrick. â€œUnless thereâ€™s some echo effect, and I donâ€™t see why there should be.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™m sure thereâ€™s a lot you donâ€™t see,â€
 	said El en. â€œTed, why did your sword do that?â€​par 	â€œHow should I know?â€ said Ted. â€œLaurie found it.â€​par 	â€œAnd you can give it to me now,â€ said Laura, â€œso the wolves donâ€™t get us.â€​par 	El en snorted. â€œThere arenâ€™t any wolves around here.â€​par 	â€œWhy should they get both the swords? And I found it.â€​par 	â€œWhy donâ€™t you give it to her, so we can get going?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œYou just donâ€™t want to give them yours,â€ said Ted. â€œAl right, but I want Ruth to carry it.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t want it,â€ said Ruth. â€œI donâ€™t like sharp pointed things.â€​par 	â€œSome hero you are.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™m not a hero, Iâ€™m a sorcerer.â€​par 	â€œWil you go on and give Laura the sword?â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œI get it next time,â€​aid Ted. 
 	
 	â€œOh, al right,â€​aid Laura. 
 	Ted unbuckled the belt and handed it to her with the sword and sheath. Laura stood up to put the belt around her waist and promptly dropped it into the ashes of the fire. 
 	â€œYou see?â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œShut up,â€​aid Laura. 
 	Ruth had to help her put the belt on. 
 	â€œYouâ€™d better practice walking with it or youâ€™l kil yourself,â€​aid Patrick, kindly enough. 
 	â€œYou shut up too,â€ said Laura, who was mortified to a degree she had never experienced before. It was al right to be clumsy back home, but here, and especial y with the sword, it suddenly felt like a crime. She pondered this for a moment while Ruth tried to adjust the belt so it would stay on. Fal ing off the pony had not felt like a crime, even though Benjamin had certainly acted as if he thought it were one. 
 	But standing under the strange stars of the Secret Country with the belt too tight around her middle, and the swordâ€™s weight making her want to lean sideways, and the smoky dust she had disturbed making her want to sneeze, she felt like her usual grubby self for the first time since she and Ted had sneaked out of the house. 
 	And that was it. She had been Princess Laura al evening, until Laura the mouse dropped the sword in the ashes. 
 	â€œThis is hard!â€​he said. 
 	â€œStanding up with the sword on?â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œYouâ€™d better give it back.â€​par 	â€œNo!â€ said Laura. She backed away from him, and fel down. 
 	
 	Patrick laughed, Ted groaned, El en told them to shut up, and Ruth came and picked Laura up. 
 	â€œYouâ€™d better let me have that sword,â€ said Ted, holding his hand out for it. 
 	â€œI meant,â€ said Laura, â€œitâ€™s hard being Princess Laura.â€​par 	Tedâ€™s hand dropped. â€œYou see?â€ he said. 
 	â€œSee?â€​par 	â€œSee what?â€​par 	â€œWhy I might want to quit?â€​par 	â€œOh,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œPatrick,â€ said Ted, turning away from her, â€œletâ€™s go if weâ€™re going.â€​par 	â€œWeâ€™d better agree on a time and place to meet,â€ said Patrick. â€œWe could lose each other for days in High Castle. I donâ€™t think our lives overlap that much.â€​par 	â€œWhat fun is that?â€​emanded El en. 
 	â€œTomorrow,â€ said Ted. â€œLetâ€™s get it over with.â€​par 	â€œShould we sneak out after bedtime,â€ said Ruth, â€œor is there anything wrong with just going sometime during the day?â€​par 	â€œWe donâ€™t know when weâ€™l al be free,â€ said Patrick, â€œso weâ€™d better sneak. Besides, that wil make it easier to get out of here right after we get the ring.â€​par 	â€œMidnight, then,â€​aid Ted. 
 	
 	â€œThe witching hour,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s meet at the foot of the West Tower, then, if thatâ€™s where the Ring is,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œI think,â€ said Patrick, when everyone had agreed to this, â€œthat Ted and I should go south and you guys go east.â€​par 	They took their separate ways in the darkness, and Laura fel down the hil . 
 	
 CHAPTER 8

 	LAURA and El en were late for the rendezvous at the West Tower. El en was comfortably sure which way was west, but it turned out not to be. They found themselves treading a long stretch of very dusty and cobwebby corridor lit by two torches that burned an unlikely and disconcerting purple. 
 	What should have been the door to the West Tower, flung hospitably open so that people could go up and rummage, was shut and bolted, and guarded by a grumpy beast the exact nature of which they did not stay to ascertain. It looked like the pool of light made by an imaginary sun shining through a round purple stained-glass window, and gurgled at them like a suddenly unclogged drain. They ran. 
 	They were stil running when they reached the rendezvous. 
 	If Laura had not tripped on the skirt of the dress Agatha had made her wear that day, they would probably have run right past their relations and ended up in Conradâ€™s Close, which would have pleased neither of them. It was said (by Agatha, in the course of a long and impassioned lecture) to be haunted by the ghost of Conradâ€™s bitterest enemy, who had actual y died in the Nightmare Grass, and whose ghost therefore appeared to everybody it saw as what Conradâ€™s enemy had feared most when alive. 
 	As it was, Laura tripped, El en stopped and went back for her, and they both blinked in a sudden blaze of green from Patrickâ€™s sword. 
 	â€œYou donâ€™t have to run yourselves to death even if you are late,â€​aid Ruth from behind her brother. 
 	Laura, sitting on the cold stone floor and panting for breath, looked at her green-tinged face and would have run again if she had been standing. 
 	â€œThere was something,â€ said El en, â€œsome beast.â€​he stopped to breathe. 
 	â€œWhere?â€ demanded Patrick. â€œIs it fol owing you?â€​par 	â€œI didnâ€™t hear it,â€​aid Laura doubtful y. 
 	El en pointed in the direction they had come. â€œWe thought it was at the bottom of the West Tower, butâ€”â€​par 	â€œSouth,â€ said Patrick, disgustedly. â€œThatâ€™s Fenceâ€™s tower, you ninnies, and whatever he left to guard it wouldnâ€™t hurt you.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s probably just a handful of moonlight and six rhymes,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œWhereâ€™s Ted?â€​sked Laura. 
 	â€œHeâ€™s guarding the way we came,â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œSome of the catlike guards might walk this way sometimes. I hope nobody heard you guys charging along.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t think anybody except Fence uses that part of the castle,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œIt didnâ€™t look like it,â€ said El en. â€œAl dusty.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™l get Ted,â€​aid Ruth. â€œGive me the sword, Patrick, please.â€​par 	â€œWhy didnâ€™t you bring a torch or a lantern?â€
 	asked El en. â€œWe tried to get one but they wouldnâ€™t let us, and the candles just blew out. Itâ€™s awful y windy in this place.â€​par 	
 	â€œTedâ€™s got the lantern,â€ said Ruth. â€œHe didnâ€™t want to stand where the guards might come, holding this weird sword.â€​par 	Patrick handed her the weird sword, and she went off down the hal in a halo of green. Laura leaned against the hospitably open door to the West Towerâ€™s stairs and tried to peer up them. There was a faint glow on the wal of the first turn. 
 	â€œHow was your first day at High Castle?â€ Patrick asked them. 
 	â€œBenjamin said we couldnâ€™t have anything but bread and water,â€ said El en, â€œbut Agatha brought us pasties.â€​par 	â€œThey were awful,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œThey were not.â€​par 	â€œDo 
 	you 
 	have 
 	any 
 	left?â€ 
 	asked 
 	Patrick. 
 	â€œBecause Ted and I donâ€™t have any Agatha, andâ€”â€​par 	â€œEl en ate them al ,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œWhat happened to Ruthie?â€​sked El en. 
 	â€œThey turned her over to Meredith, whoâ€™s the head sorcerer of the Green Caves at High Castle. They scolded her and turned her from a journeyman back into an apprentice. Donâ€™t ask her about it. Sheâ€™s furious.â€​par 	Laura could wel imagine. El en seemed unimpressed. 
 	â€œ We were actual y lucky to be punished,â€ said El en. 
 	â€œIt meant no lessons. Whoever decided we should have lessons in the summer?â€​par 	â€œYou think youâ€™re unhappy,â€ said Patrick. 
 	
 	â€œTed and I have a fencing lesson with Randolph first thing tomorrow, and he thinks heâ€™s been teaching Ted for three years and me for one, and we donâ€™t know anything about it at al .â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said El en, â€œwe donâ€™t know anything about the history of the Outer Isles, either.â€​par 	â€œThe what?â€​par 	â€œThe Outer Isles. I made them up one day when it rained and you guys were al playing cards.â€​par 	â€œHow many more things like that are we going to run into?â€ demanded Patrick. â€œIf Iâ€™d had any idea you were al going around making things up on your ownâ€”â€​par 	â€œWerenâ€™t you?â€​sked El en. 
 	â€œNo!â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™re weird.â€​par 	Patrickâ€™s reply to this was forestal ed by the return of Ted and Ruth, who came clattering down the corridor in a muddle of green light from Patrickâ€™s sword and yel ow from Tedâ€™s lantern. 
 	â€œWhy are you so loud?â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œItâ€™s these boots,â€ said Ted. â€œTheyâ€™re heavy. Donâ€™t you have any?â€​par 	El en stuck her foot into the circle of lantern light and showed him her soft leather shoe. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s much better for sneaking around in,â€
 	said Ted. 
 	â€œLady Ruth has some of those,â€ said Ruth, â€œbut theyâ€™re not warm enough for this place. They might fit you.â€​par 	â€œWhatâ€™s Patrick got?â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œBoots,â€ said Patrick. â€œBut I know how to walk.â€ He took his sword back from Ruth and sheathed it, and a new set of darker shadows sprang up around them. 
 	â€œWhereâ€™s my sword, Laurie?â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œItâ€™s not yours,â€​aid Laura. El enâ€™s reminder that they were likely to get in trouble over their lessons, and the fact that Ted was no longer guarding against discovery by the guards, were making her feel frightened again. As a result, she felt uncompromising. â€œItâ€™s under the bed. I had to tel Benjamin it was a toy.â€​par 	â€œDid he believe you?â€​par 	â€œNo,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œWel , he let me keep it.â€​par 	â€œHe kept looking at those stones on the handle,â€
 	said El en. 
 	â€œHilt,â€ said Patrick. â€œTake care of that sword, you guys. We canâ€™t get you back if you lose it.â€​par 	â€œLetâ€™s go,â€ said Ted, holding the lantern up. 
 	They started up the narrow stairway, first Ted, then Ruth, then Patrick, then El en, and then Laura. 
 	There was indeed a torch burning just beyond the first turn of the stairway, high up on the wal . There was also another beast. Laura could not see it, but she could hear it gurgle. 
 	â€œBack up!â€ said Tedâ€™s voice, echoing a little in the stairwel . â€œPatrick, the swordâ€”â€​par 	The sword rang as Patrick drew it, and the beast made a noise like a bucketful of water thrown into a patch of mud. Al of this sounded hol ow and horrible. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s it doing!â€ cried Laura, retreating back around the corner so that El en would not knock her over. 
 	â€œI canâ€™t see, theyâ€™re al in the way,â€ said El en. She sounded like someone who has discovered that he has chosen a bad seat at the movies, and Laura, who wanted to take off down the stairs and find a bed to hide under, marveled at her. 
 	â€œGive me the sword,â€​aid Tedâ€™s voice. 
 	â€œYou get out of the way,â€ said Patrickâ€™ s. 
 	â€œYou believe in this stuff. Itâ€™l probably drown you.â€​par 	The beast produced a remarkable imitation of a water bal oon hitting a hot sidewalk from a long way up. 
 	â€œWil you give it here!â€​par 	â€œWil you move!â€​par 	â€œWil you wait!â€ said Ruthâ€™s voice. Laura, two steps farther down than she had been when the water bal oon hit, froze, looking up at their shadows on the wal . 
 	â€œDoes anybody remember anything like this?â€ said Ruth. 
 	â€œNo,â€​aid Ted. â€œGive me the sword.â€​par 	â€œIt sounds,â€ said El en, â€œlike the one we met at Fenceâ€™s tower.â€​par 	â€œDoes it look like it?â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™re in the way.â€​par 	â€œWel , come on up.â€​par 	El en disappeared around the corner and her shadow joined the tangle on the wal . The beast bubbled like a coffee percolator for a moment, slurped once, and stopped. 
 	â€œHey, Laurie!â€ cal ed El en, reappearing around the bend. â€œCome and look at this.â€​par 	Laura shook her head. â€œOneâ€™s enough.â€​par 	â€œI want you to see if you think it looks like the other one. Itâ€™s not doing anything.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s gurgling!â€​par 	â€œWel , maybe we sound like that to it too. Come on.â€​par 	Laura, feeling as if someone else had broken the bathroom window and she were going to get the blame, came slowly up the stairs she had sneaked down, and stood next to El en. 
 	The beast, taking up three or four steps, sat in the torchlight, looking like a pool of water with a scum of purple fur. It had no eyes, no legs, no up or down, and no edges. 
 	There were spots that were clearly step, and spots that were clearly beast, and an odd zone between that was not clearly anything. It bubbled gently at Laura from somewhere inside itself. 
 	â€œYes,â€​aid Laura, and went back down a step. 
 	â€œHandful of moonlight, huh?â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œWhy should Fence care what happens to the West Tower?â€​ondered Patrick. 
 	â€œMaybe itâ€™s not Fenceâ€™s beast,â€​aid El en. 
 	The beast made a sudden sucking noise and they al jumped. 
 	â€œAre you Fenceâ€™s beast?â€​l en asked it. 
 	
 	The beast was quiet. 
 	â€œWhosever you are, weâ€™d be obliged if youâ€™d let us by.â€​par 	The beast made precisely the same noise that the other beast had made at Laura and El en, folded and swirled in on itself like water going down a narrow space, and disappeared. Patrick leaned over and put his hand on the steps where it had been. 
 	â€œNot wet,â€​e said. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s go,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œI want to know whose fault that was.â€​par 	Ted started up the steps, carrying the lantern with him. 
 	Ruth fol owed. Patrick stood between them and El en and Laura, stil holding the sword and staring at the empty steps under the torch. 
 	â€œMove, please,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œI bet you made this up.â€​par 	â€œI did not. Move.â€​par 	Patrick flattened himself against the wal , El en went by him after the rapidly diminishing glow of Tedâ€™s lantern, and Patrick looked at Laura. â€œDid you make this up? 
 	Itâ€™s your tower.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s not my tower!â€ said Laura, feeling that the one thing worse than that oozy beast would be to be blamed for its existence. â€œI donâ€™t make up beasts. I donâ€™t like them. Can we go up?â€ she added, trying to behave like Princess Laura. â€œTheyâ€™l find the ring, and itâ€™s my job to find the ring.â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™re al crazy,â€ said Patrick, sheathing the sword, and he went ahead of her up the steps. 
 	They went around and around, past the open doors of the rooms with old clothes and old weapons, up to the third landing. Laura wished for a quiet afternoon to rummage. It seemed unlikely that she would ever get one, if quiet meant not having to worry about some grown-up, somewhere, who would yel at her when she came back. There was a bench on the landing and another torch on the wal above the bench. El en was sitting on the bench, and Ted and Ruth were having an altercation about the door, which was shut. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s going on?â€ said Patrick. Laura sat down next to El en. 
 	â€œDoor wonâ€™t open,â€ said Ted. â€œThereâ€™s no lock or handle on this side and it wonâ€™t open.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s supposed to be open,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œWhat do they need a beast for if the door wonâ€™t open anyway?â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œWhy is everything around here three times as hard to do as it should be?â€ said Ted, leaning on the door. Laura looked at his tired face in the torchlight and was stil reminded of Randolph, whom she stil had not met. She and El en had seen only Benjamin and Agatha, and a few amused guards, since they came to High Castle. 
 	â€œWhy donâ€™t you ask it to open?â€​he said to Ted. 
 	â€œThe beast moved when El en asked it to.â€​par 	Ted rol ed his eyes at the ceiling, turned his face against the carved wooden surface of the door, and addressed it sarcastical y. â€œI prithee open,â€​e said. 
 	And fel into the darkness of the West Towerâ€™s third room, dropping the lantern. The lantern rol ed in crazy circles exactly as a dropped flashlight wil do, went out, and clanged against the far wal . Laura and El en held each other, and El en laughed until the tower echoed, and Laura pretended that she had not been scared half out of her wits. 
 	â€œShut up,â€ said Patrick, taking Ted by an arm and hauling him up again. 
 	Ted shook himself free and advanced upon Laura menacingly. â€œVery funny, Laurie,â€ he said. â€œYou made this up, didnâ€™t you?â€​par 	â€œNo,â€ said Laura. â€œThis isnâ€™t supposed to be a magical castle and I didnâ€™t make up any of this.â€​par 	â€œLeave her alone,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œI thought you thought this was real,â€ said Patrick, â€œso how can she have made it up anyway?â€​par 	Ted wheeled on him. â€œI do think itâ€™s real. I also think we made it up. Itâ€™s real now. Somehow, things got out of hand. And once they did, then things could start happening that we didnâ€™t make up.â€​par 	â€œAnd you say I have sil y theories.â€​par 	â€œWe have a ring to find,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	Ted turned away from Patrick as if Patrick were something he had decided not to buy. â€œLaurie, whereâ€™s the ring supposed to be?â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s in a casket.â€​par 	â€œWhat?â€​par 	â€œIn a lead casket,â€​aid Laura, stubbornly. 
 	â€œShe means like in Merchant of Venice, â€ said El en. 
 	â€œA box, is al .â€​par 	
 	â€œI wish weâ€™d never heard of Shakespeare,â€
 	growled Ted as he stamped into the tower room and retrieved the lantern. He stood on the bench, displacing Laura and El en rather roughly, lit the lantern from the torch, and handed the lantern down to Ruth. Then he took the torch from its socket. â€œWhere is this casket?â€ he asked Laura. 
 	â€œIn a niche in the north wal .â€​par 	Ted strode into the tower room, trailed by the others, and made a minute inspection of the north wal . It was empty except for three arrow slits. 
 	â€œAre you sure itâ€™s north?â€​par 	â€œNo.â€​par 	Ted made for the west wal , muttering. 
 	â€œWatch out, youâ€™l set the tapestries on fire,â€
 	said Ruth as the light of the torch showed up a crowd of colors and shapes. 
 	â€œGive me the lantern,â€ said Ted, thrusting the torch at her, and disappeared under the tapestries. 
 	â€œWhyâ€™s he so grumpy?â€​l en asked Laura. 
 	â€œHeâ€™s always grumpy.â€​par 	â€œBut Prince Edward is meek and gentle.â€​par 	â€œHeh,â€​aid Laura. 
 	They watched the disturbance under the tapestries that was Ted looking for the niche. It came around to the door, and Ted emerged, looking ruffled and indignant. 
 	â€œThereâ€™s not a darn thing under there,â€ he said. 
 	â€œYouâ€™re crazy, Laurie.â€​par 	
 	â€œI am not.â€ She was sure she had remembered properly. She felt indignant herself; somebody had tampered with her tower. 
 	Ted crossed to the south wal , disappeared under the tapestries, and came out where they stopped for the east wal . â€œNot there either,â€ he said. â€œLead casket indeed.â€​par 	Laura eyed him, but he did not seem disposed to come at her menacingly again. 
 	â€œNow what do we do?â€ he said, sitting on the floor. 
 	Then he stopped. He held the lantern closer to the floor, and Laura saw something glitter faintly. Ted moved the lantern, and more glitters sprang up. â€œOh, God,â€ said Ted, in such heartfelt tones that no one reproved him. 
 	â€œWhat?â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œLook 
 	at 
 	the 
 	floor,â€ 
 	said 
 	Ted, 
 	tragical y. 
 	â€œâ€˜nvalued Gold.â€™ â€​par 	They al stooped and looked at it in the light of Ruthâ€™s torch. Embedded in the smooth gray stone were rings, dul y gleaming brass rings, hundreds and thousands and hundreds of thousands, patterning the floor in circles, in diamonds, in cloverleafs, in scal ops and whorls. 
 	â€œWhose idea was this?â€ said Patrick, and he sounded almost as terrible as Lady Ruth. 
 	â€œIâ€™m not sure it has to be anybodyâ€™s,â€ said Ruth. 
 	â€œOf course it does,â€ said Patrick. â€œTheyâ€™re just scared to admit it.â€​par 	Everybody looked at Laura. 
 	
 	â€œItâ€™s not mine!â€ she said. â€œI told you mine, and itâ€™s al messed up.â€ They al stood and glared at one another in the flaring light. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Ted, â€œI guess weâ€™d better start looking. Just hope itâ€™s good and loose, wherever it is.â€
 	He took himself and his lantern back to the door, got down on his hands and knees, and began methodical y sweeping his hands across the floor. 
 	â€œWait, wait, wait,â€ said Patrick, arresting the other three in the act of joining Ted. 
 	â€œWel ?â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œThis is clearly not a place for storing old jewelry,â€
 	said Patrick. â€œThereâ€™s none here. So if thereâ€™s no old jewelry here, probably Shanâ€™s Ring isnâ€™t here either.â€​par 	â€œThe old clothes were in the right place,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œAnd there are brass rings here,â€ said Ruth, â€œand Shanâ€™s Ring is a brass ring.â€​par 	â€œWe might as wel keep looking,â€ said Ted. â€œWe canâ€™t do anything else tonight.â€​par 	He went back to his task. Ruth held the torch for El en and Laura, and they crawled doggedly across the floor, one on either side of her, picking at myriads of brass rings. Laura, scraping her fingertips and acquiring little round imprints on her knees and the heels of her hands, began to feel put upon. 
 	They had advanced about two feet across the floor in this fashion when Patrick, who had been standing and watching them, spoke again. 
 	â€œWait a minute,â€​e said. 
 	
 	Laura stopped crawling and began rubbing her knees. 
 	â€œWhat now?â€​aid Ruth, without stopping. 
 	â€œAssuming Shanâ€™s Ring is here,â€ said Patrick, â€œthere must be a pattern to this.â€​par 	Ruth sighed audibly, and Patrick went on. â€œYou always hide things with a pattern. You donâ€™t just dump them down somewhere and hope you remember where you put them.â€​par 	â€œ You donâ€™t,â€ muttered Ruth, sitting back on her heels. But he had caught Tedâ€™s interest. 
 	â€œWhat kind of pattern?â€ Ted asked him, stil on the floor with his lantern. 
 	â€œIn the riddle,â€ said Patrick, promptly. Laura, catching the pleased note in his voice, guessed that he had figured the whole thing out before he spoke. Just like Patrick, she thought. 
 	â€œ â€˜ am a trinket in the world,â€™ â€ quoted Ted. 
 	â€œWel ?â€​par 	â€œMaybe itâ€™s an acrostic,â€ said Patrick. â€œOr maybe it has a code in it. We should write it out and work on it.â€​par 	â€œThat could take weeks,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Patrick, stil with that pleased note in his voice, â€œmaybe thereâ€™s a clue in the riddle about where on this floor Shanâ€™s Ring is.â€​par 	â€œPatrick,â€​aid Ruth, â€œdid you make this up?â€​par 	â€œNo, I did not.â€​par 	â€œWhat are you so happy about, then?â€​par 	
 	â€œIâ€™ve been thinking,â€ said Patrick, â€œand observing, not grubbing around on the floor, and I think thereâ€™s a connection between the riddle and the tapestries.â€​par 	â€œI thought you didnâ€™t believeâ€”â€ began Ruth, and was interrupted by Ted. 
 	â€œWhat is it?â€​e said. 
 	â€œThereâ€™s a map of the Secret Country on that wal ,â€ said Patrick, waving at the south wal of the room. 
 	â€œI think thatâ€™s for the first line, for the world.â€​par 	â€œWhy shouldnâ€™t it be a picture of a trinket?â€ said Ted, but he had straightened up on his knees and was regarding Patrick hopeful y. 
 	â€œToo vague,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œJust because you thinkâ€”â€​par 	â€œLet him finish, Ruthie,â€ said Ted. â€œWhat about â€˜nvalued gold and sul en stoneâ€™?â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said Patrick, wilting a little, â€œthat one I couldnâ€™t figure out.â€​par 	â€œWel , whatâ€™s next, then?â€ said Ted. â€œ â€˜ am a trinket in the world, unvalued gold and sul en stone; but outside power is unfurled when outside Power I am hurled, and Time awry is blown.â€™ â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said Patrick, â€œthereâ€™s a dragonâ€”I thought that could be the outside power being unfurled.â€​par 	Ted stood up with the lantern. â€œWhere?â€​par 	Patrick took him over to the middle of the north wal , stepping around Ruth and El en and Laura with a certain disdain, like a cat, thought Laura, walking on a wet floor. His shadow and Tedâ€™s blotted out what they were looking at. 
 	â€œHuh,â€ said Ted. â€œItâ€™s even unfolding its wings. â€˜utside power is unfurled.â€™ Okay. What next?â€​par 	â€œâ€˜hen outside Power I am hurled,â€™â€ said Laura, who was becoming interested. 
 	â€œI couldnâ€™t get that one either,â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œBut over here,â€ and he led Ted and the lantern along the north wal to its western edge, â€œthereâ€™s a tremendous storm, and itâ€™s overturned a sundial, see?â€​par 	â€œ â€˜ime awry is blown!â€™ â€ cried Laura, scrambling to her feet. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s only three lines,â€ said Ruth, â€œand even ifâ€”â€​par 	â€œI couldnâ€™t see a lot of the things on the tapestries,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	Ted handed him the lantern, and Ted and Laura hovered along behind him as he inspected the hangings. He had to tel them several times to get their shadows out of his way. 
 	Ruth and El en stayed where they were, murmuring to each other. 
 	â€œOutside Power I am hurled,â€ muttered Patrick, moving light along a dismaying wealth of pictures. 
 	â€œThe tapestries,â€ Laura observed after a time, â€œgo al the way up to the ceiling.â€​par 	â€œThey wouldnâ€™t put clues above eye level,â€ said Patrick. 
 	
 	â€œYes, 
 	but 
 	whose 
 	eye 
 	level?â€ 
 	said 
 	Ted. 
 	â€œTheyâ€™re al very tal .â€​par 	â€œRuth,â€ said Patrick, â€œcome over here, please. 
 	Youâ€™re not Benjamin but youâ€™l have to do.â€​par 	â€œThis is crazy,â€ said Ruth, but she came over. Ted gave her the lantern, taking the torch from her and finding it a socket in the wal . 
 	At the west corner of the north wal , she discovered a subsidiary tapestry, a long narrow one. It was hung over the main tapestry, which at that point was frayed and ragged. It contained nine panels, bordered with a design of climbing plants and an occasional animal of some indeterminate type between cat and rabbit. In the first panel, a young man in disheveled clothes, and with what Laura thought of as decided eyebrows, sat at the feet of an old man. The old man was clearly a wizard. He had beard, robe, staff, and an assortment of peculiar instruments that Patrick said were astrological but that looked to Laura like Patrickâ€™s own chemistry lab. 
 	In succeeding panels, the young man changed his disheveled clothes for a wizardâ€™s robe and staff and began taming animals. In the third panel he enchanted a cat, in the fourth he and the cat col ared a dog, in the fifth the three of them acquired a horse, in the sixth they subdued an eagle. In the seventh they spoke with a unicorn, but in the eighth the unicorn was not there. Man and animals stood around something which looked more like a hole in the tapestry than part of the weaving. This appearance may have been due to the light, which was wavering more than ever now because Ruthâ€™s arm hurt. 
 	The man held his staff pointed at the hole, and red fire leaped from its tip. The catâ€™s tail was fluffed, the eagleâ€™s beak opened in a scream. Every other animal had its ears flat to its head. 
 	In the ninth panel, the man was gone, with a lightning bolt where he had been standing. Al the animals were bounding away from the hole in the tapestry as hard as they could go. 
 	â€œThink he was hurled outside power?â€ asked Patrick, after a long silence. 
 	â€œWho is that?â€ said Ruth. â€œDoes anybody remember that story?â€​par 	Nobody did. Even Shan had not come to such an end as that. 
 	â€œFor now,â€ said Patrick, â€œthatâ€™s one more clue. Good thinking, Ted.â€​par 	â€œIt was my idea,â€ said Laura, who did not usual y have them. 
 	â€œLook,â€ said Patrick, â€œbefore we forget what weâ€™re doingâ€”â€​par 	â€œWhat are we doing?â€​sked Ruth. 
 	â€œThere are five lines,â€ said Patrick, â€œso there are probably five clues. And luckily there are five of us. So I want somebody to stand in front of each of the clues weâ€™ve found so far. Not you, Ruthie, youâ€™ve got to hold the lantern up.â€​par 	After a certain amount of shuffling and muttering, and one quarrel over where exactly a particular clue had been, they got Laura positioned in front of the map of the Secret Country, El en in front of the dragon unfurling its wings, Patrick in front of the tremendous storm, and Ted in front of the ninth panel of the wizardâ€™s story. 
 	
 	â€œNow,â€ said Patrick, â€œ â€˜nvalued gold and sul en stone.â€™ â€​par 	Ruth went around and around the room, holding the lantern high and grumbling. Then she went around holding it at eye level and grumbling. Then she took Patrickâ€™s place in front of the tremendous storm, and made him go around holding the lantern at his eye level. He did not grumble, but he kept finding scenes he thought were perfect for the line in question. Since the others thought the scenes were nothing like it, the argument became heated. 
 	Patrick was particularly obstinate about a scene, on the east end of the south wal , in which the sun was rising or setting behind a range of dark mountains. Patrick said the sun was setting, Ruth and El en that it was rising. This difference was due to Patrickâ€™s insistence that the mountains were the Dubious Hil s, out of which came the stone which was set in Shanâ€™s Ring. That would be the sul en stone; he said the sun was the unvalued gold. Ruth and El en said that the mountains were the Dwarvesâ€™
 	Chairs, a northern range which was ful of jewel mines and therefore had no sul en stones. They also scorned his suggestion about the sun. They could recite more facts than he could, but he was more stubborn. Laura sat down on the floor and wished they were al in New England. 
 	â€œWhy donâ€™t we try my way?â€ said Patrick at last, setting the lantern down and startling Laura from a doze. 
 	â€œThen if itâ€™s wrong weâ€™l look some more.â€​par 	â€œWhat do you want to do?â€​sked Ruth. 
 	â€œEverybody start moving into the middle of the room. 
 	Try to take the same-size steps.â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s sil y,â€ said Ruth. â€œWeâ€™l just end up in the middle of the room.â€​par 	â€œThe roomâ€™s not symmetrical,â€ said Patrick, smugly. 
 	â€œHow do you know?â€​par 	â€œI looked at it. Besides, you can see even from the outside.â€​par 	â€œOh,â€ said Laura, pleased. â€œIs this the lopsided tower?â€​par 	â€œYes,â€ said Patrick. â€œNow try to take the same-size steps.â€​par 	â€œLaurieâ€™s the littlest,â€ said Ted. â€œGet up, Laurie.â€​par 	They watched her take a few steps and measured them by the stones in the floor. Then they did as Patrick asked. 
 	This eventual y brought them into a huddle somewhat to the northeast of the roomâ€™s middle, staring at their own shadows on the floor. 
 	â€œDonâ€™t move,â€ said Patrick, and fetched the lantern. 
 	â€œThere it is!â€ crowed Laura, bending over, and was hit in the head by Tedâ€™s elbow as he too reached for the ring. 
 	â€œOw!â€​he said. 
 	Ted held the ring close to the lantern. The brass glittered a little. The round black stone reflected no light. It looked, Laura thought, unnervingly like the hole-in-the-tapestry that had blasted the magician. She wanted nothing to do with it, but it was no use saying so. 
 	â€œPatrick,â€ said Ruth, â€œare you sure you didnâ€™t make this up?â€​par 	â€œYes!â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t see how you could have figured it out.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™ve got a brain.â€​par 	â€œI never thought so.â€​par 	â€œWel , now you know.â€​par 	â€œCome on,â€ said Ted, â€œletâ€™s get out of here and get this over with.â€​par 	Laura, who had been watching him as he tried the ring on al his fingers and discovered that it was too big for any of them, observed, â€œYouâ€™l lose it.â€​par 	â€œFirst we have to decide whoâ€™s going,â€ said Patrick. He sounded faintly uneasy, and Laura wondered what he had done. He had sounded that way when, having spent a day being angry at the others, he had come back to inform them that he had turned Fenceâ€™s robe into a sail and lost it in the pond. 
 	â€œWe canâ€™t al go,â€ said Patrick, â€œbecause the swords donâ€™t work that way.â€​par 	Laura found herself enormously pleased with this statement. She did not think she could take one more trip in the dark, especial y on horseback. The others, however, did not look pleased, especial y Ted. 
 	â€œIt was my idea,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œIâ€™ve got the ring,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œI can get it away from you,â€​aid Lady Ruth. 
 	Laura wished she were elsewhere. Ted was clearly taken aback, but he ral ied quickly. â€œYou can not,â€ he said, â€œand anyway it would make noise.â€​par 	â€œSo?â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s why I should do it!â€ cried Ted. 
 	â€œNobody takes this seriously but Pat, and heâ€™s only doing it to be obnoxious. I donâ€™t trust you guys.â€​par 	â€œIf you take it seriously,â€ Patrick said to him, â€œyou should let Ruth do it. Sheâ€™s the sorcerer.â€​par 	â€œBut she doesnâ€™t know anything.â€​par 	â€œNeither do you,â€ said Ruth, heatedly. â€œThis was my idea and I want that ring. Besides, I can come and go as I please. Youâ€™l get in trouble if you do that. And youâ€™ve got a fencing lesson tomorrow.â€​par 	Ted sagged. â€œIt wonâ€™t take long to change the time,â€ he said, without conviction. â€œWe could get back before seven in the morning.â€​par 	â€œDonâ€™t count on it,â€ said Ruth. â€œEverything seems to go wrong around here.â€​par 	â€œIf you screw this up,â€​aid Ted, â€œIâ€™l â€”â€​par 	â€œI promise you I wonâ€™t,â€ said Ruth, sounding more like herself and less like a haughty and impatient adult. 
 	Ted sighed heavily and handed her the ring. She put it on, and it fit. 
 	â€œWel , come on, El ie,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œWhat 
 	makes 
 	you 
 	think 
 	youâ€™re 
 	going
 	anywhere?â€​aid Ted, rounding on him. 
 	â€œWhy shouldnâ€™t I?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œYouâ€™ve got a fencing lesson tomorrow too.â€​par 	Patrick looked blank. â€œBut Ruth and El en canâ€™t go by themselves.â€​par 	â€œLook,â€ said Ruth, â€œIâ€™m older than you, and Iâ€™m bigger than you, and thereâ€™s nothing out there anyway. If weâ€™re going to have this argument every time I want to do something Iâ€™l just stay home when I get there.â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s a very good idea,â€ said Ted, but nobody seemed to pay any attention to him. Laura, who was feeling better because nobody had so much as mentioned horses to her today, thought she would wait a little longer before deciding to quit. Besides, she thought glumly, she could decide to quit, but that didnâ€™t mean they would let her. 
 	They hadnâ€™t let Ted the last time he suggested it. 
 	Ruth recovered the torch and they went down the stairs. It was colder than it had been on the way up. The beast was nowhere to be seen. 
 	
 CHAPTER 9

 	TED dreamed that night that he was fighting Randolph in the rose garden, by moonlight. He had not yet been he had expected it to. He had the moon in his eyes, and the grass was wet. 
 	These were the only things that bothered him. He knew exactly what to do with the sword. It was both longer and lighter than the one Laura had found under the hedge, and it fit into his hand as one piece of a jigsaw puzzle fits into its neighbor. 
 	He was fighting in the same way he tied his shoes or rode a bicycle: easily and without thought. Randolph was making motions with his sword, which seemed to one part of Ted to be incredibly tiny and frighteningly quick. But most of him knew how to counter them almost before the incredulous part had noticed them at al . Somewhere far in the back of his mind, almost like a voice outside, the names of Randolphâ€™s moves and of his own were flicking by, too quick and faint to catch. Their boots squeaked a little on the wet grass, and their light blades hissed more than clanged as they came together, and they breathed a little hard. And that was al the sound in the whole sweet silver garden. 
 	Ted suddenly knew that he had Randolph. He did something with his wrist, ignoring the part of him that demanded to know what it was and refused to kil Randolph anyway. He lunged straight at Randolph with a force that should have put the sword through him. And froze, ful y extended (whatever that meant, the incredulous part of him thought), his sword stretched foolishly in the empty air, three inches from Randolph. 
 	Ted was momentarily outraged. He knew his reach was longer than that. Then he saw on Randolphâ€™s face not fear, nor relief, but a sort of sick disappointment; he knew that if Randolph went on standing there, he could stil kil him. 
 	And then someoneâ€™s hand clamped onto his shoulder from behind. 
 	Ted flung himself around, swinging the sword as if it were a stick of wood, and found that he was in bed, and had caught Patrick across the face with the flat of his hand. 
 	Patrick was too stunned to say anything, which gave Ted no reason not to apologize. â€œSorry,â€ he said. â€œI was dreaming.â€​par 	Patrick touched his cheek careful y and pul ed his hand away as if he expected to find blood on it. â€œI had bad dreams too,â€​e said, â€œbut I didnâ€™t hit you.â€​par 	â€œDid you?â€​aid Ted. â€œWhat about?â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t remember,â€ said Patrick. â€œI think you must have knocked them out of my head.â€​par 	â€œThey canâ€™t have been that bad, then.â€​par 	â€œWel , they were weird, anyway. Something about the Crystal of Earth.â€​par 	â€œThe what?â€ said Ted, rubbing his eyes. It was barely gray outside, but Patrick had managed to light a lamp. 
 	â€œIâ€™m not sure what it is; I think Ruth and El en know. But itâ€™s dangerous. I think itâ€™s a kind of magical globe of this place, and if you break it, itâ€™s like blowing up the country. Whatâ€™d you dream?â€​par 	
 	â€œI dreamed I knew how to fence and was kil ing Randolph.â€​par 	â€œWel , at least that makes sense,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œWhyâ€™d you wake me up so early?â€​par 	â€œI thought we should go down to our lesson early so we wonâ€™t look as if weâ€™ve never been there.â€​par 	â€œTheyâ€™l know soon enough we havenâ€™t,â€
 	said Ted. â€œUnless I can remember enough of that dream.â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said Patrick, â€œI was thinking, I bet theyâ€™d believe us if we acted like weâ€™d been bewitched and lost our memories, or parts of them.â€​par 	â€œBenjaminâ€™d think Ruth did it,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œHeâ€™s already asked me if she bewitched me. 
 	Ruthâ€™s in enough trouble already.â€​par 	â€œTheyâ€™l probably think weâ€™re bewitched whether we try to act like it or not,â€​aid Patrick, shrugging. 
 	â€œWhere are we supposed to go?â€​par 	â€œOutside,â€ said Patrick. â€œAnd I think itâ€™s somewhere on the north side, where itâ€™s cooler.â€​par 	â€œAnd whatâ€™re we supposed to wear?â€​par 	â€œI thought we should wear our jeans,â€ said Patrick, who already had his on. â€œEverything else I could find looked too good to get al hot and sweaty and cut up in.â€​par 	Ted, gazing a little blearily around the room, realized that Patrick had emptied al six oak chests onto the floor. The princes seemed to have a lot of clothes, many in colors Ted would not have been caught dead in. He started to chide Patrick for making a mess, and then the last thing his cousin had said suddenly registered. â€œWhat makes you think,â€ Ted demanded, â€œthat weâ€™re going to get cut up?â€​par 	â€œWel , we donâ€™t know how to fight back.â€​par 	â€œThe swords arenâ€™t bated.â€​par 	â€œWhat?â€​par 	â€œI mean they arenâ€™t sharp. This is just practice. 
 	You know, like fencing demonstrations at home. They have little red and blue plastic buttons on the tips.â€​par 	â€œThey donâ€™t have plastic here. I think we should wear our jeans.â€​par 	â€œBenjaminâ€™l kil us,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œHe wonâ€™t be up.â€​par 	â€œHeh. I bet he never sleeps.â€​par 	â€œHuh,â€ said Patrick, arrested in the act of putting his T-shirt on. â€œMaybe he doesnâ€™t. He is from Fenceâ€™s Country.â€​par 	â€œWhat?â€​par 	â€œWel , wizards donâ€™t sleep, do they? I mean, Thomas Edison hardly ever slept.â€​par 	â€œEdison wasnâ€™t a wizard!â€ said Ted, wondering if Patrick had final y gone crazy. 
 	â€œThey cal ed him one.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s not the same thing.â€​par 	â€œYou mean Fence isnâ€™t like Thomas Edison,â€
 	said Patrick, the T-shirt fal ing from his hand to mingle with the velvet cloaks and linen shirts he had strewn on the floor. 
 	
 	â€œNo! Heâ€™s not a scientist; he doesnâ€™t invent things!â€​par 	â€œWel , what the hel good is he, then?â€​par 	â€œHeâ€™s a magician,â€ said Ted, exasperated almost beyond bearing. â€œHe casts spel s. He has power. 
 	He can do things.â€​par 	â€œWhat things?â€​par 	Ted opened his mouth and shut it again. It had just seemed right to have a wizard on the Kingâ€™s council. 
 	This did not seem the time to rehearse the deeds of Shan, who had gotten himself into a great deal of trouble in his time. â€œWel ,â€ Ted said, â€œhe can fight other magical things.â€​par 	Patrick shrugged. 
 	â€œHe can tel whether things are real or il usion.â€​par 	â€œI bet he canâ€™t tel us whether this is real or il usion.â€​par 	â€œShan,â€ said Ted, goaded into desperation, â€œcould cal the winds and make floods and control dragons.â€​par 	Patrick shrugged again. 
 	â€œWel ,â€​aid Ted, â€œIâ€™m not wearing jeans.â€​par 	Benjamin was, after al , far more formidable than Patrick. 
 	Ted sat down and sifted through strange soft fabrics, and final y found a sort of tunic, made of what he thought was linen, which had a minimum of embroidery. He found himself a belt and some sandals (â€œYou could at least wear your tennis shoes,â€ said Patrick), and ventured with the disapproving Patrick into High Castle. 
 	
 	People were astir already, pages and guards and servants. As Ted and Patrick made their way down and north, they began to smel food. It did not smel like breakfast particularly: no coffee, no toast, no bacon. But it smel ed wonderful. Patrick wanted to stop and have breakfast, but Ted would not. 
 	â€œHow can we fight when weâ€™re faint with hunger?â€​emanded Patrick. 
 	â€œWe canâ€™t fight anyway.â€​par 	â€œWel , Iâ€™d like to be able to dodge,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œYouâ€™l be lighter if you donâ€™t eat,â€ said Ted, absently. He felt a little light in the head himself, but his feeling resembled the detachment of the dream he hoped to recapture when he faced Randolph. He did not want to do anything which might disturb the feeling. The dream seemed their only hope. 
 	The place for fencing practice was just where Patrick had thought it was, and he was pleased enough to have been right that he stopped muttering about food. It was at the northeast corner of High Castle, between the second white wal and the second pink wal , and between the rose garden and the lake. It consisted of a large circle of sand surrounded by drystone wal s, along which were ranged racks of weapons and masks and gloves. The sun was not up, and the air was a little chil y and very clear. The lake lapped lightly against the eastern wal , and over the western one trailed white and yel ow roses. They looked very bright in the gray air. Ted firmly turned his back on them. He did not want to look at the rose garden. 
 	They had only been in the practice area a few moments, and were examining the weapons with some dismay, when Ted experienced a creeping feeling on the back of his neck, and looked up. 
 	â€œHere he comes,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œHow can you tel ?â€ said Patrick, squinting at the advancing figure. 
 	Ted did not answer him. He had not seen Randolph since the Kingâ€™s council, but he knew, as he had known then, that this was Randolph. 
 	â€œHeâ€™s too tal ,â€​aid Patrick critical y. 
 	Lord Randolph strode briskly toward them across the flattened grass of the yard. He was dressed much as Ted was, except that he had on his head something that caught the early light. As he came closer, and smiled at them, Ted saw that it was a circlet of silver set with three of the blue stones. 
 	â€œGood morrow,â€​al ed Randolph. 
 	â€œGood . . .â€​aid Ted, and stopped. 
 	Randolph and Patrick were staring at one another. 
 	Randolph looked taken aback and caught, somehow, between anger and amusement. Patrick stood where he was; he looked as if he were waiting to be executed. 
 	Randolph came right up to Patrick, disregarding Ted, and took hold of the sleeve of Patrickâ€™s T-shirt as if to make sure it was there. He looked at Patrickâ€™s jeans and raised his eyebrows. 
 	â€œSo,â€ he said, â€œthese are the garments which so gal ed Benjamin.â€​par 	Patrick did not seem disposed to reply, so Ted did. 
 	â€œYes, sir.â€​par 	
 	â€œWhence came they?â€​par 	â€œWe were in the West Tower,â€​aid Ted, truthful y. 
 	â€œWhere else?â€ said Randolph. â€œBut what hath preserved them? They are not old, yet it must be that none hath worn them since before the West Tower tapestries were woven.â€​par 	His speech was harder to understand than it had been at the council, and Ted had not fol owed the second part at al , but he answered the question. â€œWe donâ€™t know, sir,â€​e said. 
 	â€œAnd wherefore did they gal Benjamin?â€ said Randolph, letting go of Patrick, who stil looked stunned. 
 	Randolph stepped back from him a pace and looked him over with a gaze which would have made Ted squirm if it had been directed at him. Patrick just stood there. He began to look a little less stunned, and to examine Randolph in his turn. Ted, afraid of what Patrick might say, spoke himself. 
 	â€œThe only ones he real y saw were mine, and they were much dirtier.â€​par 	Randolph laughed, not looking away from Patrick. 
 	â€œWhat is that to Benjamin?â€ he said. â€œNo, it is, I think, that this one knoweth more than a tel eth.â€​par 	A cardinal hooted in the fir trees that bordered the yard. 
 	Ted and Patrick both jumped. The cardinal settled into a series of whistles. Randolph put one hand to his circlet; he looked a little sheepish, like someone caught stealing the cookie dough. 
 	â€œThou too?â€ he said to Patrick, who nodded gravely at him. Randolph waved his hand with its silver ring at the fir tree. â€œI cry you mercy,â€ he cal ed, and the cardinal shut up instantly. Randolph turned to Ted. 
 	â€œWel , then,â€​e said, â€œshal we begin?â€​par 	Tedâ€™s stomach clenched itself, but he nodded. 
 	â€œMark us wel , young Patrick,â€ said Randolph, reaching for the racks of swords. â€œThe day cometh when I shal require these things of thee.â€​par 	â€œIs he that good?â€ Ted asked Randolph, stal ing for time. If he could see how Randolph chose a sword, perhaps he could avoid at least one of the mistakes awaiting him. 
 	â€œThinkâ€™st thou he is not?â€ said Randolph, rattling a sword out of its housing as if it were an umbrel a he did not think he needed. Ted, craning his neck, saw that although it did not have the plastic button on the tip, it did not look very sharp. â€œHe is very nearly thy height,â€ said Randolph, â€œthough I had not noticed til today, and he is no less quick than thee.â€​par 	He tried the grip of the sword and seemed displeased. 
 	â€œHast been at these in thy play hours?â€​e demanded. 
 	â€œNo, sir,â€ said Ted, meekly, and then reconsidered. 
 	Randolph had not treated him like a child at the council, and Ted had liked that better than he liked this. 
 	â€œAnd if I had?â€​e added. 
 	Randolph cocked an eyebrow at him, but answered readily enough. â€œWhy, then I should know what this sinister grip does among the right ones,â€ he said, and tossed the sword to Ted. Ted caught it clumsily, by the guard, but Randolph had already turned and was rummaging among the swords again. 
 	Ted tried the grip in his hand. It did not seem to fit. And then, as Randolph turned around, sword in hand, smiling, Ted remembered what sinister could mean. He took hold of the sword with his left hand, and it fit very wel . Ted tried to remember his dream, and almost groaned aloud. He remembered perfectly that he had held the sword in his right hand. 
 	â€œPat, come here,â€ he cal ed. He had the beginnings of an idea. 
 	Patrick trudged over to them. He stil looked a little glazed. 
 	â€œWhere did I hit you?â€​ed asked him. 
 	Patrick, looking surprised, put a hand up to the left side of his face. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s this?â€ said Randolph. He put a hand on Patrickâ€™s shoulder and looked at his face. â€œA pretty bruise,â€ he said, frowning, and wheeled on Ted. 
 	â€œFaugh,â€​e said, â€œto strike from behind.â€​par 	â€œHe didnâ€™t,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œI used my right hand,â€ said Ted, the idea settling into his mind. 
 	Randolph looked the way Tedâ€™s mother had when Ted told her that the cat had had five kittens in the linen closet, on the Christmas tablecloth. 
 	â€œFaugh,â€ he said again, â€œpractice on thine own face.â€​par 	â€œNo, no!â€ said Ted. â€œHe woke me out of a bad dream, and I hit him without thinking. See, Randolph, Iâ€™m trying to learn to use my right hand as wel as the left, andâ€”â€​par 	â€œI have told thee, to use the left is great advantage,â€
 	
 	said Randolph. 
 	â€œBut to use bothâ€”â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œThy ambition leadeth thee astray,â€ said Randolph. 
 	â€œOne day, perhaps. Butâ€”â€​par 	â€œBut can I show you?â€ said Ted, trying to sound like someone who is dying to show off, rather than like someone in a panic. He had never used his left hand much. He could not possibly fake a fencing match using his left hand, and the dream would not help him with a left-handed match. How could Prince Edward be left-handed? 
 	Randolph was looking taken aback. After al , Prince Edward was meek and biddable. 
 	â€œDo so quickly, then,â€ said Randolph; he sounded half grudging and half pleased. 
 	Ted got himself a right-handed foil from the rack. He did not bother to choose it careful y. He had no idea what he should look for, and Randolph wanted him to hurry. He wondered about masks and gloves, but Randolph was wearing neither. 
 	He turned around with the sword, and Randolph saluted him with his. Ted copied the gesture, not too awkwardly. It had not been in the dream. His memory of the dream began when they were already in the middle of something. So Ted waited for Randolph to begin. 
 	The moment Randolph moved, Ted knew what to do. The sword seemed to be the same weight as the dream sword. 
 	It did not fit his hand as wel , but it fit wel enough. Whatever Ted had done had made Randolph retreat. Ted, fol owing him, realized that his feet were wrong and quickly arranged them correctly. Before he had finished this, Randolphâ€™s sword bounced into his shoulder. It came with surprising force; it actual y hurt. 
 	â€œOne-love,â€ said Patrick, perkily, from the edge of the yard. Ted would have liked to hit him. 
 	â€œHold thy tongue,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	Then they had to stand apart and salute and begin again. 
 	Ted thought this was sil y, but he did it. This time he had his feet right at the beginning, and he and Randolph fel quickly into the fight of the dream. 
 	Ted could not find the names of his moves flickering in the back of his mind, but they worked wel enough. He was getting much tireder than he had in the dream, and there was sweat in his eyes, and the grip of the sword was becoming slippery with it. Suddenly, he knew he had Randolph, and before he could remember that this part of the dream had not worked, he had slid Randolphâ€™s blade out of the way with his own and lunged straight at him. 
 	He felt much more foolish this time. Randolph did not look disappointed; he rol ed his eyes. 
 	â€œThou wilt do it,â€ he said. â€œI am sorry thou art not so tal as would like thee, but an imagined height winneth no duels. I have told thee, learn to work close in. It discomposes many.â€​par 	Ted, wobbly with relief and exertion, tried to get to his feet and sat down on the ground. Randolph, smiling, came across to him and helped him up. He froze, his hand suddenly hard on Tedâ€™s arm. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s this?â€ he said. â€œPrithee stand a moment.â€​par 	He measured Ted against himself. The top of Tedâ€™s head came to a little below Randolphâ€™s shoulder. 
 	Randolph put Ted away from him, holding on to Tedâ€™s shoulder with the firm but delicate grip that Ted had been taught to use on smal animals to keep them stil without hurting them. Ted felt as perfectly trapped as a frog in a cupped hand. 
 	â€œWhat sorcery is this?â€ said Randolph, so quietly that Ted could barely hear him. â€œThou art precisely the height of my shoulder. Not a sennight ago we found â€™twas so.â€​par 	Ted felt the heaviness of panic spread through his chest. 
 	With it came, more sharply than before, the feeling of betrayal. He looked like Edward. He sounded like Edward. 
 	He knew, if he thought about it, how to act like Edward. He could almost fight like Edward. He even, like Edward, wished to be tal er. But Edward was left-handed, and Ted was shorter than Edward. What sorcery was this, indeed, thought Ted, and both panic and resentment were swal owed in a deeper fear. 
 	He looked at Randolph, who was waiting patiently for his answer. 
 	â€œPerhaps . . .â€ said Ted, creakily, and cleared his throat. 
 	Randolph did not real y look as if he thought the answer would be any great matter. Maybe people here said â€œWhat sorcery is this?â€ without meaning anything by it. 
 	Randolph looked patient, speculative, and a little amused. 
 	â€œPerhaps I was wearing different shoes,â€ said Ted, stil creakily. He wondered if Randolph, who stil held his arm, could feel his pulse pounding. He wanted to go home. 
 	â€œVery different they must have been,â€ said Randolph; he sounded as if he knew what Ted was going to say, as if he were trying to help out. 
 	â€œYou might as wel tel him,â€ said Patrick at Tedâ€™s other side. Ted, who had not heard him come up, jumped violently, and Randolph let go of him. 
 	â€œYou tel him,â€ said Ted, with a sulkiness that was only half put on. Patrick was altogether too fond of taking over, so let him worry about it. 
 	â€œOh, yes, they were very different,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œThe West Tower?â€​aid Randolph to Ted. 
 	â€œUh,â€​aid Ted, who was discovering a disinclination to lie to Randolph, and finding it very inconvenient. 
 	â€œThey were enchantedâ€”or at least they might have been,â€ Patrick said hastily, â€œand they made him look tal er.â€​par 	â€œNot so much tal er,â€ said Randolph, dubiously, and Ted began to regret his vengeful impulse. He would have to remember that what got Patrick in trouble could get him in trouble too. â€œHad not Lord Andrew in what he was pleased to cal a jest,â€ Randolph was saying, â€œasked me when His Highness would be of a height to wear the armor the dwarves forged for him at his birth, I had not known Edward was the height of my shoulder.â€​par 	â€œBut that was enough,â€ said Patrick, with an audacity that stunned Ted; it was far more likely that Edward had been discovered not to be tal enough for the armor. 
 	â€œAye,â€ said Randolph, â€œand how, Edward, gotst thou wind of Andrewâ€™s intentions?â€​par 	This stumped Patrick, which made Ted so furious that he spoke immediately. 
 	
 	â€œI didnâ€™t,â€ he said, trying to undo Patrickâ€™s damage. â€œI wanted shoes to make me much tal er, but I thought I should work up to it, you know, get used to a little difference, then a bigger one, like that. It was just luck with Andrew.â€​par 	Randolph shook his head. â€œThe adage, my lord,â€ he said, formal y, â€œis, â€˜e what you would seem to beâ€™; it is not â€˜eem to be what you would be.â€™
 	That is the way of Andrew; that was the way of Shan. I beg you,â€ he said, quite seriously, and as if he were addressing another grown-up, â€œlet it not be your way.â€​par 	Ted was too astonished to reply. 
 	â€œDost thou understand the difference,â€ said Randolph after a moment, â€œbetween this matter of thy shoes, and this matter of learning to fence with thy right hand?â€​par 	Ted, thinking frantical y, was a little surprised to realize that he did. â€œThe matter of the shoes is the way of Andrew,â€ he said, â€œbut the matter of the hands is the way of the adage.â€ He saw Patrick wince, and thought that it was too easy to pick up the way Randolph spoke. 
 	â€œRemember it, then,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	â€œSo what about the right hand?â€​aid Ted hopeful y. 
 	â€œThou hast the right of me,â€ said Randolph. â€œI had no conception that that hand could serve thee so wel . 
 	Not so quick, not so elegant, but serviceable. Thou dost repeat thy earlier blunders; have a care. But â€™twas wel done.â€​par 	Ted, wiping a sweaty hand across his sweatier forehead, grinned and was silent. 
 	
 	â€œPatrick,â€ said Randolph, â€œwhat surprises hast thou in store?â€​par 	â€œNone, my lord, save that I have not practiced,â€ said Patrick. Ted could tel by his tone that this was one of his lines; somewhere, sometime, they must have played a lesson in which Randolph asked Prince Patrick that question. 
 	â€œDo so now, then,â€ said Randolph, a little grimly, and tossed Patrick a sword. 
 	Patrick caught it neatly and then stood at a loss. Randolph went toward him. Ted stood where he was, equal y at a loss. 
 	Their masquerade would not survive Patrickâ€™s failure any better than it would have survived Tedâ€™s. Patrick was beginning to look a little sick; perhaps he could use that as an excuse. Or perhaps Ruth could wriggle out of an accusation of sorcery better than Patrick could explain a display of ignorance. Ted was not even sure that a sorcerer of the Green Caves could make anyone forget something. 
 	He should have asked Patrick instead of arbitrarily dismissing the suggestion. Now that the dream had done its job, he realized that he had expected too much of it. It had solved his problem; it had not solved theirs. 
 	Randolphâ€™s sword achieved a whistle as he saluted Patrick. 
 	â€œWel ?â€​aid Randolph. 
 	And the cardinal whistled yet again from the fir trees. 
 	â€œOh, come on!â€ said Ted, involuntarily, as if Laura or El en had suggested this way out and he thought it was too easy. 
 	Randolph merely rol ed his eyes again. â€œI knew â€™twas fol y to al ow rival magics in this castle,â€ he said. 
 	â€œPatrickâ€”â€​par 	â€œI didnâ€™t ask them to!â€​par 	â€œCanst ask them not to?â€​par 	The cardinal sang shril y. 
 	â€œNext time maybe?â€ said Patrick. He looked half unbelieving and half smug. 
 	Randolph fixed him with a look not at al angry, but worse than a glare. â€œThere wil be war in this kingdom,â€ he said, â€œlong ere thou canst so much as cal the winds. 
 	And if thou spendest thy time on learning to cal the winds, thou wilt have neither sorcery nor swordsmanship that shal survive that war. If thou canst forget thy sorcery, thy sword may be good enough.â€​par 	â€œWhen?â€​aid Patrick. â€œBy when?â€​par 	â€œSeptember at the latest,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	â€œHow do you know?â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œThouâ€™lt know that when thy father does.â€​par 	â€œDoes he know this much?â€​par 	â€œOh, aye,â€ said Randolph; he sounded as if he would have liked to add, â€œFor al the good that does.â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said Patrick, â€œIâ€™l remember that, but for today I thinkâ€”â€​par 	â€œGo thy ways,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	Patrick put the sword back. Randolph stopped Ted as he went to do the same. 
 	â€œFor the next lesson, pray, the left hand,â€ said Randolph. Ted stared at him, formulating wild plans for spraining his left wrist, and Randolph added, â€œThou canst no more spare time for the right than thy brother for his sorcery.â€​par 	â€œWhat about your sorcery?â€ asked Ted, who was immensely curious about why Randolph had worn the circlet to a fencing lesson but not to a kingâ€™s council. The circlet meant that he was a journeyman wizard; in High Castle, that meant he was of Fenceâ€™s party. Wearing the circlet to the council would have been another way of defending Fence, but wearing it to a fencing lesson would only, as far as Ted could see, make it harder to fight. 
 	Randolphâ€™s eyebrows rose. â€œMine,â€ he said, â€œmay be of some use to me. I have been at it these five years. And how long hath young Patrick studied thus?â€​par 	â€œMy lord, I donâ€™t know,â€ said Ted, not altogether truthful y. He was quite sure that Patrick had never studied magic at al . He could not remember whether Prince Patrick had done so, but he doubted it. It would not be like him. 
 	Patrick and Prince Patrick had a lot in common. 
 	â€œThat is why the Green Caves mislike me,â€ said Randolph, rattling his sword into the rack. â€œA great huggermugger of secrecy, and for what?â€ He turned to Ted, and the rising sun struck gleams from the stones in his circlet. He looked very tired and a little desperate, and Ted was afraid again. 
 	â€œI donâ€™t know,â€​e said, with entire truthfulness. 
 	They left the yard together, and caught up with Patrick in the hal before the kitchen door. 
 	
 CHAPTER 10

 	LAURA missed El en that night. Their room was too big for one person. The dark was much darker than it would have been in a normal house: There were no streetlights outside, no yard lights, no car lights. The air of the room moved and rustled. Laura remembered unhappily that there was no glass in the windows. She had noticed al these things the night before, but with El en there they had not mattered. 
 	It took her a long time to get to sleep, and when she did sleep, she dreamed. She dreamed that she stood in the shal ows of a lake and spoke to something she could not quite see. The whole outside was damp and misty, but the mist was not the problem. No matter how she turned her head, no matter how she squinted, she could glimpse the thing to which she spoke only out of the corner of her eye. 
 	She could hear it much better than she could see it. It had a clear and piercing voice, like the sound of a flute. But Laura could not understand a word it said. It was very important that she tel it something and have its answer. 
 	When she spoke to it it seemed to take no notice. 
 	While she struggled with these things, the mist slowly brightened, until suddenly the sun sprang red before Laura and a freezing wind whipped the mist away. 
 	The lake stretched like a bloody mirror before her, and where it met the sun at the burning horizon, she saw, for the barest instant, fleet white shapes that might have been horses, bounding into the sun. 
 	She stood there, hoping they had not been horses, until the wind rose to a howl and drove lake water into her face. 
 	
 	She put her hands up to stop it, and woke up shivering. 
 	The window was a pale square in the moving dark, birds were muttering outside, and El en had not come back. 
 	Laura flung herself out of bed, charged over to the window, and leaned upon the broad sil . Cold shot through her from stone sil and stone floor. The outside air of early morning was warmer than her room. She did not like to think about what High Castle would be like in the winter. Perhaps they would not have to be here in the winter. The story they knew ended in September. She did not like to think about its ending, either. 
 	The outside was like her dream. The grasses were dul with dew, the lake scummed with mist. The western sky was gray, the mountains almost lost in cloud. But watch though she would, no things almost seen plied the misty air, no voices piped. Even the birds were silent now. Nothing moved in earth or sky. And the only sun she would ever see from this window would be setting. Laura began to shiver again. Almost anything could have happened to Ruth and El en in a place that had such dreams and such mornings. 
 	The bedroom door opened heavily behind her. Laura jumped, banging a hipbone and an elbow on the stone, and craned her head over her shoulder. Agatha, immensely irritating in her reality and her wrongness, stood there. She had a tray in her hands. 
 	â€œAn thou hangst out a window in thy nightgown,â€​aid Agatha, â€œthouâ€™lt catch thy death.â€​par 	â€œBetter than it catching me,â€ said Laura, and was immediately ashamed of herself. This was what she had thought up, after years of exasperation, to say to her grandmother, who had used to tel her that doing anything Laura particularly wanted to do would make her catch her death. She had hoped she could make her grandmother laugh and give up saying it. But her grandmother had died just after Laura had thought of the answer. 
 	â€œIt matters not who shal start that duel,â€​aid Agatha, putting the tray on the bed, â€œâ€™Tis thou wilt lose it. 
 	Drink thy chocolate. And dress thyself.â€​par 	She had gone and shut the door before Laura had finished turning around. 
 	Laura took an enormous mouthful of the hot chocolate, sputtered, and spewed it al down the front of her white nightgown. It was dreadful y bitter. Laura stared at the cup, aghast. Someone must be trying to poison Princess Laura. 
 	She bolted for the bathroom, whimpering, and rinsed her mouth, finding time to hope that, whatever Lord Randolph gave King Wil iam, it would taste better than this. When she showed no immediate signs of dying, she drank water til her stomach sloshed; she had some vague memory that this was what you were supposed to make babies do if they swal owed poison. 
 	After this she put her clothes on, muttering fiercely at the unfamiliar buttons and laces, and went to find Ted and Patrick. 
 	They were not in their room. Laura noticed that they had already managed to make it into a mess, and headed downstairs. She had no very clear idea of where she was going, but she wanted to find Ted and Patrick and tel them about the poison and ask about Ruth and El en. 
 	She turned corners and pushed through doors at random; she had no idea where they would practice fencing. People kept saying good morning to her, men-at-arms, people hurrying past her carrying things. She would have liked to ignore them, but princesses were more polite than that. She knew that it was polite to courtesy to people, but it seemed that there was too little room, and that they were al in a hurry. So she grinned at them and went faster. The water sloshing in her stomach was beginning to make her feel sick. She wondered whom she should tel if she were poisoned. At home you cal ed an ambulance. 
 	The more Laura thought about this and the more strangers she had to grin at, the unhappier she got, and the faster she went, until she ran smack into a man in gray, and burst into tears. 
 	â€œHeaven and earth!â€ exclaimed this person, dropping to his knees in the passageway and taking her by the shoulders. â€œHast thou fal en, then?â€​par 	He sounded as if he were talking to a five-year-old, and to her fury Laura found herself behaving like one and wailing, as her grandmother used to say when Laura was real y five, as if someone were burning her alive. 
 	The man in gray evidently did not see it that way. â€œAn thou canst caterwaul so, thouâ€™rt hale enough,â€ he said, sitting down on the floor and taking her in his arms. 
 	â€œNow what tempest of the spirit is this? Hush, thouâ€™lt crack the stones wâ€™ that noise. And though Iâ€™ve no doubt thouâ€™lt argue that the castle be hideous and its people fools, yet wouldst destroy al my work as wel ? I taught thee thy letters; wilt not spare mine, then?â€​par 	Laura pul ed her head out of his shoulder and looked at him; yes, he had red hair. The pleasure of discovery made her stop crying. 
 	â€œYouâ€™re Matthew!â€​he said. 
 	
 	Oddly, he looked a little hurt, but he nodded. 
 	â€œNow whatâ€™s the matter, Princess?â€ he said. A woman with an armful of bright red cloth came by and gave them a curious look, but Matthew paid no attention. 
 	Laura, casting about her for a plausible lie, looked at his kind face and interested eyes and gave up. â€œI canâ€™t find Ted and Patrick,â€​he said. 
 	Matthew cocked his head at her; he looked unconvinced. 
 	But al he said was, â€œThatâ€™s easily remedied. They wil be either at their fencing or at their breakfasts, and knowing how late Randolph and I sat over our wine last night, Iâ€™l wager he has let â€™em off easy. Come, letâ€™s go to breakfast; have you had yours?â€​par 	Laura shook her head. He stood up, and helped her up, and stood looking at her. 
 	â€œIf you wil , permit me,â€ he said, and handed her a handkerchief. It was very large and very white and felt more like a festive gown, Laura thought, than like a handkerchief. 
 	She scrubbed her face on it, but it seemed wrong to blow her nose with it. She handed it back to Matthew, forgetting to say thank you. He took her by the hand, which, now that she was recovered, she was not sure she liked, and led her along the passage. 
 	The men-at-arms and passersby gave them indulgent looks; Laura began to feel embarrassed. She could not remember how old Princess Laura was; she could do a lot of things very wel for her age, but what the age was was another question. It occupied her until Matthew led her into a high hal wherein five or six people were clustered at one end of a long table, eating and laughing. Laura saw that Ted and Patrick were there, looking very stil and alert, but managing to eat a great deal nevertheless, if they themselves had emptied al the empty dishes in front of them. 
 	Then she saw the man between them, and if Matthew had not gone on walking, and had not held her hand, she would have stood stil with her mouth open. The rushes on the floor slid and crunched under her feet. A dog yelped as she trod on its tail, and a cat butted its head against her ankle. She paid them no attention. 
 	It was not that he looked like Ruth and El en, although that was startling. It was not that he had about him a settled wariness, like that of a cat asleep in a forbidden place, although that was intriguing. It was that she knew him. She had figured out Benjamin, Agatha, and Matthew, but she knew Randolph. 
 	â€œGood morrow,â€ said Matthew, to the group general y; then he looked at Randolph, who was buttering a slice of bread with a dagger. 
 	Lauraâ€™s gaze rested on the dagger and froze there. 
 	The hilt was set with blue stones. Randolph, spreading the butter with the care it deserved, but which grown-ups so often did not give it, moved his hand through a shaft of sunlight, and the colors it struck from the stones made Laura blink. 
 	In the space of that blink she saw, very quickly and very clearly, the woman with the broom from the secret house. 
 	The woman sat peering with great seriousness into a mirror which did not reflect her. Laura, having opened her eyes before what she had seen registered, promptly closed them again, and saw only darkness with red pinpricks. 
 	â€œArenâ€™t you awake yet?â€ Patrickâ€™s voice said querulously. 
 	Laura gave up and opened her eyes. 
 	â€œThou wouldst not be awake thyself, hadst thou thy way,â€ said Randolph, biting into his bread. â€œMake room for thy cousin,â€​e added with his mouth ful . 
 	Ted slid over on the bench, and Laura went around the table and sat between him and Patrick. Matthew had found room across from them. 
 	Laura looked dubiously at the food on the table. None of it looked like breakfast to her. 
 	â€œYouâ€™re early,â€​aid Matthew to Randolph. 
 	â€œMy students are handy today,â€ said Randolph, not shortly at al , but Matthew looked at him and changed the subject. 
 	â€œI have been translating the journals of Shan,â€ he said, helping himself to what looked like a chicken drumstick. 
 	Randolphâ€™s head came up. â€œWhich of them?â€​par 	â€œThose dealing with his travels in the south.â€​par 	â€œWhat say they? Aught to the purpose?â€​par 	â€œPerhaps,â€ said Matthew. The two young men on either side of him looked at each other over his head, drained their mugs, and stood up. Laura did not recognize either of them, but they looked as if they were good-tempered. 
 	â€œWe are not speaking secrets,â€ said Matthew to them. 
 	â€œNor are you speaking aught to keep us awake,â€
 	
 	said the one to Matthewâ€™s right. 
 	â€œIt may yet keep you alive,â€ said Randolph. The two young men gave each other the kind of look that Laura and El en would give each other about Patrick, bowed, said, â€œOur duties to Your Highness,â€ in the general direction of the children, and went out. 
 	â€œThe meat pies are al right,â€ said Patrick in Lauraâ€™s ear. â€œThe ale is awful.â€​par 	â€œWel , could you pass the bread?â€​par 	â€œNot speaking secrets?â€​aid Randolph to Matthew. 
 	â€œThose men are none of Andrewâ€™s.â€​par 	â€œThey are none of ours.â€​par 	â€œSits the wind in that quarter, then?â€ said Matthew, with a glance at Ted, Patrick, and Laura. Laura saw that Patrick was steadily eating bread and honey, and that Ted held a forgotten slice halfway to his mouth. The honey was running down his arm. 
 	Laura saw Randolphâ€™s look slide over Patrick and herself and rest behind her, on Ted. â€œArt thou any of mine, Edward?â€​par 	â€œSir,â€ said Ted, with no discernible hesitation, â€œal I know you have taught me.â€​par 	Something made Laura look at Matthew, and she surprised on his face the same faintly hurt look that had been there when she told him who he was. She remembered that he had tutored the royal children when they were younger. That would account for his not liking what Ted had said. But that did not explain why he should have been hurt when she said, â€œYouâ€™re Matthew.â€​par 	
 	â€œMaybe,â€ said Randolph. â€œBut the disciple has ever left the master before the master thought him ready.â€​par 	This gave Ted pause, but not for long. â€œAs you have left Fence?â€ he said. He sounded as if he were joking, but there was something a little odd in his voice, and Laura saw Patrick stop chewing. Randolph frowned. 
 	â€œRandolph, is that not answer enough?â€ said Matthew. 
 	â€œThe question was thine,â€ Randolph told him, reasonably. 
 	â€œI say al here are ours, then,â€ said Matthew, flushing a little. â€œMy lords and lady, I ask your pardon,â€ he added. 
 	Laura blinked, Patrick said, â€œSure,â€ and Ted nodded. 
 	â€œSo,â€​aid Randolph, â€œwhat of these journals?â€​par 	Matthew picked up the heavy pitcher and poured himself a mug of ale. â€œâ€™Tis the group with the doubtful handwriting,â€​e said, clearly enjoying himself. 
 	â€œYour handwriting would be doubtful also, had you spent four years in the service of the Dragon King,â€ said Randolph. 
 	â€œThat is my view,â€ said Matthew. â€œBut there are those who hold that Melanie, not Shan, wrote these journals; in which case one cannot trust â€™em.â€​par 	â€œBut if she wrote them for her own use?â€ said Ted. 
 	He sounded terrifyingly grown-up, but the honey was stil running down his arm. 
 	Matthew shrugged. â€œIf she had, why write them after the style of Shan?â€​par 	â€œWhat other teacher had she?â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œWhat,â€ said Randolph to Matthew, â€œof the journals?â€​par 	â€œShanâ€™s order of sorcerers wielded no arms save their magic,â€ said Matthew. â€œNot until he entered the service of the Dragon King, whose minions would as soon kil one another as eat their dinner, did he need true weapons. His magic was less than theirs, you wil understand, for his came by craft and theirs by nature. And because he needed to battle such creatures as the Dragon King uses, he learned what weapons vanquish them.â€​par 	â€œThat were a boon indeed,â€ said Randolph, slowly. 
 	â€œIs the translation complete?â€​par 	â€œSo much as I can do,â€ said Matthew, looking rueful. 
 	â€œThere are passages that need the wisdom of Fence.â€​par 	Randolphâ€™s brows drew together. â€œIs there help in them in their present state?â€​par 	â€œI would have you look at them, if you wil .â€​par 	â€œGladly,â€ said Randolph, rising and thrusting the buttery dagger into his belt. â€œAnd as soon as may be. 
 	Have you eaten enough?â€​par 	â€œAs much as I have stomach for,â€ said Matthew, rising too. â€œMy duty to Your Highness,â€ he said to the children, and moved for the door. 
 	â€œEdward, if you would eat with the proper hand,â€
 	said Randolph. He stopped, and sighed. â€œI wil impart to you what we discover,â€ he said, pul ed Lauraâ€™s hair, and fol owed Matthew. 
 	
 	Patrick looked at Ted, and snickered. â€œYou might as wel have been eating with your left hand, the mess youâ€™ve made,â€​e said. 
 	â€œDo you know a good way to sprain a hand?â€ Ted asked him. 
 	â€œWhereâ€™s Ruth?â€​aura demanded of Ted. 
 	â€œI wish I could get a look at those manuscripts,â€ said Ted, gazing into the depths of his mug as if it were a crystal bal . He picked it up, took a large swal ow, and made a face. 
 	â€œYou could have asked,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œWhereâ€™s Ruth and El en?â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œIf youâ€™ve finished eating, we can check the stables and Ruthâ€™s room,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s go,â€ said Laura. The water was stil sloshing in her stomach. She got up. â€œAgatha tried to poison my cocoa,â€​he said as they went out the door. 
 	 â€œWhat?â€​ said Ted, pleasing Laura immensely. She did not real y think that it had been Agatha, but she had wanted to get Tedâ€™s attention. 
 	â€œHow do you know?â€ said Patrick. Laura told him. 
 	Patrick leaned on the passage wal and howled. â€œYou crazy kid,â€ he said when he was finished laughing. 
 	â€œItâ€™s bitter because they donâ€™t put sugar in it, thatâ€™s al .â€​par 	â€œWhy not?â€​par 	â€œSame reason people donâ€™t put it in tea and coffee, I guess.â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s stupid,â€ said Laura, knowing ful wel that Patrick thought it was she who was stupid. 
 	
 	Ruth and El en were not in Ruthâ€™s room nor in El en and Lauraâ€™s, and they were not in the stable. It was a sunny day, cooler than the weather had been since they had arrived, and stil a little misty. After some discussion the three of them decided to sit on the outer wal of the moat on the west side of High Castle, where they could watch for Ruth and El enâ€™s approach and feed the swans at the same time. High Castle was situated on rising ground, so that from the moatâ€™s wal they could see quite easily over the high pink outer wal . 
 	They went back to the hal where they had eaten. There were several lords and ladies, dressed in what looked like hunting garments, eating there, but nobody remarked on Patrickâ€™s taking a loaf of bread. They crossed the drawbridge, being greeted by name and with apparent affection by both the guards there, and settled themselves on the sun-warmed wal of the moat. 
 	â€œAt least nobodyâ€™s missed them,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	They had fed the swans perhaps a quarter of the loaf of bread, and begun an argument about what Matthew had meant when he had said, â€œSits the wind in that quarter?â€ when they saw the distant figures of horses plodding over the plain. They scrambled from the wal and ran through the front gate to greet them. 
 	Ruth would not say a word until they had turned the horses over to a groom, and then she would say only that she wanted some breakfast. She and El en seated themselves in the rose garden, and Ted and Patrick and Laura al went back to the breakfast hal once again. It did not need three of them to bring Ruth and El en breakfast, but none of them felt able to stay in the garden with Ruth and El en while Ruth and El en were not talking. 
 	
 	A flurry of cats leaped from the table when they came in, and some of the dishes had already been cleared away. So they bundled bread and drumsticks and a lump of butter and a honey pot into a tablecloth, and hurried back to the garden. It was starting to get hot. 
 	â€œDid it work?â€​sked Ted. 
 	â€œWe had the most awful time,â€ said El en. Her hair was ful of leaves and her face scratched, but she sounded complacent. 
 	â€œDid it work?â€​par 	â€œOur sword does so work on your hedge,â€ said El en to Laura. 
 	Patrick yelped. â€œIt canâ€™t!â€​par 	â€œIt was probably Shanâ€™s Ring that let it,â€ said Ted. â€œDid it work, Ruth?â€​par 	â€œWhy should Shanâ€™s Ring let it?â€ bristled Patrick. 
 	â€œShut up and let her talk. Ruth, did Shanâ€™s Ring work? Did you change the time?â€​par 	â€œYes,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	Ted and Patrick immediately looked happier. Lauraâ€™s stomach contracted. She had hoped that, if it did not work, they would have to go home. Now they were stuck. And what did Ted look so pleased about, anyway? He was the one whoâ€™d been so upset, and hol ering that nobody understood. Laura felt deserted. 
 	â€œSo how?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œNot the way we thought,â€ said Ruth. She was cleaner than El en, but she stil looked draggled. She picked a yel ow rose and sniffed it thoughtful y. â€œWe tried the Ring at the bottle trees and not a darn thing happened. So we final y thought we might as wel at least look at the hedge. It was on the way home anyway, and we thought the horses could drink at the stream.â€​par 	â€œThey wouldnâ€™t, though,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œSo we tried to get through the hedge into the yard, and it worked,â€ said Ruth. â€œThere were streetlights on the other side of the hedge, instead of the stream, and cars parked. So then I tried al the things Iâ€™d tried by the bottle trees.â€​par 	â€œDid you throw the ring in the air and say the verse?â€
 	asked Patrick. â€œI thought of that when it was too late.â€​par 	â€œDidnâ€™t work,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œI tried everything,â€ said Ruth. â€œSo final y I thought I should throw it over the hedge. So I tried standing in the stream and doing that, and El ie stood in the yard to catch it.â€​par 	â€œYou couldâ€™ve lost it!â€​aid Patrick, furiously. 
 	â€œWel , we didnâ€™t,â€ said Ruth, with the kind of patience usual y reserved for very smal children. â€œSo then I stood in the street and El ie stood in the yard.â€​par 	â€œI didnâ€™t like that,â€ said El en. â€œThere was a light in the attic window, a purple one.â€​par 	â€œAnd I threw the ring over the hedge and said the verse.â€​uth paused. 
 	Laura could see that Ted would not give her the satisfaction of being prompted, but Patrick was too wild to care about that. â€œWel ?â€​e said. 
 	
 	â€œThere was a very bright flash of purple light,â€ said Ruth, â€œand a big space opened in the hedge, and I could see the Secret Country in it. El en had the sword, so I thought I should go on through. I did, and I was back here, but El ie wasnâ€™t. Iâ€™d just been looking around for a moment, when I heard a splash in the stream.â€​par 	The three members of the audience looked at El en. 
 	â€œI saw the purple light too,â€ she said. â€œIt hurt my eyes, and I couldnâ€™t see where the ring fel . And while I was waiting for the spots to go away, I looked at the house, because the whole hedge was lit up. Al the lights in the house went on, and the front door burst open and there was a lady with a broom just screaming her head off.â€​par 	Ted and Laura looked at each other. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™d she say?â€​sked Ted. 
 	â€œ â€˜roint thee,â€™ â€ said El en. â€œAnd she cal ed us something like â€˜nions,â€™ but it canâ€™t have been. I wish al these people didnâ€™t talk so weird.â€ She pushed her hair away from her eyes. â€œSo I wanted to get out of there, and I ran for the hedge and the hedge went outâ€”I mean it wasnâ€™t glowing anymoreâ€”and the sword pul ed me and I fel down.â€​par 	â€œHow pul ed?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œIt pul ed,â€ said El en. â€œIt made me lose my balance. So I fel down and right in front of my nose was the ring, shining.â€​par 	â€œShining how?â€​par 	â€œShining,â€ said El en. â€œAnybodyâ€™d think you donâ€™t speak English. The gold was al yel owâ€”â€​par 	
 	â€œItâ€™s brass,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œâ€”yel ow, like sunshine, okay? So I grabbed it, and the sword let me up.â€​par 	â€œWhat do you mean, let you up?â€​par 	â€œIt stopped pul ing,â€ said El en, dangerously, and waited for her brother to say more, but he was silent. Laura thought he looked like somebody doing mental arithmetic in front of a crowd of parents. 
 	â€œSo,â€ said El en, â€œI got up and got through the hedge and fel in the water.â€​par 	â€œNow I thought,â€ said Ruth, â€œthat what El ie said happened with the lady took more time than the time between when I got back here and when I heard El ie fal in the water. But I wanted to make sure.â€​par 	â€œAnd I wasnâ€™t going back in there,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œSo I did,â€ said Ruth. She paused again, twirling the yel ow rose. 
 	â€œCome on,â€ said Patrick. He snatched the rose from her. 
 	â€œI took the ring,â€ said Ruth, â€œbut not the sword. 
 	Just to see what happened.â€​par 	â€œWel ?â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œI wasnâ€™t back in your town, because the streetlights and cars werenâ€™t there.â€​par 	â€œ Well? â€​par 	â€œBut I wasnâ€™t just in the Secret Country, either. 
 	El ie wasnâ€™t on the other side of the hedge. It was daytime, and there was an army al over the plain.â€​par 	
 	â€œCamped?â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œMoving.â€​par 	â€œWhatâ€™d it look like?â€​par 	â€œWel , it looked like the Secret Country, more or less. I mean, the Wel of the White Witch was there, and there was a cardinal singing like mad in the yard. I got out of there fast.â€​par 	â€œWhy?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œIt felt wrong.â€​par 	â€œWrong how?â€​par 	â€œThe air was like a sheet of glass,â€ said Ruth, helplessly. â€œAnd I felt too smal and the sky was the wrong color. I donâ€™t know, Patrick. It just was.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™m going to have to check this out,â€ said Patrick. â€œGo on.â€​par 	â€œI came back and got the sword from El ie,â€ said Ruth, â€œand ended up in the right place when I used the ring and the sword to get through. The lady had gone in, there was just the light in the attic again. So I just sat and waited for a few minutes. I got chomped by mosquitoes, and there was a cat in the yard that hissed at me.â€​par 	â€œShe must be a witch,â€ said Laura to El en. 
 	â€œSheâ€™s got a broom and a mean cat.â€​par 	â€œToo young,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œWhat then, Ruthie?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œSo when I got tired of the mosquitoes, maybe in five minutes, I came back here,â€ said Ruth, â€œand El en fel al over me.â€​par 	
 	â€œSheâ€™d been gone, for hours,â€ said El en a little reproachful y. 
 	â€œSo we figure we changed the time,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œDid you go back to the bottle trees and check out Australia?â€​sked Patrick. 
 	â€œWe certainly did not,â€ said Ruth. â€œWe were late.â€​par 	â€œEl ie, didnâ€™t you have a watch?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œYou know I lost it.â€​par 	â€œBut we donâ€™t know the conversion factor, if you donâ€™t know how long you waited for Ruth!â€​par 	El en shrugged. â€œIt was dark when I started waiting, and the sun came up and had been up for ages when she got back.â€​par 	â€œDo you remember anything about that army?â€ Ted asked Ruth. â€œHow big was it? Infantry or cavalry?â€​par 	â€œIt covered the whole plain,â€ said Ruth, submitting to this interrogation with more of her usual meekness than she had shown for some time. â€œThere were men and horses and other things. Maybe a dragon, probably ogres. I didnâ€™t look long.â€​par 	â€œWhich way was it going?â€​par 	â€œToward High Castle,â€ said Ruth. â€œWhatâ€™s wrong? It wasnâ€™t our Secret Country.â€​par 	â€œSounds like the Dragon Kingâ€™s army,â€ said Ted. â€œSo thatâ€™s why everything looked wrong. The Border Magic.â€​par 	â€œIt didnâ€™t look that wrong,â€ said Ruth. â€œThe grass wasnâ€™t burned, it wasnâ€™t turned into a desert. 
 	The birds werenâ€™t gone; I heard the cardinal.â€​par 	â€œWel , whoâ€™s to say the Border Magic works the way we thought it would?â€ said Ted. Laura looked at him in surprise. He sounded pleased. 
 	â€œWhoâ€™s to say the Border Magic works?â€
 	murmured Patrick. 
 	â€œCut it out,â€ said Ruth. She stretched luxuriously, and almost fel off the wal . â€œEverythingâ€™s going to be al right now, so stop making trouble.â€​par 	â€œHow do you figure that?â€ demanded Patrick. He had finished with the leaves of Ruthâ€™s rose and began methodical y pul ing the petals off and holding them up to the light. 
 	â€œHow do you figure anything else?â€ said Ruth smugly. Lady Ruth had spoken so when the emissary of the dwarves had asked her to tel them how to grow trees underground. It was the demand of tribute they had the right to make every ten years, and it had been a plot on their part to ask for something she could not do. Then she would have had to reveal the magic of the Green Caves to them. But she had said, â€œHow not?â€ to them, in just that tone, and taught them to make trees grow underground. Laura began to feel a little better. 
 	Patrick clearly felt worse. â€œYou talk to her,â€ he said to Ted. â€œYou believe this stuff.â€​par 	â€œI think she might be right,â€ said Ted; he did not sound as smug as Ruth had, but he sounded hopeful. 
 	Patrick flung his hands up in the air, scattering rose petals and bread crumbs in al directions. Three pigeons came out of nowhere and began squabbling over the crumbs. 
 	â€œI think we can change things if we work at it,â€ said Ted. â€œIf we changed the time, why not other things? We just have to do it by the rules inside the Secret Country.â€​par 	â€œWhat makes you so optimistic al of a sudden?â€​par 	â€œChanging the time,â€ said Ted. â€œI never thought itâ€™d work.â€​par 	â€œYou went to an awful lot of trouble for something that wouldnâ€™t work.â€​par 	â€œWel , but if it didnâ€™t work, then we could go home. 
 	But it seems like if that worked, anything wil . I think weâ€™l be al right.â€​par 	â€œYou do stil think this is real?â€​par 	â€œReal y real,â€ said Ted. â€œWe can do things with it.â€​par 	â€œWel , what did you think it was before, then?â€​par 	â€œWel , real, but magical y real. I thought we might be stuck with the story, and it wasnâ€™t even quite the story we knew, so we couldnâ€™t play it right, even if weâ€™d wanted to. But this is just wide open, so itâ€™s al right.â€​par 	â€œSo what do we do?â€ asked Patrick. He was not giving in; he was waiting for Ted to say something stupid so he could argue some more. 
 	â€œKeep Randolph from poisoning the King,â€ said Ted, promptly. 
 	â€œHow?â€​par 	â€œConvince the King that heâ€™s fighting dragons and monsters,â€ said Ted, â€œor convince Randolph that no matter what happens it wonâ€™t do any good to kil the King, or just keep him from doing it by letting him know we know, or watching him al the time, or something.â€​par 	â€œIf Randolph canâ€™t convince the King,â€ said Patrick, â€œwhat makes you think we can?â€​par 	â€œAnd it will do good to kil him, so how do we convince Randolph not to?â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œIâ€™l tel him I believe the King, that thereâ€™s no magic.â€​par 	â€œGreat,â€​aid Ruth. â€œThen heâ€™l kil you.â€​par 	â€œHe wil not!â€​par 	â€œWhy shouldnâ€™t he?â€​ried Ruth. 
 	â€œHe . . .â€ said Ted, and the word stuck in his throat. 
 	He looked sick. 
 	â€œBut . . .â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œHeâ€™s going to kil King Wil iam,â€ Ruth said to both of them. â€œAnd as far as I know, heâ€™s known the King a lot longer and likes him a lot better than Ted.â€​par 	â€œHe might think he can control Ted,â€ said Patrick, thoughtful y. 
 	â€œHe does think so,â€ said Ruth. â€œThatâ€™s why he kil s the King; he figures he can push Edward around, because heâ€™s weak. But if Ted doesnâ€™t act weak, which it looks like he already isnâ€™t, and tel s Randolph that he doesnâ€™t believe in magic, then I think Tedâ€™s had it.â€​par 	â€œWhat should Randolph do?â€​emanded Ted. 
 	There was silence. 
 	
 	â€œFence says,â€ said El en, slowly, â€œI mean, in the game, doesnâ€™t he, that Randolph should obey the King and go to war, and if he dies, and if the Secret Country gets burned up, then so what.â€​par 	â€œBut what do we think?â€ said Ted, with an intensity that made Laura glad that he was not addressing her. 
 	â€œHey,â€ said Patrick, absently, shaking what was left of his rose. â€œThere are insects here after al . Hereâ€™s an ant on this rose.â€​par 	â€œPatrick,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œLook,â€ said Patrick, suddenly furious, â€œI didnâ€™t write this story. I didnâ€™t make things so that al the choices are stupid.â€​par 	â€œI think weâ€™d better think about what we think,â€
 	said Ted, and no one laughed at the way he put it. 
 	
 CHAPTER 11

 	THEY had little time to think, and none to resolve anything so complicated. Preparations for the Banquet of Midsummer Eve began days before the event, and no one was exempt from work. No matter where Laura went, to the rose garden, to the moat, to the clove-scented fastness of the West Tower, some harried grown-up would hail her with glad cries and send her on some incomprehensible errand. Burrowing in the cel ar among piles of sheepskins, she wondered why any banquet should need thirteen black ones; picking al the white roses in the garden, and sucking her pricked fingers, she racked her memory for what was wrong with the red and yel ow. 
 	She met El en carrying an armful of indignant kittens. She found Ruth scattering sand in the hal s. She watched Ted grimly sort through colored ribbons; she giggled to see Patrick make ferns and wildflowers into garlands, scowling as fiercely as if he were reading poetry. 
 	This flurry was not without its benefits. Ted and Patrick had no more fencing lessons. Randolph told them to practice and left them alone. Laura learned her way around the innermost part of High Castle; El en was spared the ordeal of geography lessons. Ruth, rummaging in the library for a recipe which one of the undercooks had disgraced himself by forgetting, discovered a col ection of damp and unpleasantly stained volumes about the sorcery of the Green Caves. She sat up late reading them every night and was grumpy every day from then on. 
 	They had little time to argue and barely time to eat. â€œIf itâ€™s this bad before this banquet,â€ said Patrick, one evening when they sat in the dining hal painful y picking the seeds out of mil ions of raisins, â€œwhat wil it be like before the Unicorn Hunt?â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s outside,â€ said El en, crunching an unseeded raisin. 
 	â€œSo what?â€ said Patrick. â€œWeâ€™l probably have to weed the whole forest.â€ He flung a handful of seeded raisins into a wooden bowl and looked baleful y at Ted. â€œQuit using your right hand,â€​e said. 
 	â€œYouâ€™l make him stutter,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	Â 
 	Ted was awakened on the morning of the banquet by the faint but persistent sound of bel s. He sat up, and saw Patrick leaning out the window. He was wearing one of the nightshirts they both hated. It was too cold in High Castle at night not to wear them. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s that racket?â€​emanded Ted. 
 	â€œDunno,â€​aid Patrick, absently, to the outside. 
 	â€œHowâ€™s the weather?â€​par 	Patrick shrugged. Ted got reluctantly out of bed and joined him at the window. Like most early mornings in the Secret Country, this one was damp and blurry, like a botched and abandoned watercolor. The bel s pealed on. 
 	Ted thought the sound might be coming from the North Tower. 
 	He looked at his cousin. Patrick was preoccupied, which was not unusual, but he was also unsettled. 
 	â€œI didnâ€™t dream anything last night,â€ said Ted. 
 	
 	â€œIt was a nice change.â€​par 	Patrick, uncharacteristical y, did not look at him as he spoke. â€œMaybe I got your dream too.â€​par 	Ted waited. 
 	â€œI dreamed about the Crystal of Earth again.â€​par 	Ted was exasperated. â€œWe forgot to ask Ruth about that!â€​par 	â€œYeah.â€​par 	â€œSo whatâ€™d you dream?â€​par 	â€œNothing clear, real y,â€ said Patrick, stil not looking at him. â€œSomebody was trying to smash it, to prove there wasnâ€™t any magic, and everybody thought that that would destroy the Secret Country. Things got pretty nasty, people kil ing each other al over.â€​par 	â€œIs the Crystal of Earth like the Border Magic, then?â€
 	said Ted, who preferred not to be reminded of kil ing people. 
 	â€œWorse,â€ said Patrick, leaning further out and appearing to address the paving stones of the inner courtyard. One of the more feathery of the hunting dogs trotted across it, barking desultorily. 
 	â€œIt doesnâ€™t just get the Secret Country,â€ said Patrick. â€œIt gets this whole place, whatever itâ€™s cal ed: Fenceâ€™s Country and the Dubious Hil s and those Outer Isles of El ieâ€™sâ€”everything.â€​par 	â€œI sure donâ€™t remember anything like that.â€​par 	â€œNo,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s it look like?â€​par 	
 	â€œOh, one of those tacky paperweights with the snow-storms in it, only bigger.â€​par 	There was nothing specific to object to in this answer, but Ted found it objectionable just the same. â€œWeâ€™l ask Ruth,â€​e said. â€œBut whatâ€™d you dream that I should have dreamed?â€​par 	Patrick straightened up and looked at him. He looked as if someone were taking a splinter out of his finger. â€œYou dream it,â€​e said, and went into their bathing room. 
 	Ted began to get dressed, absently. It seemed to him high time to do something about his left hand. He could not use it at a formal banquet without receiving severe comments on his sloppiness. A weekâ€™s practice at eating left-handed had provided great amusement to his companions, but little improvement in his skil . He would be chided for disobedience as wel if the seating arrangements put him and Randolph at the same table. And after the Banquet, he and Randolph would resume their fencing practice. 
 	He had already decided that he could not pretend to have hurt his hand; Benjamin or Agatha would be sure to insist on looking at it. Besides, he had an obscure feeling that this would be cheating. He looked after Patrick. Patrick was in a foul mood. He might enjoy disabling Tedâ€™s hand. Ted crouched down beside the bed, reached under it with both hands for the sheathed sword, and was rewarded with a stinging pain in the left one. He jerked back and watched the blood drip onto the stone floor. 
 	â€œPat!â€​par 	Patrick came out, trailing his towel. â€œGood God,â€ he said. â€œHere, take this.â€ He crumpled the towel against the cut and jabbed his thumb onto the pressure point. 
 	â€œEase up; I havenâ€™t severed an artery,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œI thought youâ€™d settled for spraining your wrist.â€​par 	â€œReach under there careful y,â€ said Ted, jerking his head at the bed. 
 	Patrick looked first, and pul ed the sword out by the hilt. 
 	â€œWhereâ€™s the sheath?â€​sked Ted. 
 	Patrick looked again. â€œOther side,â€ he said. 
 	â€œDidnâ€™t you take the sword out of it?â€​par 	â€œNo.â€​par 	â€œNeither did I.â€ Patrick paused. â€œUnless I did it in my sleep,â€ he said. â€œI dreamed I was using a sword toâ€”â€​e looked secretive. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Ted, knowing better than to prompt him, â€œit certainly solves the handedness problem.â€ He stood up. â€œIâ€™d better take this to Agatha.â€​par 	â€œYou canâ€™t. Sheâ€™l put cobwebs or dung or something on it, and itâ€™l get infected. Besides, I bet it needs stitches.â€​par 	â€œI just grazed the blade. And how can it get infected if itâ€™s not a realâ€”â€​par 	â€œYou think itâ€™s real.â€​par 	â€œSo I also think it wonâ€™t get infected.â€​par 	Agatha, when applied to, provided a lecture, a handful of goldenrod, an odd-smel ing salve, a clean rag, and great expertise in bestowing the first on Ted and Patrick and the rest on Tedâ€™s hand. 
 	
 	â€œFeel better?â€​aid Ted to Patrick as they left. 
 	â€œNo,â€ said Patrick. â€œIâ€™m wondering if somebody else was messing with that sword.â€​par 	Â 
 	Laura thought she was looking for something. She trudged through the crackling leaves, throwing up the scents of cinnamon and dust and dampness. The trees were huge and the woods dim, and the air had the sharpness of frost. It smel ed like Hal oween. 
 	Noticing al this had made her forget what she was looking for. She blinked and pushed the hair out of her eyes. 
 	She must have been doing this for some time: The hair was very tangled, and ful of twigs and leaves. Her hands were filthy. 
 	â€œNow what,â€ said Laura aloud, â€œwould I be looking for in the middle of the woods?â€​par 	The sound of her own voice made her remember that she was not looking, but listening. It also woke her up. 
 	She opened her eyes painful y. It was gray early morning, and she felt dizzy and unrested. El en was not in bed, but Laura could hear her splashing and singing. Laura wished she would stop; the singing sounded wrong. 
 	She got out of bed and bounded across the bare floor to the windowâ€”not because she felt suddenly awake but because the floor was so coldâ€”and looked out. It was misty again. 
 	â€œItâ€™s a rotten morning,â€ said El en cheerful y, behind her. 
 	â€œIt always is,â€​aid Laura. 
 	
 	â€œIt must be the lake,â€ said El en, rubbing vigorously at her hair with a square of linen. â€œI hate these towels, they donâ€™t soak anything up.â€​par 	â€œThe lake at the farm never did this,â€ Laura said to the misty outside. The trees looked as distant as mountains. 
 	The mountains and the lake itself were hidden. Shivers ran up and down her spine, perhaps from the cold floor. 
 	â€œThereâ€™s more water in this lake,â€ said El en, wandering away from the window. â€œWhat shal we wear today?â€​par 	â€œI think itâ€™s the unicorns,â€ said Laura. 
 	â€œItâ€™s their lake.â€​par 	â€œWel , itâ€™s their forest, â€ said El en, doubtful y. 
 	â€œGet dressed, Iâ€™m hungry.â€​par 	Two pages pounced on them at the door to the dining hal and crowned them with garlands. They found that half the tables had been usurped by a lot of girls about Ruthâ€™s age, al wearing white lacy dresses and al sewing on enormous masses of red and blue and black silk. 
 	â€œDo we have to dress like that?â€ demanded Laura. 
 	She hated lace. And white just got dirty. 
 	â€œGosh, I hope so,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œThey sure are noisy,â€ said Laura, helping herself to bread and honey. 
 	â€œSo would you be if there were that many of you. 
 	Whereâ€™s the drumsticks?â€​par 	â€œYou sound like Agatha.â€​par 	â€œAgatha hates drumsticks.â€​par 	Laura sighed, and sat down on the corner of a bench. It was unusual y crowded in here today, even if you made al owance for al those sewing girls. 
 	El en 
 	came 
 	back 
 	empty-handed 
 	and 
 	glaring. 
 	â€œThereâ€™s nothing to eat here!â€​he said. 
 	A young man grinned across the table at them. Laura thought he was one of those who had left the table, on their first morning in High Castle, when Randolph began talking about Shanâ€™s manuscripts. â€œYou donâ€™t want breakfast, Your Highness,â€ he said to El en. â€œSave your hunger for the banquet.â€​par 	â€œHave some bread,â€ said Laura, afraid El en would be rude to him. 
 	El en thumped down next to her and bit morosely into a hunk of bread. â€œI want cornflakes,â€​he said. 
 	â€œGah,â€​aid Laura. 
 	They wandered aimlessly about after they had eaten, resigned to being caught and put to work. But no one heeded them. 
 	â€œI know,â€ said El en as they dawdled past the kitchen. They had discovered very early in their stay that no children were al owed in the kitchen on the grounds that anyone under sixteen would eat more than he helped. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s go to Fenceâ€™s tower.â€​par 	â€œWith that beast?â€​par 	â€œI liked it,â€ said El en. â€œAnd it wonâ€™t be nearly so bad in the daytime.â€​par 	The corridor to the foot of Fenceâ€™s tower was not much improved by what little daylight was coming into it when they got there. The fog had not lifted as it usual y did, and the corridor was stil dim and cobwebby. The purple torch stil burned before the shut door. There was no beast. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Laura grateful y, â€œso much for that.â€​par 	El en put her hand on the heavy door and pushed, and it swung inward without a sound. Another purple torch glared across the darkness at their feet, where the stairs went down, not up. They looked at each other. A cold air came up the staircase and stirred their hair. 
 	 â€œWell,â€​ said El en. She stared into the darkness earnestly, as if she were trying to read a street sign. Laura wondered if there was anything anywhere that El en was afraid of. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s get a light and try these stairs,â€ said El en. 
 	 â€œNo.â€​
 	â€œOh, come on. This is Fenceâ€™s tower, it must be al right.â€​par 	â€œIf this is Fenceâ€™s tower maybe I donâ€™t like Fence,â€ said Laura grimly. Everything else had come out funny, why should not Fence be, after al , the kind of magician who lived in a cold cel ar and kept gurgling purple beasts? She hunched her shoulders, shivering. She had not realized how much hope she had been putting in Fenceâ€™s return. 
 	â€œHuh,â€ said El en. â€œI guess itâ€™s not much like Fence. Heâ€™s al cheerful and fiery, now that I think about it. I wonder if this isnâ€™t his tower after al ?â€​par 	â€œWhoeverâ€™s it is I donâ€™t want to meet him,â€
 	said Laura, doggedly. Now there was a nasty thought. 
 	Maybe there was no Fence at al , but some utterly unknown person. 
 	â€œMaybe somethingâ€™s wrong,â€ said El en. â€œIf this is Fenceâ€™s tower, maybe some of his enchantments have gotten loose while heâ€™s gone and are lying in wait for him.â€ She shut the door firmly and leaned on it, tracing its intricate carving with her thumb. â€œWe should tel someone.â€​par 	â€œWho?â€​aid Laura, watching her cousinâ€™s grimy thumb move over carved leaves and branches and strange smal animals like cats or rabbits. â€œMaybe itâ€™s not Fenceâ€™s enchantments. I think heâ€™s too good for that to happenâ€”heâ€™s the best wizard in the Secret Country. 
 	Maybe itâ€™s a plot. Maybe Andrew did it.â€​par 	â€œBut thereâ€™s something magical wrong here, and Andrew doesnâ€™t believe in magic,â€ said El en. She rubbed a forefinger along the carved wing of an eagle, scowling. 
 	â€œLots of people donâ€™t like Fence,â€ said Laura. 
 	â€œAnd we donâ€™t know whatâ€™s going on. I donâ€™t feel like trusting anybody.â€​par 	â€œWe should tel Ruth and Ted anyway.â€​par 	â€œWel , yes,â€ said Laura. El enâ€™s aimless finger thumped suddenly into a shapeless indentation in the doorâ€™s carving, and Lauraâ€™s mouth fel open. 
 	â€œEl ie, look! The doorâ€™s like that tapestry!â€​par 	El en looked, and jerked her hand away. â€œLetâ€™s find Ted and Ruth,â€​he said. 
 	They did not find either of them, nor did they find Patrick. 
 	They were quickly caught up in last-minute bizarre preparations of the Banquet. They found themselves back in their room at six in the evening under orders to bathe and dress, and with no idea where their companions were. 
 	They did not have to wear white. Agatha had told them to wear â€œthe green,â€ and they determined after some debate that this must mean either the green velvet or the green muslin. El en said that it must be the muslin because you didnâ€™t wear velvet in the summertime. Laura said they should wear the velvet because it was cold. The fog had stil not lifted, and Laura had felt everywhere she went as if the air from Fenceâ€™s stairway were blowing down her neck. 
 	They went and knocked on Ted and Patrickâ€™s door, El en in muslin and Laura in velvet. Patrick let them in, scowling. He was wearing a dark blue tunic with what looked like a fox embroidered on its chest, and he held a crumpled mass of dark blue in one hand. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s that?â€​aid El en. 
 	Patrick slammed the door, and Laura jumped. 
 	 â€œStockings!â€​ he spat. 
 	â€œHose,â€ said Ted, wearily. He was sitting on the bed unlacing his sandals. 
 	â€œThey look warm,â€​aid Laura wistful y. 
 	â€œIf I want to be warm Iâ€™l wear jeans.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™d a lot rather wear your clothes than mine,â€
 	said Laura. 
 	â€œI donâ€™t see what youâ€™re upset about,â€ said Ted. He picked another mass of dark blue off the bed and went into the bathing room. 
 	â€œThey look ridiculous,â€ Patrick snarled after him, â€œand theyâ€™re uncomfortable.â€​par 	
 	â€œand theyâ€™re uncomfortable.â€​par 	â€œWhy should you care?â€ demanded El en. â€œYou donâ€™t think itâ€™s real anyway.â€​par 	Laura wondered if Patrick would forget this if they didnâ€™t keep reminding him. 
 	He had rounded on El en as if he were going to hit her, but he only let his breath out in a snort. â€œEven if Iâ€™m only dreaming,â€​e told her, â€œI donâ€™t like nightmares.â€​par 	â€œYeah,â€ said Laura, remembering the purple beast and the cold stairs. 
 	Patrick looked at her. â€œWhat happened to you today?â€​par 	â€œThereâ€™s something wrong with Fenceâ€™s tower,â€​aid El en. 
 	Patrick shrugged. â€œThereâ€™s something wrong with everything else. Why shouldnâ€™t there be something wrong with Fenceâ€™s tower?â€ El en told him about the staircase, and Laura watched interest creep over his face. 
 	â€œHeh,â€​as al he said. 
 	Then Ted came out and they had to tel it again. Ted was dressed for the banquet, and he looked frighteningly grown-up when he came out. But when El en had finished, he just looked frightened. Laura was not sure which was worse. 
 	â€œI think we should tel Randolph,â€ he said. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s go on downstairs. Heâ€™s bound to be at the banquet.â€​par 	â€œPatrickâ€™s not dressed,â€​aid El en. 
 	Ted looked at him. â€œYou could wear your jeans under your tunic and look like a col ege student,â€​e said. 
 	Patrick picked up his hose and headed for the bathing room. Laura thought he looked as if he preferred revenge to argument. 
 	The Banquet was held in a hal none of them had been in before. They found it by fol owing the groups of wonderful y dressed people they met almost as soon as they got out the door. The hal was enormous, ful of torch- and candle-light and even ful er of people. Laura felt as if she were lost in a department store at Christmas. She had never imagined the Banquet as having so many strangers in attendance. 
 	Neither the sight of other people in velvet nor the sound of musicians hooting and burbling upon odd instruments made her feel any better. She wanted her mother. 
 	They could not find Randolph, and they could not find Ruth. 
 	The strain of being among so many people so much bigger began to tel even on Ted after a while, and he found them a spot where they could observe untrampled. They were between the tables and the door to the kitchens, so they stood and watched young people in white carry plates and bowls and platters past them, and smel ed the rich smel s from the kitchen. 
 	The hooting of the instruments began to settle into something resembling a rhythm. The glittering crowd began to separate and order itself. 
 	â€œI hope they sound better than that when they get going,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œI think the dancingâ€™s starting,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œAnd whoâ€™l dance with us?â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œGah,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s get out of here,â€ said Patrick. The people moving back to make space for the dancing were crowding al four of them into the wal . 
 	They squirmed their way along to the other end of the hal . 
 	Laura looked hopeful y at the tables spread with food, but they were guarded by more young people, Ruthâ€™s age maybe. One of them caught her looking and stuck his tongue out at her. Laura showed her teeth at him and turned away, bumping her shoulder on the jeweled hilt of someoneâ€™s dagger. In her confusion and irritation, she expected him to notice her and draw it, but he did not. 
 	They came at last to an empty alcove. â€œIs that al they wanted those sheepskins for?â€ demanded Laura. The skins were spread on the stone bench and on the floor. 
 	â€œMaybe we shouldnâ€™t sit there,â€ said Ted, and jumped as a hand came down on his shoulder. 
 	They looked up into Benjaminâ€™s face. He seemed displeased. 
 	â€œThy father wants thee,â€ he said to Ted, and began to maneuver him through the crowd. Ted cast a despairing glance over his shoulder and disappeared behind somebodyâ€™s bil owy sleeves. 
 	The other three stood abandoned, and the musiciansâ€™
 	hooting and burbling settled into a melody. Laura jerked her head up. She knew that music. She had been listening for it in her dream. 
 	â€œWhat are those weird instruments anyway?â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œBe quiet,â€ said Laura quickly. Far in the back of her mind the music made her remember places she had never been and things she had never seen. 
 	Patrick was so astonished that he was quiet. El en moved closer and stared at Laura, but she was quiet too. Laura pul ed her braids and scowled. â€œWhat is that song?â€​par 	â€œIs that al ?â€ said El en. â€œItâ€™s â€˜he Minstrel Boy,â€™ donâ€™t you remember? Your mother used to sing it to us when we were little.â€​par 	â€œNo,â€ said Laura. That was the tune, but that was not what she was trying to remember. 
 	â€œWhat are al those instruments?â€​epeated Patrick. 
 	â€œAnd where are they?â€​aid El en. 
 	Patrick pointed to a balcony at the end of the hal from which they had come. It was dim so high up. â€œI can see the harp,â€ he said, â€œbut whatâ€™s al that other stuff?â€​par 	â€œWhy do you care?â€ said El en, dodging an old man in red who carried a cushion. 
 	â€œThe J-shaped ones,â€ said Laura hastily, â€œare crumhorns. Thatâ€™s what hoots. And theyâ€™ve got recorders and a dulcimer, because I can hear them.â€ She stopped, dumbfounded. She did not know how she knew these things. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s that thing on the left?â€​par 	Laura squinted at it, and felt the shock of a different and more normal sort of recognition. It did not come from the back of her mind as the names of the other instruments had. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s a zootibar.â€​par 	â€œA what?â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s from a story Ruth read us,â€ said Laura, â€œbut I decided what it looked like, and it does.â€​par 	â€œHuh,â€ said Patrick. He looked at her for a moment. 
 	
 	â€œWhatâ€™s it supposed to sound like?â€​par 	â€œThe story didnâ€™t say,â€​aid Laura. â€œI thought, like a glass with a lot of safety pins in it, only it could play real tunes, of course.â€​par 	â€œJesus,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œDonâ€™t swear, â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œI wasnâ€™t.â€​par 	â€œWhy arenâ€™t they dancing?â€ said El en, looking back to the center of the hal . People had cleared a wide space, and were standing around it. 
 	â€œYou donâ€™t dance to that song,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œWel , the words are a little sad,â€ said El en, dubiously, â€œbut the musicâ€™s okay.â€​par 	That was not what Laura had meant. Not knowing what she did mean, she was silent. Concentrating on the knowledge in the back of her mind only made it recede further. 
 	The musicians began another song, and this time people did start to dance. They overflowed the space cleared for them and pushed the rest of the crowd back toward Laura and El en and Patrick. It began to get hot, and Laura almost regretted her velvet. 
 	â€œCome on,â€ said Patrick, â€œletâ€™s get closer to the door.â€​par 	They edged along the wal , being elbowed, and stepping on peopleâ€™s feet with a certain vengeful satisfaction. 
 	Nobody paid the slightest attention to them. 
 	This hal had double doors which opened onto a paved place, which in turn led to either the stables or the rose garden. The doors looked west. They were open. No guards stood in the doorway, which Laura thought odd. Any door in High Castle which opened on outside air, even those to the inner courtyard, always seemed to have a guard or two on it. 
 	They struggled out of the last of the crowd and stood breathing the cool air from the doorway. In the gray light just inside it, three children were playing something which looked like jacks, but probably wasnâ€™t. It involved two bal s and a number of wooden pieces. 
 	Laura stopped dead when she saw the strange children. 
 	Patrick and El en did not seem to want to get any closer to them either. Laura was sure they were dangerous; they would be able to find out far faster than any grown-up how little she and the others real y knew. 
 	â€œThere arenâ€™t many children in High Castle, are there?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œWel , a lot of the servants are just kids,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œWe donâ€™t have to talk to them.â€​par 	â€œWe donâ€™t have to talk to these either.â€​par 	â€œI wonder if weâ€™re supposed to know them,â€
 	said Patrick. 
 	Laura went back a way and settled herself onto a bench in an alcove where she could see out the doorway. Patrick and El en stayed where they were, arguing in low voices. 
 	Outside, suddenly, the sun came out and fel in a block over the strange children. They al had yel ow hair, and the sun made them look exactly as children in a fairy tale should look. 
 	They seemed to think the sun had spoiled their game. 
 	They craned their necks at the sky outside, shook their heads at one another, and began packing up their pieces in a wooden box. Patrick and El en, noticing this, moved off to one side and went on arguing. The strange children went by them without paying them any heed. Laura shrank back as they went past her, but they paid no attention to her either. 
 	She noticed that al of them looked a little like Matthew, and wondered if they were his. 
 	She looked back at the doorway. She was beginning to get bored. 
 	El en and Patrick came over to her. 
 	â€œWho were those kids?â€​sked El en. 
 	â€œIs Matthew married?â€​aura asked her. 
 	Patrick looked over their heads back into the noisy hal . 
 	â€œHey, here comesâ€”â€​e said, and stared. 
 	Laura and El en turned around. Lord Randolph was coming toward them with a woman. She was a snaky lady with black hair. She wore a dress of deep red which showed exactly how snaky she was. She had her hands folded around Randolphâ€™s arm, and against the blue of his sleeve the ruby in the ring she wore gleamed as a catâ€™s eye wil when the light hits it just so. She was beautiful. 
 	â€œWhoâ€™s that? â€​aid Laura. 
 	They came up to the three children, and Randolph bowed as wel as he could with the woman on his arm. She looked at them measuringly, not as if she were greeting them, but as if they were something she might want to hang on the wal . 
 	â€œGood festival to you,â€ said Randolph. He wore his circlet and his ring, and the jewels on the silver hilt of his dagger were those same blue ones. Laura wondered if he ever got tired of them. 
 	â€œAnd to you,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	El en was staring at the woman, not in a friendly way. 
 	â€œWhere is thy angry cousin?â€ Randolph asked Patrick. 
 	â€œBenjamin said . . .â€ said Patrick, and stopped. 
 	Laura could almost see him remembering that Ted, however angry, was not his cousin here, but his brother. 
 	â€œShould any of you see her,â€ said Randolph, â€œtel her to ware Lord Andrew.â€​par 	â€œShe always does,â€ said Patrick. Randolph laughed, but the woman in red looked at Patrick as if she would have liked to step on him. 
 	â€œTel her to ware her temper, then,â€ said Randolph. 
 	â€œHe is baiting every magician in the place with his vain philosophy, hoping one wil break the ban and disgrace the cal ing. Thy cousin hath a hasty temper. Let her look toâ€™t.â€​par 	â€œYes, my lord,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œAnd have a care thyself,â€ Randolph added thoughtful y. The woman looked at him and at Patrick, surprised. â€œForgo thy accustomed tricks,â€ added Randolph, with a meaningful look Laura was at a loss to interpret. 
 	Patrick seemed to understand it. He bowed. â€œI shal ,â€​e said. 
 	Randolph smiled at al of them as the woman steered him away. â€œ â€™Tis but a jest,â€​he said in his ear, and the sound of her voice made the fine hairs stand up on the backs of their necks. Then she and Randolph were too far away to be heard. 
 	El en sat down heavily on the bench. â€œGah!â€ she said. 
 	â€œHe likes her,â€​aid Laura, staring after them. 
 	â€œWel ,â€​aid Patrick, â€œshe is awful y pretty.â€​par 	â€œNot real y,â€ said El en. â€œNot healthy pretty. 
 	Sheâ€™s like Spanish moss.â€​par 	â€œJust because she hangs al over him,â€ said Laura. 
 	She and El en looked at each other and laughed. 
 	â€œBut 
 	who is she?â€ said Laura again. â€œIf sheâ€™s with Randolph, she must be important, and I sure donâ€™t remember her.â€​par 	â€œWait until we can find out her name,â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œThat might bring it back to you.â€​par 	â€œI thought I recognized her voice,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œIt sounded like Ruth doing the Demon Queen,â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œWel , sort of. You donâ€™t suppose she is?â€​par 	â€œI doubt it.â€​par 	Laura looked back at the doorway. The late sunlight stil poured through it. Laura felt a desire to do something sensible, like swimming in the moat or playing with the dogs. Evenings always made her restless. 
 	A shadow fel into the middle of the block of sunshine, and a man came slowly into the hal . He was rather short, and he wore a long blue cape. It was patched and stained and dusty. His boots were caked with dust. His hair was so dusty it looked gray. He wore a pack, as dusty as the rest of him. 
 	His back was bowed, his head down. Laura hoped he would go on by, but he paused just inside the hal , lifting his head and rubbing at his eyes. 
 	Laura jerked upright, gaping. A shock went through her as if someone had put an ice cube down her back. 
 	 â€œFence!â€​ she shrieked, leaped up, bowled El en aside, and ran at him. 
 	He laughed at her out of his filthy face and went down on one knee to meet her. â€œGently, gently,â€ he said, as she cannoned into him and a cloud of dust rose up. â€œI am a dusty carpet indeed, and moth-eaten too. You wil ruin your dress and I shal topple.â€ He hugged her anyway, and then pushed her back and looked at her. His smile vanished. 
 	â€œWhat hast thou been up to?â€​par 	Laura looked at the patched knee of his hose, disappointed almost to tears. She knew him as she had not known anyone else here, and he could take one look at her and see that she was not what she should be. 
 	â€œHey!â€ shouted a girlâ€™s voice behind her. 
 	â€œMark! Fence is back! John!â€​par 	Boots clattered on the floor behind her, and the three children who had been playing in the doorway flung themselves upon Fence. Laura backed hastily out of the tangle to where El en and Patrick stood looking embarrassed. 
 	â€œNice work,â€ said Patrick to Laura. â€œI didnâ€™t know you had it in you.â€​par 	â€œYou forgot to ask him if heâ€™d brought you any presents,â€​aid El en, â€œbut you were very good.â€​par 	
 	â€œWhereâ€™s Randolph?â€ said Laura, looking back at the crowd. She found him by the color of his companionâ€™s dress. They were standing a little apart from the main crowd, holding each otherâ€™s hand. 
 	Randolph had his back to Laura. 
 	Laura began to jump up and down and wave. The woman in red shot her the meanest look Laura had ever seen. 
 	Randolph had not seen Laura jumping and waving, but he saw that look, and turned around. He looked as if he expected a dragon; his hand was on his dagger. 
 	Laura pointed at Fence. Randolph stood quite stil while al the expression went out of his face. Then he disengaged his other hand from the ladyâ€™s and took a step. She caught his arm and spoke to him urgently. He shook his head, shook off her hand, and came running. Laura got out of his way. 
 	Fence rose out of the strange childrenâ€™s embraces just in time. Randolph hurtled into him and swung him right around. They hugged each other briefly, hard. Laura, seeing Randolphâ€™s face over Fenceâ€™s shoulder, was reminded of her motherâ€™s face when Ted final y arrived home three hours late, in the middle of the worst storm in eighteen years. 
 	â€œMy friend,â€ said Randolph, letting go of Fence and regarding him soberly, â€œI had not thought to see thee again.â€​par 	â€œAm I so late as that?â€​par 	â€œThis is Midsummerâ€™s Eve.â€​par 	Fence put a hand on his arm, but said nothing. 
 	â€œFence,â€ said the strange girl, who stil stood there with her companions, â€œwhat did you bring us?â€​par 	â€œPrecious little,â€ said Fence, rueful y. â€œI have been in the Dubious Hil s.â€​ut he smiled at her. 
 	â€œYou could have brought a rock.â€​par 	â€œPeace,â€ said Randolph to the children. â€œHe is weary. Plague him tomorrow.â€​par 	They scowled briefly and then made off through the crowd. 
 	â€œCome on,â€​aid Patrick to Laura and El en. 
 	Fence looked around. â€œNot you,â€​e said to the three of them. â€œI hope that you and Lord Randolph wil sup with me.â€​par 	â€œThank you,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	Laura poked him. â€œWhat about that snake woman?â€​par 	â€œSnake woman nothing,â€ said Patrick. â€œSir,â€
 	he said to Fence, â€œwhat about Ruth?â€​par 	â€œHas she forsaken her cal ing, then?â€​par 	â€œWhat?â€​par 	â€œI hope you do not propose to wait your meal until midnight.â€​par 	â€œHe forgot,â€​aid El en. Patrick just looked glazed. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Fence, â€œif the bolder of you would oblige us by tel ing the kitchen what we require, we wil go before you and dust the dishes.â€ He looked at Patrick and Laura as he said this. 
 	â€œThey wonâ€™t pay any attention to us,â€ said Laura. 
 	â€œTheyâ€™l just think we want our dinner early.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™l go with them, Fence,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	
 	Fence looked at El en. Laura suddenly understood what was going on. She and Patrick were the bolder ones. 
 	Princess El en was shy, so Fence was sparing her the ordeal of going to the kitchen. Princess El en was shy for much the same reason that Prince Edward was: El en, like Ted, had had too much else to do to properly attend to her namesake. 
 	Laura pul ed a braid over her shoulder so she could chew on the ribbon. This would be awful, if Fence was going to be so considerate al the time. El en would hate being left out of things, and Laura would hate being put in them. 
 	El en must have decided much the same thing, because she turned to Randolph. â€œLaurieâ€™s bruised her arm,â€ she said, which was true, â€œand she shouldnâ€™t be carrying things,â€​hich was not. 
 	â€œPatrick and I wil do wel enough,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	So Laura and El en went off with Fence. It was not until they came to the corridor before Fenceâ€™s tower, which now had sunlight pouring into it and looked nothing worse than dusty, that they remembered that there was something wrong with the stairs. 
 	
 CHAPTER 12

 	FENCE produced a key and a cloud of dust from his sleeve. 
 	â€œThe doorâ€™s not locked,â€​aid El en. 
 	Fence was instantly stil . â€œWhen was it not locked?â€​par 	â€œThis morning.â€​par 	Fence handed her the key. Laura saw that it, too, was silver, with a blue stone on the shaft. Fence bent and peered through the keyhole. â€œDid you go through the door, then?â€​par 	â€œNot very far,â€ said El en. â€œThe stairs went the wrong way.â€​par 	Fence froze again; then he grinned. â€œI wonder. Hath Randolph played the fool again?â€​par 	â€œIt didnâ€™t feel like Randolph,â€ said Laura, and immediately felt foolish. But Fence seemed disposed to take her seriously. 
 	â€œWas it cold?â€ he asked her, and she nodded. 
 	â€œDear heaven,â€ said Fence. He looked through the keyhole again. Then he took the key from El en and turned it in the lock. Then he tried the door, which, since he had just locked it, did not open. Then he unlocked it and pushed it open. 
 	On the third step up, the beast gurgled at them. Laura leaped backward, squeaking. Fence laughed, but not at her. 
 	â€œIs that yours?â€​l en asked him. 
 	â€œNo,â€​aid Fence. 
 	
 	â€œTold you,â€​aid Laura. 
 	Fence looked at her over his shoulder. â€œYou would know,â€​e said, puzzling her. 
 	â€œWhose is it if itâ€™s not yours?â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œThis,â€ said Fence, â€œis the best outcome of trying to reconcile rival magics.â€​par 	â€œWhatâ€™s the worst?â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œYouâ€™l know soon enough,â€ said Fence, shortly. 
 	He gurgled at the beast, and it coiled in upon itself, shrank to a trickle, and was gone. 
 	Laura felt a little better about the beasts now that Fence had laughed at one, but much worse about the stairs having gone the wrong way this morning now that Fence had looked sober about it. 
 	Fence put the key back in his sleeve and began to climb the steps, leaving drifts of dust in his wake. The steps themselves were quite clean, and there were no cobwebs. 
 	The wal s were stained amber by the sunlight coming through the arrow slits. It was very warm, almost like summer. Laura and El en fol owed Fence. 
 	Fence had the three top rooms of the tower. He lived in the third from the top, and slept in the second from the top, and did his stargazing and his magic at the very top. Fence was a white magician, but Laura had never liked to think about his magic. She and El en had discovered several years ago that reading old spel s, which they had tried in order to give themselves an idea of what Fence actual y did, made them nervous, and they had had to give it up. Laura and El en had, therefore, only the vaguest notion of what Fence did in the top room, but its presence brooded on them as they scrambled behind its owner. 
 	They soon had something more tangible to worry them. 
 	El en had asked that there be two hundred and eight steps to Fenceâ€™s rooms, that being the number of steps, she said, to Merlynâ€™s tower at Camelot. Patrick said that he was not sure you could build a tower that high without modern methods, but he had been overruled. It seemed that he had also been wrong. If there were not two hundred and eight steps to Fenceâ€™s rooms, Laura thought, wiping sweat from her forehead onto the green velvet of her sleeve and looking at El enâ€™s sweat-damp muslin back ahead of her, it was only because there were three hundred, or five hundred. She started counting steps after they had gone around a few curves and it had become evident that they were nowhere near the end. She gave up at one hundred and nine; it was enough trouble just breathing. 
 	She was almost desperate enough to say something when Fence stopped and turned around to wait for them. 
 	â€œI cry you mercy,â€ he said. â€œI am very weary. You may take the key on ahead.â€ He looked at them and grinned. â€œI see,â€ he said, and sat down on a step next to an arrow slit. 
 	â€œYouâ€™ve been gone a long time,â€ El en told him, testily â€œAnd there arenâ€™t this many steps anywhere else.â€ El en prided herself on being able to keep up with Ted or Ruth even though they were bigger; Fenceâ€™s grin must have irked her. 
 	Her speech did not seem to irk Fence, but it certainly startled him. â€œHast learned courage, then?â€ he asked her. 
 	Lauraâ€™s stomach sank. She had been gladder to see Fence than she had ever been to see anyone. He might as wel have been the person she loved best in the world. And now he looked to be more trouble than al the rest of them put together. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said El en, â€œyouâ€™ve been gone a long time.â€​par 	â€œLonger for me than for you,â€ said Fence. He leaned his head on the stone wal and shut his eyes. Laura looked a t him, and wondered if he was supposed to be that thin, and how old he was. She had thought he was older than Randolph, but he looked more like a young person who has had a hard time. She looked at El en, who shook her head and grinned. 
 	â€œTwo hundred and eight steps,â€​aid El en. 
 	Fenceâ€™s eyes jerked open. They were green, like El enâ€™s. Laura wondered whether, under al the dust, his hair was like El enâ€™s too. She had not thought that Fence was related to anyone in High Castle. He came from outside. 
 	â€œHow knowâ€™st thou that number?â€ Fence demanded of El en. 
 	El en looked at Laura, who stared helplessly back. â€œI counted them?â€ said El en as if she were proposing the idea for consideration. 
 	â€œHow many times?â€​par 	â€œIsnâ€™t once enough?â€​par 	Fence laughed, as if in spite of himself. â€œHast been studying sorcery?â€​par 	 â€œNo,â€​ said El en. 
 	
 	â€œThou?â€​aid Fence to Laura. 
 	â€œNo.â€​par 	â€œPerhaps you ought,â€ said Fence, and stood up. 
 	Laura sneezed. 
 	The door to Fenceâ€™s living chamber was carved like the door to the tower stairs, except that in the place of the jagged hole there was a perfectly round piece, surrounded with rays, like a sun. Laura and El en looked at each other. 
 	Fence unlocked the door with a plain key. 
 	Fenceâ€™s living room had seven narrow windows, a bearskin on the floor, tapestries on the wal s, a few carved chests and a plain table and chairs, al of dark wood, and a fireplace across from the door. It was disappointingly normal. Laura supposed that the interesting things were in the top room, and once she thought of it its weight settled over her spirits again. 
 	Fence stood in the middle of the room with his head tilted, as if he were sniffing or listening for something. 
 	â€œAl seems wel here,â€ he said, and made a sign in the air with his hand. The logs in the fireplace sprang into flame, and three lamps sputtered and burned bright. Laura jumped. This was much more startling than the blazing of their magic swords, because Fence had made so little fuss about it. 
 	â€œYou may set the table, if you wil ,â€ he said to them, and unlocking yet another door, a plain one this time, he took another flight of stairs up. Dust drifted through the air where he had stood, and Laura sneezed again. 
 	â€œYouâ€™d think,â€ said El en grumpily, â€œthat if he can light a fire just like that, he could keep the dust off,â€
 	
 	and Laura knew that she had been startled too. 
 	Only one of the chests opened, and the dishes were in it. 
 	They were thick, glazed, and white, with a colored border of great intricacy. Laura squinted at the border of a plate as she carried it to the table; they were too heavy to carry more than one at a time. 
 	â€œEl ie!â€ she said, caught her foot on the edge of the bearskin, and let go of the plate. It landed on the stone floor with an enormous musical crack and broke into six pieces. 
 	â€œHel ,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œWhat made you do that?â€​par 	â€œI was looking at the border.â€​par 	â€œWhile you were carrying it?â€​par 	â€œI noticed, â€ said Laura, upon the verge of tears, â€œthat itâ€™s like that tapestry again.â€​par 	â€œHuh,â€ said El en. â€œDoes it have the sun or the hole?â€​par 	â€œThe sun,â€​aid Laura. â€œFenceâ€™l kil me.â€​par 	â€œI bet he can fix it.â€​par 	El en was finishing the table, and Laura was stil crouched over the broken plate to see whether it might be mended, when Fence came back. 
 	He did not look like El en after al . He had the same coloring, but his face was rounder, his nose shorter, and his hair both shorter and much straighter. It was stil damp, and it looked as if he had cut it himself in the dark. 
 	Laura gaped at him, however, not because of how he looked but because of what he was wearing. He had put on black robes embroidered with stars and comets and constel ations and galaxies and universes. They were every color you could think of, and they drew your eye into themselves until you had forgotten what you were looking at and wandered lost in glory. 
 	Laura, who was nervous enough when she did know what she was looking at, jerked suddenly back from these marvels and discovered that she had cut her finger on the broken plate. 
 	â€œDear heaven,â€ said Fence. â€œWhat an omen. 
 	Clear we it up, child, before Randolph sees it. He wil conceive that it spel s his doom and commit some rash act.â€​par 	It was impossible to tel from his tone if he was joking. 
 	Laura put the cut finger in her mouth and gingerly began to stack the jagged pieces. â€œCanâ€™t we fix it?â€​par 	Fence, moving in a swirl of fire and darkness, came across the room to look, and El en blinked and dropped a cup onto the bearskin. 
 	Laura glared at her. â€œHow come youâ€™re so lucky?â€​par 	â€œClean living,â€​aid El en, staring at Fence. 
 	Fence knelt beside Laura, gathering his robes out of the way, and inspected the remains of the plate. He smel ed faintly of burning leaves. Laura wondered if it was the robes. 
 	â€œI think not,â€ said Fence after a moment. â€œThe pattern is broken here, you see.â€ He put a finger on a cracked border, where the stylized sun from which the animals fled was split across its center. He took the pieces upstairs with him and came back with a broom for Laura. 
 	
 	She knocked two mugs from the table with its handle, but neither of them broke. Fence favored her with precisely the same look Patrick had given her when she tripped on the bridge. That Fence had far more right to give it did not make it any easier to stand up under. 
 	Fence gave them some mul ed wine. Laura did not think it tasted as good as it had smel ed when he was heating it, but it was better than cold wine. El en gulped it as if it were hot chocolate, and grinned at Laura. The firelight made her look a little wild. 
 	When they heard footsteps on the stairs, Fence stood up from the hearth like a flurry of fireworks, and there was a dagger in his hand. It was silver, with the blue stones. He did not put it away until Randolph and Patrick had come in, set down their burdens, and closed the door behind them. 
 	 â€œYou,â€​ said Patrick to El en and Laura, â€œcan carry whatâ€™s left back down.â€ He sat on the floor and breathed. 
 	â€œYou need not have brought so much,â€​aid Fence. 
 	â€œChildren have great appetites, and thou art half starved,â€​andolph told him. 
 	â€œNot starved,â€ said Fence. â€œSay rather, burnt away.â€​par 	Their eyes met across the sparkling table, and held. Laura stared at them, fascinated. Randolph looked like a cat which is seeing things that arenâ€™t there. Fence looked like someone who has been sick for a long time. 
 	â€œDidst thou lock the stairway door?â€ Fence asked Randolph. 
 	â€œAye.â€​par 	
 	â€œHath any other the key toâ€™t?â€​par 	â€œWhat?â€​par 	â€œâ€™Twas unlocked when I came toâ€™t. These say â€™twas so this morning.â€​par 	â€œThree demons,â€ said Randolph, abstractedly. He pushed a hand through his hair, righted the circlet again, and scowled. â€œWel , sit we down regardless. Our wits wil not suffer from food, and thine of a certainty suffer for its lackâ€”nay, say not again. I know the look of magic, and I know the look of hunger.â€​par 	He began pul ing things from the hampers and thumping them down upon the table. He seemed nervous to the edge of irritation. Fence came around the table and sat down at the end of it. 
 	â€œFence,â€ said Randolph, â€œI prithee, set not thy back to the door.â€​par 	â€œThere speaks the warrior,â€ said Fence, and smiled at him. 
 	â€œOh, no,â€ said Randolph, â€œhere speaketh the wizard. I never feared what might come through a door til thou hadst me in thy keeping.â€​par 	Fence smiled again, and stayed where he was. Randolph jerked his head at the children and sat down at the other end of the table. Laura sat on Fenceâ€™s right, El en on his left. 
 	Patrick sat between Laura and Randolph. 
 	Laura, as usual, found one or two things she liked and one or two she could stand, and ate a great deal of them. She noticed that Fence ate steadily, but not as if he were interested, and that Randolph ate almost nothing. His gaze slid about the room, always returning to the door behind Fence. Patrick and El en ate a great deal of everything and got very sticky. 
 	About halfway through the meal, Fence spoke over the crackle of the fire and the sound of crunching. 
 	â€œWhat is the temper of the court?â€​e asked. 
 	â€œUncertain,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	Fence looked at Laura, who said what she had been wanting to say for some time. â€œWho was that snake lady?â€​par 	Randolph laughed. â€œWel put,â€ he said. â€œShe is the Lady Claudia, sister to Lord Andrew. I had thought thou knewâ€™st her.â€​par 	â€œWel , Iâ€™ve seen her,â€​aid Laura. 
 	Fence looked at Randolph. â€œWhat did she want with thee?â€​par 	Randolph looked back at him amused. 
 	â€œApart from the obvious,â€​aid Fence. 
 	Laura nearly dropped her knife. She wondered when one of them would say, â€œNot in front of the children.â€ This was clearly one of the conversations in which that would be said just as you began to understand what they were talking about. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Randolph, â€œshe wants that, when the time comes, I should vote with her brother on the matter of dragons.â€​par 	Laura, seeing the conversation drift of itself away from intriguing subjects, leaned over to Patrick and whispered, â€œDo you remember any Lady Claudia?â€​par 	
 	â€œShut up,â€​aid Patrick, quietly but forceful y. 
 	â€œVote!â€​aid Fence, scornful y. â€œThe council is an advisory body, no more. What needs the King thy vote, or any manâ€™s? A wilt do as a wilt.â€​par 	â€œSo I told Claudia.â€​par 	â€œAnd?â€​par 	â€œStil she stayed.â€​par 	Fence grinned, and Lauraâ€™s ears pricked up. 
 	â€œNo,â€ said Randolph. â€œDo not flatter me. Stil she seeks to persuade me that her brother hath the right of it; not for my vote, but for that she thinks I have the Kingâ€™s ear.â€​par 	â€œDoesnâ€™t he?â€​aid Laura to Patrick. 
 	â€œShe?â€ said Fence. â€œShe? She knows better than any the power of magic.â€​par 	â€œShe knows nothing of it,â€ said Randolph, staring; â€œshe thinks it a matter for fools and children.â€​par 	â€œAnd so she should,â€ said Fence, â€œif thou, a magician, hast believed she thinketh so.â€​par 	â€œWhat?â€​par 	Fence stood up, staring in his turn. â€œDo you not know?â€ he said. â€œShe was my apprentice, and she failed.â€​par 	Nobody moved, and the fire hissed. Randolph was looking at Fence as if he thought Fence was crazy. 
 	â€œNo,â€ he said, as if Fence had given him the wrong answer to a problem in arithmetic. Fence looked at him. 
 	â€œWhen?â€​aid Randolph. 
 	
 	â€œFour summers ago.â€​par 	â€œAnd where was I?â€​par 	â€œFeren,â€ said Fence. Laura had never heard the name before, but it seemed to satisfy Randolph. 
 	â€œWhy did not the court buzz with it on my return?â€​par 	â€œClaudia is a secretive child,â€ said Fence. Laura blinked; Fence looked closer to being a child than Claudia had. 
 	â€œWel ,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	Fence pushed his chair back and went to the hearth for more wine. Randolph looked into his own cup, shook his head, and put his hand to his forehead. The stone in his ring caught the firelight and dazzled Lauraâ€™s eyes. Vague shapes fled across her vision, purple and white and green. 
 	Looming over them al like a monstrous setting sun was the face of Claudia. Laura realized that it was the same face she had seen in the sword when they roasted marshmal ows by the Wel of the White Witch. She blinked, and the sight was gone. Fence was sitting down again, and Randolph had picked up his cup. 
 	â€œPerhaps we should speak of this later,â€ said Fence to Randolph, and Laura sighed. 
 	â€œNo doubt,â€ said Randolph. â€œMatthew hath manuscripts of Shan which need thy skil , and thou hast not yet spoken to thy spies.â€​par 	He smiled at Laura, who felt a qualm. Across the table she saw El enâ€™s eyes get big. 
 	â€œI thought to feed them first,â€ said Fence. He looked at their empty plates, and Laura stifled an urge to grab the nearest food and start gnawing. She was afraid she knew what was coming. 
 	â€œWho shal begin?â€​aid Fence. â€œEl en?â€​par 	There was a pounding on the door. 
 	â€œOh, come on, â€ said El en. Laura jumped. Patrick picked up his knife and looked grim. Randolph leaped up, jarring the table and spil ing his wine exactly as Laura would have if she had jumped up. His dagger was in his hand. 
 	Fence stood up slowly and went to the door, holding his hands a little out from his sides as if he were doing a balancing act. â€œWho goes there?â€​par 	â€œThe King commands your presence,â€ said a voice, loud but a little breathless. 
 	Fenceâ€™s hands fel to his sides. He shrugged. Then he opened the door. Lord Andrew stood there. He was flushed from his climb, but he seemed pleased. What now,  thought Laura. 
 	â€œWhen do lords run errands?â€ Fence asked him. 
 	Laura knew that this was half of a proverb, or riddle, or something of the sort, but Andrew did not seem to know it. It would be just like Andrew not to. 
 	â€œI do the Kingâ€™s wil ,â€​e said. 
 	Andrew looked over Fenceâ€™s shoulder at El en, and at Laura, and at Patrick. Laura felt like a spil ed ashtray. Then Andrew looked at Randolph. â€œStrange company, my lord,â€​e said. 
 	â€œ â€™Tis strange to thee,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	â€œWhere doth the King await me?â€ Fence asked Andrew. 
 	Andrew looked at him as if he had forgotten who he was. 
 	
 	Then he smiled. â€œIn the Council Chamber,â€​e said. 
 	â€œI wil attend him with what dispatch I may command,â€​aid Fence. 
 	â€œThou wilt come with me.â€​par 	â€œI wil not come with you,â€ said Fence, and shut the door on him. Laura giggled. 
 	â€œThis is not a jest,â€ said Randolph. â€œFence, let me come with you. It is far more likely that there is a trap on the stairs than that the King awaits you in the Council Chamber.â€​par 	â€œHe doesnâ€™t even know youâ€™re here,â€ added El en. â€œThose kids couldâ€™ve toldâ€”â€​aid Patrick â€œOr Claudia,â€ said Randolph. â€œMarjorie and her brothers wil not speak to the King at banquet, but Claudiaâ€”â€​par 	â€œTheyâ€™l have told their father,â€​aid Fence. 
 	â€œMatthew wil let you announce yourself when you wil .â€​par 	â€œTrue,â€ said Fence. He picked up his mug and finished his wine. â€œHave we a look, then.â€​par 	He went to one of the chests Laura and El en had not been able to open, and took out of it a round mirror. The wooden frame was carved with a scene that Laura expected even before she recognized it. Fence came to where Randolph stil stood with his dagger drawn, and each of them took a side of the mirror. They looked into it, frowning a little. 
 	Laura, with no compunction, came around behind them and peered between them at the mirror. It did not reflect them, or her. It held an empty stone staircase dimly lit with purple light. Fence tilted the mirror a bit. The scene in it swirled in on itself as the purple beast had done, and then swirled out again. It looked the same, except that there was an arrow slit in the wal . It had grown dark outside, and one star shone through the arrow slit. 
 	Fence and Randolph fol owed the stairs down to the bottom and back up again. Laura grew bored. El en put her head on the table and fel asleep. Patrick watched Randolph. 
 	â€œSo,â€ said Fence, and laid the mirror on Randolphâ€™s chair. â€œBetter you stay here with these.â€​par 	â€œFence,â€ said Randolph, shifting his grip upon his dagger, â€œI beg you to do me the honor of remembering that I am not a fool. Then consider that this Claudia has been by me night and day these three months, and I never divined what she was. Then consider that Andrew is her brother.â€​par 	Fence let his breath out. â€œAnd what of my spies?â€​par 	Laura backed away a few steps. 
 	â€œThey wil be safest here,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	Fence rounded on Laura. â€œLock the door behind us,â€ he said to her, fiercely, â€œand abide til I come, or Randolph, or Benjamin.â€​par 	Fence went to the door, Randolph right behind him. Fence looked at him, and shrugged, and stepped aside. Randolph, stil holding the dagger, went down the stairs, Fence behind him. Laura, hurrying to shut and bar the door, saw that Fence was not holding up the skirts of his robe; they seemed to be getting out of his way by themselves. Laura pushed the door closed and slid the bolt home. 
 	â€œWake El en up,â€ said Patrick as she came back to the table. â€œI want to know whatâ€™s going on.â€​par 	They heard a faint sound from the stairway, perhaps the echo of the echo of a voice, and then the clash of metal. 
 	Patrick and Laura flung themselves at the door, dragged the bolt free, and pushed the door open. 
 	Laura ducked under Patrickâ€™s arm and ran down the stairs. She got safely around two turns of the spiral, but then she tripped and went rol ing around the next. She cracked an elbow on the wal as she went by, scraped both hands in an effort to stop herself, and brought herself up suddenly and painful y against Randolphâ€™s legs. Randolph plucked her off the step as if she were a wet sock, turned them both around, and sat her down at his feet. He stil had his dagger out. 
 	Fence was standing two steps down from Laura and Randolph, with his back to them. Both hands were buried in the folds of his robe, end his head was bent. Facing him, two more steps lower, was Claudia. She had a knife in her hand, but she had let the hand fal to her side, and she stared at Fence with eyes so wide and empty that she did not seem to be there at al . 
 	Patrick came clattering around the turn with El en behind him. Randolph put his dagger back into its sheath and thrust his arm in front of them to keep them from fal ing over Laura. 
 	Laura risked a glance at his face; the look he gave them was eloquent of many things, al of them unpleasant. 
 	â€œRandolph,â€​aid Fence, without turning around. 
 	â€œWel ?â€​aid Randolph. 
 	
 	â€œThis is a most powerful sorcerer.â€​par 	Laura felt Randolph stiffen. â€œIf she failed with thee,â€
 	he said, â€œwho hath taught her?â€​par 	â€œShe herself,â€​aid Fence. 
 	Randolph said something explosive and unintel igible. 
 	â€œKeep thy dagger to hand,â€ said Fence, and took hold of Claudiaâ€™s wrist. 
 	She did not move. Fence pried the knife out of her hand and held it up to Randolph without looking around. 
 	Lauraâ€™s eyes winced away from it. It was twisted. The hilt held two red stones and one blue. The colors were quite clear in the dim light. 
 	â€œAnd she hath fashioned this,â€ said Randolph, holding it as if it were sticky. 
 	â€œWe wil hope so,â€ said Fence. â€œIf another did so then we have two of them to deal with.â€​par 	Laura knew she should keep quiet, but she was too curious. â€œWhatâ€™d you do to her?â€​par 	â€œI entranced her,â€ said Fence, shortly, in what Laura recognized as an adult I-dare-you-to-make-a-joke-out-of-that voice. She could not think what the joke would be anyway. 
 	It seemed that Randolph could. â€œAnd wil it endure so long as the spel she held me under?â€​par 	â€œNo,â€​aid Fence. â€œI think we must have Ruth.â€​par 	 â€œRuth?â€​ said Laura, appal ed. 
 	â€œ â€™Twil wait on the ending of her ceremony,â€
 	said Randolph, luckily misunderstanding her. Fence, however, final y turned around, and looked at her sharply, as if he wondered what she knew. 
 	â€œThat is stil two hours off,â€​as al he said. 
 	â€œThe interim is ours,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	Fenceâ€™s mouth quirked, and then he grinned. 
 	â€œWherein,â€ he said, â€œwe may finish the wine, and I may hear from my spies.â€ Laura and El en looked at each other. â€œAnd thou, my apprentice,â€ said Fence to Randolph, â€œshalt tel me al strange wonders that befel thee.â€​par 	â€œAnd swear,â€ said Laura and El en, looking at each other and taking the dare, â€œnowhere lives a woman true, and fair.â€​par 	â€œGo along with you,â€ said Randolph, pul ing Lauraâ€™s braids. 
 	â€œAre we going to leave her there?â€​sked Laura. 
 	â€œShe wil be safe,â€ said Fence. â€œShe has taken the road back, but â€™tis a long way out of the simplest of these spel s, and I have put that in her way which wil make her wonder if â€™twere not better she stay where she is.â€
 	He sounded a little grim, and quite pleased. Laura looked at his pleasant round face, and shivered. 
 	Randolph looked at him, too, but he did not shiver. 
 	â€œThou art better suited to these matters than I had thought,â€​e said. 
 	â€œNever doubt it,â€ said Fence. â€œNow come your ways,â€​e said to al of them. 
 	They trooped upstairs, laughing. But Laura could not help looking over her shoulder at where the stiff form of Claudia stared. The red stone of her ring caught the purple torchlight and made a color which almost hurt. Laura turned from it and made a color which almost hurt. Laura turned from it and hurried after the others. 
 	
 CHAPTER 13

 	TED did not have a pleasant evening. He trailed around after the King, who seemed to be pursuing some plan. The King would look around the bewildering shift of gold and velvet and jeweled daggers and laughing faces and flying hair, until he spotted someone he wanted. Then he would pounce. 
 	He talked to some people about their children, to some about their dogs. He talked to one, whom Ted would dearly have loved to talk to himself, about a sword he was making, and to some about why the falcons were not eating. He asked where the six dozen nails he had ordered from the dwarves had gotten to, and why it would be as bad to oil the hinges of the Old South Door as it would have been to mend the break. 
 	If these had been random conversations Ted might have enjoyed them. But the King so clearly had a list in his mind of what he had to do. Three or four times Ted saw him avoid someone whom he later sought out. Ted tried to amuse himself by deciding why it was important to discuss the goats in the north pasture before one found out about the dwarfish nails, but the music was giving him a headache. He liked loud music, but this was so hol ow and shril that it hurt. 
 	He was also disturbed because they saw nobody he knew. Not only had his sister and his cousins vanished, but Benjamin, having delivered him to the King, disappeared as wel , and he could not see Randolph or Matthew or anyone else he recognized. He also felt that he should keep an eye out for Fence and warn him about that staircase. 
 	
 	He was much too harried to be hungry, but it was a relief to sit down and be quiet. The music stopped for dinner. He had to sit on the Kingâ€™s right, and the King, having finished whatever he had been doing earlier, paid Ted more attention than Ted liked. 
 	Lord Andrew sat on the Kingâ€™s left, and Matthew sat next to Andrew, and Conrad next to Ted; they al courteously refrained from interrupting the Kingâ€™s conversation with his son. Andrew was plainly listening to it, but Ted was not sure that an interruption from Andrew would have been much relief anyway. Conrad was arguing about recorder music with the man beside him, and Matthew talked earnestly to a thin young woman with yel ow braids and a scarred forehead. There was no help there. 
 	Having remarked on al the earlier conversations and asked after Tedâ€™s studies, and noticed that Ted was not eating, the King looked as if something had dawned on him. 
 	â€œThy duties sit il on thee at festival,â€ he said. 
 	â€œBut I release thee now. Thou shalt dance as thou wilt after dinner.â€​par 	â€œDance?â€​aid Ted, horrified. That was no escape. 
 	â€œThou wilt not?â€​par 	â€œNo, sir; thank you, but no.â€​par 	The King raised his eyebrows in a way that made Ted wish he were elsewhere. â€œI wager thouâ€™lt dance after midnight.â€​par 	â€œSir?â€​par 	â€œNot then neither?â€​par 	â€œSir, Iâ€™d rather not at al .â€ Surely shy Edward didnâ€™t like dancing. He was probably terrified of girls. 
 	
 	The King put a finger on the tip of Tedâ€™s nose; this was so bizarre that it was not even embarrassing. 
 	â€œSpite not thy face,â€ said the King, lightly enough, but Ted felt sure that he had been given a warning, without having the remotest idea of what he had been warned against. 
 	The King turned to Andrew and asked after his sister, and Ted tried to figure out the silverware so he could eat. 
 	Normal y in High Castle you used your dagger and your fingers, and there were wooden spoons for soup or porridge. But this table was set with enough silver for a family of four at each plate. That the handles of the utensils were al made in the shapes of animalsâ€™ heads did not make up for there being so many utensils. 
 	He managed to feed himself fairly wel by watching what Matthew served himself and how he ate it, and doing likewise. He had begun by copying the yel ow-haired woman, but she kept serving herself things he didnâ€™t like. 
 	Ted 
 	was 
 	watching 
 	Matthew 
 	dismember 
 	some
 	complicated shel fish and talk to Conrad at the same time, when Matthew dropped his fork with a clatter and straightened, looking with some alarm down toward the other end of the table. As Ted looked that way, he caught with the corner of his eye the expression on the face of the yel ow-haired woman. It was ferocious. 
 	The cause of al this was a dark and slender woman in a red dress. She came rapidly up Tedâ€™s side of the table; Ted thought she moved like an otter. She was beautiful, but she looked murderous. The closer she got, the less Ted liked her. She looked important, but he did not recognize her. She passed behind Tedâ€™s chair with a flurry that lifted the damp hair on his neck, and stood at the Kingâ€™s elbow. 
 	â€œSire,â€ she said. Ted wondered if she had a sore throat. 
 	The King looked at her as if he had not expected her and didnâ€™t want her. â€œLady Claudia?â€​e said. 
 	â€œSire, Fence has returned.â€​par 	Ted shot out of his chair, jarring the table and spil ing his wine. Matthew had half risen, his face exultant, but when Tedâ€™s wine slopped into his plate he sat down abruptly. 
 	The yel ow-haired woman said something quiet but urgent into his ear, and Matthew tried to give Ted a quel ing frown. 
 	Ted beamed at him. He could not help it. If Fence had come home on schedule, maybe everything would stil be al right. 
 	The King, too, looked as if he thought everything would be al right. He got careful y to his feet, and his look at Claudia became more gracious. â€œI thank you, child,â€ he said. 
 	â€œWhere is he? He shal not face this crowd; I wil go to meet him.â€​par 	Claudia appeared distressed and reluctant, but Ted thought that she did not mean it. She was not much like an otter after al ; she was grim, not playful. 
 	â€œSire,â€ she said, â€œFence and my lord Randolph have gone to Fenceâ€™s chambers.â€​par 	Ted hated the way she said â€œmy lord Randolph.â€
 	She sounded as if he belonged to her and as if he had somehow done her an injury. If she had the right to talk about Randolph like that, thought Ted, Iâ€™d know who she was. 
 	The King frowned. â€œSent he greetings, then?â€​par 	
 	â€œSire, he did not speak to me nor I to him. I did see him enter and greet Randolph and depart.â€​he shrugged. 
 	So howâ€™d you know where they were going? thought Ted. The yel ow-haired woman stil looked ferocious, and Ted was beginning to feel the same way. 
 	The Kingâ€™s brows drew together. Before he could speak, Andrew appeared at his other elbow. Ted had not even seen him get up, and was startled. 
 	â€œShal I fetch him out, my lord?â€​aid Andrew. 
 	â€œHeâ€™s not a weasel!â€ burst out Ted. He had no idea what was going on, but Claudia and Andrew seemed to be getting away with something, and Ted saw no reason to let them. This was the worst departure from the Secret story yet, and it seemed to be Claudiaâ€™s doing. Ted felt as if she had insulted him. 
 	â€œEdward,â€ said the King, gently, and turned back to Andrew. 
 	â€œHe is long overdue,â€ said Andrew, â€œand his tidings are most needful. Should not we cal a council at once?â€​par 	â€œIn the middle of a banquet? â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œEdward,â€ said the King, less gently. He added, with a sort of icy indulgence, â€œThou needst not attend.â€​par 	Tedâ€™s face grew hot. Now he real y had been insulted. 
 	â€œOf course Iâ€™l come, but whatâ€™s the point? â€​par 	â€œTed,â€​aid Matthew, not loudly. 
 	â€œI 
 	wonâ€™t 
 	be 
 	quiet!â€ 
 	cried 
 	Ted. 
 	The
 	disappointment of his earlier exultance made him reckless. 
 	He was determined to shove this story back on its proper course. â€œHe,â€​ said Ted, scowling in the direction of Andrew, who was regarding him with an amusement that Ted might have found disquieting if he had been in any state to think about it, â€œis just trying to make trouble, anybody can see that. You know Fence always has a good reason for what he does, you know it, Father. Heâ€™d have come to you in his own time. Whoâ€™s she,â€​ and he scowled at Claudia, who did not look at al amused, â€œto come sneaking to tel you heâ€™s here before heâ€™s ready to see you?â€​par 	â€œDoes the King serve Fence, or Fence the King?â€
 	said Claudia, more huskily than ever. Ted hoped she had strep. 
 	â€œWho are you to say?â€​e demanded. 
 	â€œEdward, I pray you be quiet,â€ said Matthew. He sounded as if he were real y saying something else, which Ted should be able to figure out. 
 	â€œLet him shriek,â€ said Andrew pleasantly. â€œHis is the visage of a prince on the soul of a beggar.â€​par 	Ted, in an excess of temper even worse than that in which he had once thrown an egg at Laura, launched himself across the table at Lord Andrew. Andrew was either unprepared for this or a slow thinker, for he was knocked sprawling. Ted had the breath struck out of him by the edge of the table, and he slid sideways to the floor at Matthewâ€™s feet, soaked with wine and gravy, plastered with squashed shel fish and burst pasties, the echo of broken glass jarring his ears. 
 	There was dead silence. Ted could not believe what he had done. Andrew picked himself up, drew his dagger, and advanced on Ted, al with a calm deliberation that was worse than anger would have been. 
 	â€œAndrew,â€​aid Matthew, â€œput up thy knife.â€​par 	Ted sat up against his knees. He was stil breathless, stil dizzy, and stil furious. Andrew took another step. â€œYou would!â€ said Ted, trying to stand up. He had started this and he saw no way out of it, so he might as wel go on. 
 	Matthew slid both hands under his arms and picked him up. 
 	Ted had to lean on him. 
 	â€œYoung fool,â€ breathed Matthew in his ear. 
 	â€œWhereâ€™s thy dagger?â€​par 	He thrust Ted to one side and put a hand to his own knife. 
 	The yel ow-haired woman got to her feet with one quiet motion, pushing her chair back onto Tedâ€™s feet. He got out of her way; she stil looked ferocious and she had a knife too. 
 	Andrew stopped. â€œDo you not know a jest?â€ he said to Matthew. He smiled a smile that made Ted shiver and Matthew stiffen. Andrew looked as if he had gotten what he wanted. 
 	Ted had enough breath and wit back now to remember the King. The King held out his hand to Andrew, who lifted his chin with a defiant glance, and handed the King his dagger. 
 	â€œHereâ€™s mine, my lord,â€​aid Matthew. 
 	â€œThou didst not draw,â€​aid the King. 
 	â€œI so intended.â€​par 	â€œThou didst not,â€ said the King. He looked at Ted, who immediately felt sticky inside as wel as out. 
 	â€œNor,â€​aid the King, â€œdidst thou.â€​par 	
 	There did not seem to be much to say to this, especial y when Ted was not sure if drawing was a good thing or a bad. He settled for bowing his head. The King waited. Ted did not think that explaining that he had no dagger to draw would improve matters. There was stil dead silence in the hal . It was eerie that so many people who had been so noisy could be made so quiet so quickly. The King waited. 
 	Ted found himself lifting his chin in a gesture much like Andrewâ€™s. 
 	â€œIâ€™l speak to thee later,â€ said the King, saving him from whatever he might have found to say. The King looked around, and Ted realized that al the serving people had vanished. â€œLord Andrew,â€ said the King, â€œsummon Fence to the Council Chamber. Lord Matthew, be so good as to find my other counselors. Lady Claudia, we thank you for your trouble and would that you attend also.â€​par 	Andrew bowed and departed. Matthew squeezed Tedâ€™s shoulder, said, â€œAs you wil , my lord,â€ and went out after him. The King, without a glance at Ted, moved slowly for the door. Ted, sinking grateful y into Matthewâ€™s chair, found time to wonder where Benjamin was. He shoved his matted hair out of his eyes. 
 	Conversation was starting again at the other end of the hal , and he preferred to escape quietly after peopleâ€™s attention was elsewhere. 
 	That did leave the attention of the people at his end of the table to deal with. They could hardly pretend to eat their dinner: He had squashed it. The table before him was a crazy quilt of broken glass, puddles of wine, and flattened food. He had ruined his own place, Matthewâ€™s, the Kingâ€™s, 
 	Conradâ€™s, 
 	and 
 	the 
 	yel ow-haired
 	
 	womanâ€™s. Wel , things could be worse. At least no one was saying, â€œMove down, I want a clean plate.â€ Ted saw that some of the serving people were creeping out again, and he waved a hand at one of them and held his breath. 
 	The young man came over to him promptly enough. He looked, not frightened at al , but as if he were trying not to laugh. Ted gestured at the mess on the table and raised his eyebrows as the King did. This seemed to be enough. The young man said, â€œYes, my prince,â€ and beckoned to several other people, to whom he gave orders. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Ted. â€œI regret very much having subjected you to al this.â€ His mother had once said that to someone whose tulips Laura had fal en into. He hoped that it would sound sorry but not too abject, and would somehow imply that he had had no choice in the matter. â€œIs anyoneâ€™s dress damaged?â€​par 	Conrad, to his grateful astonishment, grinned at him. 
 	â€œAh, lad, Iâ€™l give myself more wine splashings than thou couldst, didst thou crack a bottle oâ€™er my head.â€​par 	Several people sitting nearby laughed as if this were an old joke, so Ted smiled too. He looked at the yel ow-haired woman. â€œMy lady?â€​par 	â€œNever fear,â€ she said. She spoke as if she knew him wel . He wondered who she was. 
 	â€œIâ€™l take my leave of you, then,â€ said Ted, and fled the hal . The musicians began hooting and burbling on their instruments as he went, and he felt that his own story was laughing at him. 
 	He went up to his room and washed off the gravy. 
 	
 	He did not care to think about what he had done, or its possible consequences, just yet, so he worried about Claudia instead. Who in the world was she and what was she doing here? She was messing things up more than al the other differences put together. Youâ€™d almost think she was doing it on purpose. If she hadnâ€™t opened her big mouth, Fence would have presented himself properly in the morning, and the council would have been held that afternoon. Ted knew what to say in it, but he did not like having things upset this way. 
 	Besides, in the game he and Fence had been supposed to have a long conversation after this banquet, and he had hoped, somewhere in the course of it, to find a way of warning Fence about Randolph, or at least of finding out what Fence would do if the King persisted in disbelieving in dragons. Ted was sure Fence could think of something more sensible than kil ing the King if he had more warning than the original story provided. If Ted could then tel Randolph this more sensible idea, then maybe things would be al right. 
 	â€œYouâ€™re as bad as Claudia,â€ Ted said to himself, dropping his damp towel on the bed so Patrick could complain about it later. â€œRunning around changing a perfectly good story.â€​par 	He wandered over to the window and looked out. The night was clear and warm for the first time since they had been here. He craned out the window. The stars were enormous, and in no patterns that he recognized. Far around the sound of bel s stil trembled. 
 	â€œExcept,â€ said Ted, pul ing his head in, â€œshe wants to make trouble, and I donâ€™t.â€​par 	
 	He went down to the Council Chamber in a frame of mind only a little more cautious than that in which he had attacked Andrew; he took his dagger with him. 
 	
 CHAPTER 14

 	LAURA last, they trooped back up to Fenceâ€™s living roomâ€”or maybe, thought Laura, it was a parlorâ€”and sat down again. 
 	â€œFence,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	â€œWait,â€ said Fence. He looked at Laura until she dropped her gaze to the cluttered table. She could feel him looking at El en and Patrick, and she sneaked a glance sideways in time to see Patrick drop his eyes too. So somebody somewhere could stare Patrick down. Laura wished she could be gladder about it. 
 	â€œDid I or did I not,â€ said Fence, â€œtel you to stay here with the door bolted? Do I or do I not know whereof I speak touching sorcery? Did you or did you not al three disobey?â€​par 	â€œBut Fence,â€ said El en, â€œwe heard metal!  It was fighting, not sorcery.â€​par 	Laura dared to look at him. He had a way of quirking one corner of his mouth when most people would raise an eyebrow, and he was doing it now. 
 	â€œAnd dost thou know more than I of fighting?â€ he said. 
 	â€œIn fighting, numbers matter,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œOn the narrow stair?â€​par 	â€œFence,â€ said Randolph. Fence glared at him irritably and then smiled. â€œConsider,â€ said Randolph, â€œthat it is I who do teach Patrick to fight. Thou chastiseth the impulse when â€™tis the judgment at fault.â€​par 	Fenceâ€™s mouth quirked. â€œWel , then, my lord,â€ he said to Patrick, â€œcome not so precipitate that thou overturnst thy friends. And thou,â€ he said to Laura, â€œwhere was thy weapon wherewith thou couldst save me?â€​par 	â€œI bet Iâ€™d have scared her,â€ said Laura, wanting to cry and forbidding herself to do so. 
 	â€œAnd me,â€​aid Fence. 
 	 â€œFence,â€​ said Randolph. 
 	Fence sighed. â€œI commend you al for your courage,â€
 	he said. â€œBut I most earnestly urge you to consider what help or hindrance you may be before you disobey me. An you disobey me in a matter of sorcery, we wil al die miserably.â€​par 	They al nodded. Fence got up and poured them more wine. When he got to Randolph, Randolph put a hand on his wrist and bore the jug down to the table. â€œThou and I have work before us this night.â€​par 	Fence looked at him. 
 	â€œThat Andrew summoned you and Claudiaâ€™s knife awaited may not signify.â€​par 	Fence frowned. 
 	â€œIf she had means to fashion that knife, could she not use the mirrors as wel ?â€​par 	Fence blanched. â€œNo doubt. And as evil y as she made the knife.â€​par 	â€œFence, there was skil there.â€​par 	
 	â€œOh, aye; there is skil also in slaying the unicorn.â€​par 	â€œWel , then.â€​par 	â€œ â€™Twere best to discover if the King indeed awaits me.â€ Fence turned his wrist under Randolphâ€™s, moved his hand under Randolphâ€™s hand, and gripped it. 
 	â€œI would it were not so. I am very weary, and theseâ€â€”he nodded at the childrenâ€”â€œhave not yet oped their coffers.â€​par 	â€œTel us quickly,â€ said Randolph to Laura, who went cold al over and stammered. 
 	â€œThe worst is the staircase and the beast. There was a beast in the West Tower too.â€​par 	â€œWhat besides sorcery?â€​aid Fence. 
 	In the horrible silence that fol owed, they heard the distant echo of footsteps. It drew nearer, and stopped suddenly, and a manâ€™s voice boomed up the stairwel . 
 	â€œSuffering stars!â€​par 	Randolph let go of Fence and stood up. The footsteps came rapidly up to the door and someone pounded on it. 
 	â€œFence!â€​par 	â€œWho goes there?â€​par 	â€œMatthew.â€​par 	Fence went and unbolted and opened the door. Matthew came in, breathing hard and staggering a little, and saw Randolph. â€œYou are wanted at the Kingâ€™s council, and not by and by.â€ He leaned on the wal and breathed for a moment. Then he took Fence by the shoulders and did not quite shake him. â€œMy lord, you are most heartily welcome. For the mercy of Shan, what doth Claudia on your stair with such strange mien?â€​par 	
 	â€œFear not,â€​aid Fence, absently. â€œRandolph.â€​par 	â€œMore harm wil be done by thy absence than by thy ignorance,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	â€œWait,â€ said Matthew. â€œRandolph, thou at least must know that Edward hathâ€”â€​par 	â€œTel us as we go down,â€ said Randolph, coming around the table. 
 	He and Matthew started down the stairs. Fence looked back at El en and Patrick and Laura. â€œForgive this disarray,â€ he said to them. â€œI pray you, stay here or leave word where I may find you. Find Ruth if you can.â€ He turned in a swirl of stars and shut the door behind him. 
 	El en and Patrick and Laura looked at one another. The dying fire murmured, and a mouse shot across the floor and vanished. Nobody even jumped. 
 	â€œTalk about the nick of time,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œI wonder what Ted did,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œWas he supposed to do anything?â€​par 	â€œSometimes,â€ said El en, â€œweâ€™ve had him have a nasty scene with Randolph over Ruth. But Randolph was with us, and it looks like Ruth wasnâ€™t around anyway. Does anybody remember any ceremony of the Green Caves at this banquet? I think itâ€™s a dumb idea.â€​par 	â€œI hope sheâ€™s doing okay,â€ said Laura, thinking what her own sensations would be if she were trapped into a strange ceremony. 
 	â€œSheâ€™s been reading al those books,â€ said El en. 
 	
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Patrick, â€œwhatâ€™s important right now is to figure out what weâ€™re going to tel Fence. Who the hel decided we were his spies, anyway?â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s a good idea,â€ said El en calmly. 
 	â€œNobody notices kids. Look at al weâ€™ve overheard tonight. We werenâ€™t using Princess El en and Laura hardly at al , or Patrick either. It seemed like a waste. I mean, you were Fence and I was pages and messengers and Laurie had to do the animal voices. So I made themâ€”usâ€”Fenceâ€™s spies.â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said Patrick, â€œwhatâ€™l we tel Fence? 
 	We donâ€™t know anything, real y.â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said El en, â€œsince it worked out al rightâ€”I said we were Fenceâ€™s spies and sure enough we areâ€”we should just tel him what I made up for us to tel him. It should be al right.â€​par 	â€œYeah, and what if itâ€™s not? Tel him we didnâ€™t find out anything. I think it would be refreshing to tel the truth for a change.â€​par 	â€œNo!â€​aid Laura, surprising herself. 
 	â€œWhy not?â€​par 	Laura sloshed the wine around in her cup. Its faint sour smel came up to her, altered a little by the spices. She wished for a cup of cocoa. 
 	â€œFenceâ€™l be disappointed,â€​he said. 
 	â€œWho the hel cares?â€​par 	â€œBesides,â€ said Laura, trying to think like Patrick, â€œwhat if he needs to know something El en made up?â€​par 	â€œIf pigs had wings,â€ said Patrick, bitterly, â€œtheyâ€™d be pigeons.â€​par 	â€œCome on,â€ said Laura to El en. â€œTel us what we should tel Fence.â€​par 	Â 
 	Ted came breathlessly into the Council Chamber and was relieved to see that it was only half ful . Benjamin was lighting torches. Claudia and Andrew stood together, speaking quietly. Matthew slumped in his chair, glowering at Claudia. The King sat straight. He wore the dark blue robe of the council. Ted, in his workaday tunic, felt the heart-stopping panic that usual y came of forgetting his homework, until he realized that neither Benjamin nor Matthew had put on a council robe. 
 	He made his way to his own chair and thumped into it grateful y. There was no tel ing what was going to happen, and the thought of al the things that might was making his knees uncertain. 
 	Matthew looked over at him expectantly. 
 	â€œI want to thank you,â€ said Ted, realizing only as he said it just what he owed Matthew. â€œAnd I regret . . .â€
 	he added, and stopped. He was not sure what he regretted or whether he ought to admit it. 
 	Matthew shook his head. â€œThey say the ass is known by his ears.â€​par 	That sounded insulting, but before Ted had decided what to do about it, Matthew added, â€œHe who cannot keep a temper must temper a knife to keep him. Where have you kept so hot an anger these seventeen years?â€​par 	Ted, closing his mouth on his reaction to being seventeen, shook his head. He stil wondered what was going on. The fault seemed to lie not in his having jumped at Andrew and broken a lot of valuable glassware, or even in disrupting a banquet, but in what he had not done with a knife he did not have. Surely they hadnâ€™t expected him to kil Andrew in the middle of a feast? Andrew had had to give his knife to the King, so drawing during a feast must be frowned upon. 
 	But the King had also seemed to frown upon Tedâ€™s not drawing. You the artistic type, Ted thought, and not drawing. 
 	Tsk. He almost giggled, and began to wonder seriously what was wrong with him tonight. 
 	â€œFor al our sakes,â€ said Matthew, â€œcurb thyself or find the means to curb others.â€​par 	â€œDid I get you in trouble too?â€ What he means, thought Ted, is that youâ€™d better decide whether youâ€™re Ted or Edward. 
 	â€œBy the letter, aye,â€ said Matthew. â€œBy the spirit, thou hast done me some good. Thy father is of too many minds to be altogether displeased by aught that may happen.â€​par 	Benjamin passed behind them with his taper, and bent down to Ted. â€œWhat is this they babble of thee?â€​par 	â€œI lost my temper with Andrew,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œWel and good. What is this mouthing of knives?â€​par 	â€œI didnâ€™t have one.â€​par 	â€œDear heaven,â€ said Benjamin. â€œThou unweaned whelp. Where have thy ears been?â€​par 	â€œI didnâ€™t expect to need it!â€​par 	Benjamin and Matthew exchanged a glance that made Ted apprehensive. 
 	
 	â€œAnd thou?â€​aid Benjamin to Matthew. 
 	Matthew shrugged. â€œA hand on the dagger suffices with Andrew.â€​par 	Benjamin looked as if he had heard as much as he could take. â€œSo he would have thee think. One day thou wilt so think and â€™twil not be so. Shanâ€™s mercy, are we al children here?â€​par 	Matthew turned red. Benjamin, grumbling, went on lighting torches. The room had fil ed and quieted as they talked. Ted looked to see where they had put Claudia. She was in Randolphâ€™s place, on the Kingâ€™s right. Randolph was not to be seen. 
 	â€œHey!â€ said Ted, outraged, and turned to Matthew, who had jerked open a drawer in the table and was pul ing out his pen and ink and parchment. Matthew looked up and froze. 
 	â€œWhere is Randolph?â€​aid Ted. 
 	Matthew slammed the drawer, and the King looked inquiringly in their direction. 
 	â€œOff on some foolâ€™s errand,â€ said Matthew, furiously. â€œThis is a very midsummer madness upon al of us.â€​par 	â€œWhereâ€™s Fence?â€​par 	â€œAiding Randolph in what he needs no aid to do.â€​par 	Ted worked this out silently, and could not help grinning. 
 	The King rang a bel , and everyone stil talking shut up. 
 	â€œMy lords,â€ said the King. â€œWe are met with ye this twenty-first day of June, in the forty-sixth year of our reign, the four hundred and ninetieth year since King John vanquished the Dragon King, that ye may hear the report of our most honored lord and sorcerer Fence and advise me touching it.â€​par 	There was a pause, during which Ted leaned over to Matthew and whispered, â€œWhatâ€™s the use of starting a council because Fence is back, without Fence?â€​par 	The door to the room swung open, and Randolph strode in, fol owed by a shorter man in black robes. The robes were dotted with galaxies and nebulae, and in the dim light of the torches they drew Tedâ€™s eye like a hypnotistâ€™s crystal. 
 	â€œThat he might be late toâ€™t,â€ said Matthew in Tedâ€™s ear. 
 	Ted hardly heard him. The short man had moved so that Randolph could shut the door, and stood under a torch. He looked down the table and caught Tedâ€™s eye. Ted gasped and sat up. He felt as if he had gone from a stuffy room into sub-zero sunny weather. Neither was comfortable, but the outside was cleaner. If this were Fence, maybe he could make everything al right. 
 	Randolph came to stand on the Kingâ€™s right, with Fence behind him like a shadow. Randolph, too, had not put on his counselorâ€™s robe. 
 	â€œI crave pardon for my lateness,â€ he said, and stopped. He had seen Claudia in his chair. She smiled at him, which made Ted shiver, and Randolph smiled back, which made Ted want to be somewhere else. Fence blanched, and then he scowled, and then he smiled too. He looked like someone who does not understand something but is very pleased by it anyway. 
 	â€œMy lord Benjamin,â€ said Randolph, very gently, â€œI beg to point out that there is an insufficiency of chairs in this chamber.â€​par 	â€œMy lord, there is,â€ said Benjamin. â€œI was told that some would be absent and the visitors accommodated thereby.â€ His glance at Andrew was withering. Andrew wore the â€œWho, me?â€ look of a cat asleep by a broken milk bottle. 
 	Randolph bowed to Benjamin. 
 	Benjamin said to the King, â€œBy your leave, Sire.â€​par 	The King nodded at Benjamin, who stood up and went out. As he passed the short man, he put a hand on his shoulder in a gesture that might have been to welcome or to move him aside. Fence took two steps out of his way, and the corner of his mouth quirked. 
 	Then he looked at the King. â€œWil his Majesty receive my greeting?â€​par 	The King turned in his chair and held out a hand. Fence knelt and kissed it. Ted admired them both. He would have looked and felt foolish in either position, but they did it as a matter of course, the King elegantly and Fence simply; they did it as if they meant it, although it was clear that the King was angry with Fence and Fence with the King. 
 	Randolph moved suddenly to open the door, and Benjamin came through it with a heavy wooden chair, like the others in the room, in each hand. He held them as if they were wine bottles. Randolph and Fence got out of his way. 
 	Benjamin, with no hesitation, set one chair on either side of the King, a little back from the table, and looked at Claudia. 
 	Randolph slid behind Fence and caught Benjaminâ€™s sleeve. 
 	
 	â€œMy thanks to you,â€ he said, and sat on the Kingâ€™s right, between Claudia and the King. 
 	Fenceâ€™s mouth quirked again, and he came around Benjamin and behind the King to sit on the Kingâ€™s left. 
 	Benjamin rol ed his eyes to the ceiling as if he were giving up on two children, and took his own seat. 
 	â€œRandolph,â€ said the King, â€œwherefore art thou late?â€​par 	Ted saw Fence turn his head and stare at the King. 
 	Randolph merely looked resigned. â€œSire, I was but arranging to hold harmless Lady Claudia,â€ and he bowed in her direction, â€œwho tried to stab Fence on the stairs.â€​par 	Ted almost fel out of his chair. The King simply became very stil , as if he were listening for something. Andrew slammed his hand down on the table. â€œYouâ€™re mad!â€​par 	The King looked toward Claudia, who sat very straight in Randolphâ€™s chair with her hands relaxed on its arms. 
 	She looked back at him gravely. Ted saw the way her hair fel over her neck, and found himself blaming Randolph a little less, even if she had tried to stab Fence on the stairs. 
 	When she did not speak, the King looked back at Randolph. â€œThou hast not succeeded?â€​par 	â€œIt appears not, Your Majesty.â€​par 	â€œIs this business more urgent than that which cal ed us here?â€​par 	â€œOnly,â€ said Randolph dryly, â€œin that it puts the Lady Claudiaâ€™s presence under most grave doubt.â€​par 	The King hesitated. â€œWho brings the accusation?â€​par 	
 	â€œI do,â€ said Fence, so quietly that Ted could barely hear him. Everyone elseâ€™s voice carried wel . Ted wondered if Fence was unaccustomed to speaking in council. Fence puzzled him. Nobody who looked and acted so ordinary should be able to make one feel soâ€”so effervescent. 
 	â€œWho are thy witnesses?â€​aid the King. 
 	â€œLord Randolph,â€ said Fence. He paused, and just as Andrewâ€™s hand moved on the table he added, â€œPrince Patrick, Princess Laura, Princess El en.â€​par 	Ted jerked upright and banged his knee on the table leg. 
 	How had they managed that?  He saw Benjamin cover his eyes with one hand in a gesture of despair, and grinned. 
 	Four of the five of them had been in some sort of trouble this evening. He wondered where Ruth was. 
 	â€œChildren,â€​aid the King. 
 	â€œChildren have eyes, my lord,â€ said Fence, rather sharply. 
 	The Kingâ€™s eyebrows went up. â€œI said not otherwise, my lord.â€​par 	â€œYour pardon,â€​aid Fence, tranquil y. 
 	â€œLady Claudia,â€​aid the King. 
 	â€œSire?â€ Ted hoped she had strep and pneumonia. 
 	â€œAnswer you this accusation?â€​par 	â€œNot presently,â€​aid Claudia. 
 	â€œLeave you then our council. Your honor hath been questioned. The witnesses thereto were better in their beds. 
 	Therefore, until you chal enge and prove trusty, you are barred from our council and our person.â€​par 	
 	Ted was taken aback by the harshness of this speech. 
 	Claudia did not seem upset about it, which was only to be expected. No one else seemed surprised by it either, so perhaps the words were just a formality. 
 	â€œOur lord Jerome,â€​aid the King. 
 	A large, blond, gloomy man whom Ted did not recognize stood up. Claudia stood up too, and they both came to stand at the door. 
 	â€œTake your privilege,â€​aid the King to Fence. 
 	â€œMy lord, I humbly thank you,â€ said Fence, â€œbut naught I can conceive may bind her. She must go whither she wil .â€​par 	Benjamin and Randolph grimaced at each other. The King looked mildly surprised, and fumed in his chair to speak to Jerome. â€œThe South Tower, then,â€​e said. 
 	â€œYour Majesty,â€ said Jerome. He took Claudiaâ€™s arm. The door boomed shut behind them. 
 	There was an extended silence, during which the King stared over Tedâ€™s left shoulder in a way that made Ted itch to look behind him, and nobody fidgeted. Ted saw that Fence kept his eyes on the King, in the manner of one who is watching the sky, waiting for a fal ing star. Randolph sat on the edge of his chair as if he were impatient to be out of it. 
 	When the King stirred, it was to look at Randolphâ€™s empty seat. â€œTake thy place, Randolph,â€​e said. 
 	Fenceâ€™s mouth quirked. Randolph did as he was told. 
 	The King turned to Fence. 
 	â€œMy lord, this council hath swol en since last you sat onâ€™t. For the present, you may take Jeromeâ€™s seat.â€​par 	Fence did so. This put him on Tedâ€™s left, two spots away. Matthew grinned at him, and he shook his head. 
 	The King repeated the opening speech, and looked at Fence. â€œWil â€™t please you to make your report.â€​par 	â€œGood my lord, it wil .â€​par 	Fence stood up, somehow managing not to scrape his chair on the floor. He leaned the palms of his hands on the table and stood there, looking unconcerned. 
 	â€œMy lords, the Outside Powers are rising again,â€
 	said he. 
 	Ted grew cold. Their story had no Outside Powers in it; but the Riddle of Shanâ€™s Ring did. What if they had read it al wrong in their ignorance, and made this happen? 
 	He had no idea what the announcement meant to the others, but nobody looked pleased. Their expressions fil ed the range between Benjamin, who looked as if he were going to faint, and Andrew, who looked as if the waiter had brought him the wrong order for the third time. To Tedâ€™s dismay, the Kingâ€™s expression was much closer to Andrewâ€™s than to Benjaminâ€™s. 
 	â€œThe scoutsâ€™ reports you have already,â€ said Fence. â€œSeeing with different eyes and a greater knowledge, I have found worse than they. The further south, the sharper the country; on our borders the Dragon King hath set a sword in every blade of grass. Many wizards I sought have vanished from the land. Those I found told me that al signs in heaven and earth spel disaster.â€​par 	He pushed a piece of il -cut hair off his forehead and continued. He was stil speaking quietly, and a little dreamily, as if he were talking to himself. â€œThere is a most precise correspondence between events in the south and what King Johnâ€™s Book tel s us of the signs which foretold the coming of the Dragon King. Now the Dragon King is the yeast of the Outside Powers. But other signs I saw in the south, and in other books than Johnâ€™s are written tales of the greater powers and the signs that come before them.â€​par 	Fence looked around the room and seemed displeased at the effect he was having. When he spoke again, it was in a language which, in the ten minutes he spoke it, drove Ted almost to distraction. Ted almost understood it. It was like trying to go to sleep while people were talking neither quite quietly nor quite loudly enough in the next room. Al the words seemed slurred sideways. Ted had gotten used to the way people talked here, even Benjamin. This was worse than that, and different. 
 	Several people, Andrew among them, seemed to be having trouble understanding Fence, but nobody looked as thoroughly baffled as Ted was. Randolph seemed delighted, and Benjamin recovered from his shock. The King was alert, but seemed to have no opinion. 
 	Whatever Fence said just before he sat down seemed to please neither Benjamin nor Andrew nor the King. Both Benjamin and Andrew had their hands on the table. Fence bowed to the King, jangling Tedâ€™s eyes with stars, and sat down. The King looked from Andrew to Benjamin to Andrew. 
 	â€œOur Lord Benjamin,â€​e said. 
 	â€œYour Majesty,â€ said Benjamin, â€œbreak we up this council on the instant. What time was to lose we have lost already. We wil need both soldier and sorcerer ere this is done. They wil seek to break the Border Magic. They made it; if any can break it, â€™tis they.â€​par 	â€œMy lord,â€​aid the King. â€œOur Lord Andrew.â€​par 	â€œHis Majesty knows my views.â€​par 	Randolph put his hand down. 
 	â€œRandolph?â€​aid the King. 
 	â€œFence hath not heard these views,â€ said Randolph, â€œand they concern him closely.â€​par 	The King looked at Andrew, who nodded. 
 	â€œWe spoke then,â€ said Andrew, â€œof the renegade wizards of the reign of King Nathan. It is my view that those were not vil ains, but honest men endeavoring to show forth the trickery of their fel ows. It is my view that al wizardry is but trickery, and al spel s but il usion. Of a certainty we have enemies to the south, but they are weak and mortal as we, and may be dealt with as such.â€​par 	Ted watched Fence, who sat perfectly stil and grew white. 
 	When Andrew had done, Fence stood up. 
 	â€œFence,â€​aid the King. 
 	â€œAndrew,â€ said Fence, â€œdo you surmise, then, that these weak and mortal enemies to the south have plotted four hundred years that they might cozen us with this at last?â€​par 	â€œI do not.â€​par 	â€œHow, then, is it that their il usory spel s match so precisely both King Johnâ€™s Book and other writings of sorcery which have never been out of wizardsâ€™
 	hands?â€​par 	
 	â€œOne who knew such things,â€ said Andrew, â€œhad only to tel them.â€​par 	Fence did not even blink. Randolph was looking at him as if awaiting a signal, but Fence stil looked at Andrew. 
 	â€œWhere is your proof?â€​e said at last. 
 	â€œOf what?â€​par 	â€œI see,â€​aid Fence. He looked at the King. 
 	â€œAndrew,â€ said the King. â€œWil you not repeat that accusation you made a sennight ago?â€​par 	â€œI was oâ€™er hasty,â€ said Andrew. â€œMany could have given lore to the southerners.â€​par 	â€œMany could not,â€ said Fence, without permission. 
 	The King let him go on, as he had let Andrew earlier. 
 	â€œMany could have brought them the book of King John. 
 	But most few could have told these other things. I, and Belaparthalion, and Chryse. Hath Belaparthalion visited High Castle, Andrew? Hath Chryse lightened your doors?â€​par 	Ted had never heard either name, but the rest of the council seemed to find this funny. Only Randolph and Benjamin stil looked grim. Andrew looked as if something were dawning on him and he was not sure he liked it. 
 	â€œSo,â€ said Fence. â€œThey have not come hither for King Johnâ€™s Book, and none other knoweth the other writings. Stands now your accusation in better state?â€​par 	â€œThere is yet no proof save reason.â€​par 	â€œReason may prove aught,â€​aid Fence. 
 	Andrew shrugged. â€œMy opinion, my lord,â€ he said, looking straight at Fence, â€œis that you are a fraud and a traitor. I have no proof thereof.â€​par 	
 	Ted found himself standing up. 
 	â€œEdward,â€ said the King. This could have been either a recognition or a warning. Ted chose to take it as the former. 
 	â€œIsnâ€™t it written,â€​e said, â€œthat he who makes an accusation without proof makes himself what he accused his enemy of? Is it not treacherous of Andrew to tie us so in doubt that we can neither prove nor disprove him and thus neither take nor spurn his advice?â€​par 	There was a profound silence. Benjamin had his hands over his eyes again. Fence was shaking his head slowly, but did not seem displeased. Randolph was astonished. Ted wondered if he had stolen Randolphâ€™s speech, and whether Randolph would have delivered it better. Matthew tugged gently on Tedâ€™s sleeve and made him sit down. 
 	The King was furious; he looked as if he were counting to ten and finding it insufficient. Andrew looked blank. Ted thought that the King should have been blank and Andrew furious. He stil felt a tiny prick of outrage at this, as if his cousins had played their parts wrong. 
 	The King opened his mouth, and Fence stood up again. 
 	The King said, â€œFence,â€ as if he were not sure how to pronounce it. 
 	Fence looked from Ted to Andrew, and grinned. His grin was not infectious like Randolphâ€™s, but it was reassuring. â€œMy lord,â€ he said to the King, â€œwil you have both of us, or neither?â€​par 	The King cocked his head. â€œSend you to join Claudia, or have you wrangling at my every council and have no peace withal?â€​par 	â€œNor no wisdom neither?â€​aid Fence. 
 	
 	â€œI protest!â€ said Randolph, slapping the table; he was laughing. 
 	So were others. Ted turned and stared at Matthew, who was chuckling as he wrote. The entire council had turned benign, as if it were a snarling cat upon which Fence and Randolph had dumped catnip. Ted wondered how they had done it. He looked at the King, who was smiling faintly, and gave up. 
 	â€œWe wil hear no more accusations,â€ said the King. 
 	â€œBut we wil hear al your philosophy now, our Lord Andrew, for Fence is here to answer you.â€​par 	Matthew eased the drawer open and got himself a new pen, and Ted tried to settle comfortably into his chair. A cold wind sifted through the chamber, and the argument began. 
 	
 CHAPTER 15

 	IN Fenceâ€™s living room the fire had burned low, and none of them could find the wood to build it up. It was past midnight, and growing cold again. Laura and El en and Patrick sat at the far end of the table, keeping a wary eye on the door, and rehearsed their parts. 
 	 â€œWhy,â€​ demanded Laura, â€œshould Fence care that Prudence has been hiding bread in the West Tower? 
 	And whoâ€™s Prudence?â€​par 	â€œOh, he doesnâ€™t,â€ said El en, poking her finger into a dish of jam and then licking the finger. â€œBut itâ€™s not our job to decide whatâ€™s important. We just tel him things.â€​he reached for the jam again. 
 	â€œDonâ€™t put your finger in there after youâ€™ve licked it,â€​atrick told her. 
 	El en stuck her thumb in and licked that. 
 	â€œYouâ€™l get fatter than me,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œYouâ€™re not fat.â€​par 	â€œClaudia makes me feel fat.â€​par 	â€œClaudiaâ€™s a weasel.â€​par 	â€œEl ie,â€ said Patrick, â€œdid you real y not make her up?â€​par 	â€œNobody could,â€ said El en. â€œShe changes the story too much.â€​par 	Patrick got up to poke at the fire, which glowed sul enly for a moment and then col apsed into gray lumps. 
 	
 	â€œ Now look what youâ€™ve done,â€​aid El en. 
 	One of the lamps flickered red and went out. The shadows in the corners shifted and gnarled, and a cold air came from the dead fireplace. 
 	â€œI wish Fence would get back,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œItâ€™s after midnight now,â€ said El en. â€œWe could go find Ruth.â€​par 	â€œBut how do we leave word of where we may be found?â€​par 	â€œYou go get Ruth,â€ said Patrick, â€œand Iâ€™l stay here. It shouldnâ€™t take long. If she has any sense sheâ€™s gone to bed.â€​par 	â€œWhat if they have a cast party after the ceremony?â€
 	said El en. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™l she do with Claudia when she gets here, is what I want to know,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œThe sooner you get her here the longer sheâ€™l have to think about it,â€ said Patrick. He herded them along to the door and bolted it loudly behind them. 
 	It was freezing in the stairwel ; Laura expected to see frost and icicles on al the stones. They went down cautiously, steeling themselves for the sight of Claudia as they came around the third turn. 
 	The steps were empty. 
 	â€œWhere is she?â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œMaybe we didnâ€™t count right,â€​aid Laura. 
 	They went down a few more steps, and a glint on the step caught Lauraâ€™s eye. For the barest fraction of an instant she saw Tedâ€™s face, with blood on it, and then there was only the twisted silver knife, its jewels burning hurtful y. Laura would not have touched it for the world. 
 	â€œThis is the right place,â€ said El en. They looked at each other in the shivery light. 
 	â€œWe should tel Fence,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œWe should find Ruth.â€​par 	They ran down the echoing stairs. 
 	The guard at the door to the Council Chamber was not inclined either to speak to them or to let them in. 
 	â€œItâ€™s very important,â€ El en told him. â€œIf we canâ€™t go in, canâ€™t you get Randolph or Fence to come out?â€​par 	The guard looked skeptical. 
 	â€œCan you give one of them a message?â€ persisted El en. 
 	The guard, a solid young man with big eyes, shook his head. 
 	â€œIf we write them a message,â€ said Laura, â€œcould you give it to them?â€​par 	The guard nodded with no more hesitation than he had shown in shaking his head before. He did not look likely to have paper or pen, so they trudged back to their room. 
 	Laura felt that she had never properly appreciated elevators. 
 	El en wrote the message, tel ing Fence that Claudia was gone, but had left her knife, and that El en and Laura were looking for Ruth and would try to bring her to Fenceâ€™s tower. She signed it â€œthe Princesses El en and Laura,â€
 	and they grinned at each other. 
 	
 	El en insisted on sealing the note with sealing wax. There was a heavy ring in the drawer with the wax. The signet of the royal family appeared to be a fox. Laura was not sure she approved of this. 
 	â€œWel , itâ€™s not my fault,â€ said El en, shaking the folded letter in the air to dry the wax. â€œI wanted our sign to be a unicorn.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t know if the unicorns would like that.â€​par 	They bounced out of their door and clattered along the corridor, making echoes. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s get Ruth now, as long as weâ€™re here,â€​par 	said El en. 
 	They went along the passageway to its end, turned right, went up some steps and around another corner, and pounded on Ruthâ€™s door. Laura took great comfort in the plain yel ow torches, but she wished it were warmer. 
 	Ruth did not answer, so they tried the door. It swung silently open into darkness. They padded in, and Laura tripped on a rug and fel down with a thump. 
 	â€œWho goes there?â€ said a voice so imperious that Laura did not recognize it at once. She rubbed her elbow. 
 	â€œItâ€™s us,â€ said El en crossly, â€œand we donâ€™t know how to unfold ourselves, so there.â€​par 	â€œYou just did,â€ said Ruth, sounding more like herself. 
 	Laura heard the bed creak, and Ruth make an exasperated noise. â€œI wish this place had electricity.â€​par 	â€œYou canâ€™t have proper adventures with electricity,â€​aid El en. 
 	Ruth snorted, and got out of bed, a dim white shape. She came around the bedâ€™s end and tripped on Laura, who said â€œHey!â€​par 	Ruth picked her up with one swift motion, made sure she would stay up, and went on out. When she came back in she had the candle lighted. She put it on a table, and they al crowded around it. The shadows in Ruthâ€™s room were less crawly than the ones in Fenceâ€™s. 
 	â€œFence wants you,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œWhy werenâ€™t you at the banquet?â€​aid El en. 
 	Ruth made them shut up. Then she made El en tel the story, with the provision that Laura could interrupt if El en made a terrible mistake. El en did not, although Laura thought that she made too much fuss about their being Fenceâ€™s spies. 
 	â€œSo,â€ finished El en, â€œyouâ€™d better come back up with us and wait for Fence.â€​par 	â€œThat is not a good idea,â€ said Ruth. â€œI got through this ceremony tonight, which nobody told me about because I was supposed to know, by the skin of my teeth, because Iâ€™m only a student and I could copy the other students. I couldnâ€™t go talk with a real magician like Fence without giving us away.â€​par 	â€œWonâ€™t you give us away if you wonâ€™t talk to him?â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œI donâ€™t think he knows anything about what youâ€™re supposed to know,â€ said El en. â€œItâ€™s two different kinds of magic.â€​par 	â€œSo why does he want me then?â€​par 	â€œWel , he doesnâ€™t know about Claudiaâ€™s magic, but you might.â€​par 	â€œWel , I donâ€™t. I never even heard of Claudia.â€​par 	â€œWel , it canâ€™t hurt to say so.â€​par 	â€œBut what if Claudiaâ€™s magic is Green Caves magic?â€ said Laura uneasily. If they were Fenceâ€™s spies, as El en had made up, it was probably al right to tel Fence what she had made up to tel him. But knowing nothing about Claudia, how could they tel what they were supposed to know? 
 	â€œYou better get dressed,â€​aid El en to Ruth. 
 	Â 
 	When they got to the door of Fenceâ€™s tower, there was a beast on the steps. Laura liked the beasts less each time she saw them, even if Fence did think they were funny. This one was sloshing steadily, like the shore of a lake. It lapped a few inches up the wal , and a few inches back from the wal , over and over. 
 	â€œWe need to get by, please,â€​l en told it. 
 	The beast sucked itself into a tighter pool and made a number of rapid splats. 
 	â€œGreat,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s wait for Fence here,â€ said Laura. â€œHe can talk to them.â€​par 	â€œPatrickâ€™l get worried,â€ said El en. â€œGo away, beast.â€ The beast bubbled. Laura wished she had not eaten so much dinner. 
 	There was a clatter of boots and voices in the passageway. Laura grabbed at Ruth. The beast snorted. 
 	Ted, Fence, and Randolph came down the darkness in sober discussion. 
 	â€œDid you get our note?â€​ried El en. 
 	Fence gave her an absent pat on the shoulder, nodding, and looked at Ruth. In the purple dimness of the stair torch, the stars on his robe seemed to grow and swarm. 
 	â€œMy lady, I thank you most heartily for your trouble,â€
 	he said. â€œWil it please you to examine the knife?â€​par 	Ruth looked as if it would have pleased her to go away quickly, but she nodded. â€œIf your beast wil let us by,â€
 	she said. 
 	â€œIt is not mine,â€ said Fence, and addressed it in burbles. 
 	It shifted and seemed to swel , and from it came a hissing like water droplets on a hot griddle. It was not a loud or particularly menacing sound, but Lauraâ€™s hair prickled and Fence looked astonished. He hissed back. The beast slurped and squelched, and overflowed onto a lower step. 
 	â€œYou had better remind it of its place,â€ said Randolph, at Fenceâ€™s shoulder. 
 	Fence gave him much the same kind of pat he had given El en, and shook his head. Then he looked at Ruth, who was standing at his other side with Laura hanging on to her hand. 
 	She was gripping Lauraâ€™s hand with more force than that necessary to be comforting. El en was cramped between Laura and the wal , looking as if she wanted to pet the beast. Laura, who did not even want to see it, looked over her shoulder and saw that Ted stood behind them al , seeming bored. 
 	â€œCan you do aught with it?â€​ence asked Ruth. 
 	Laura felt her tense, but she sounded quite composed. 
 	
 	â€œI can cal on water,â€​he said. 
 	â€œYou and Randolph are both too precipitate,â€ said Fence. 
 	Laura glanced up in time to see Randolph look at Ruth over Fenceâ€™s head. He rol ed his eyes at the ceiling and grinned. Ruth smiled back. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ she said to him, â€œwe could cal on the mountains, then.â€​par 	â€œNonsense,â€​aid Fence, â€œthis is rival waters.â€​par 	â€œAnd that rivals al nonsense,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	Laura looked to see if Ruth was as bewildered as she was. Ruth looked outraged, but she said nothing. 
 	â€œWhat are you talking about?â€​emanded El en. 
 	Ruth looked at Fence, took a deep breath, and answered her sister. â€œWhen the power of the Green Caves, which is over earth and water, meddles with matters of the Blue Sorcery, which is of fire and air, then these beasts are made, which are air and water.â€ She sounded as if she were quoting. 
 	â€œWhoâ€™s been meddling?â€​sked El en. 
 	â€œClaudia, no doubt,â€​aid Fence. 
 	The beast sucked and bubbled like someone trying to pul the last drops of a milkshake through a strawâ€”a loud and unmistakably rude noise. Fence laughed at it. â€œThou art a guardian, not a warrior,â€​e said. â€œBegone.â€​par 	The beast rose up like a geyser, swirled, and vanished. 
 	Fence and Randolph stared at each other. Then Randolph shrugged and Fence started up the steps. The others fol owed, one by one. 
 	
 	Laura hung back to walk with Ted, who stil looked bored. 
 	â€œWhat did you do at the banquet?â€​he asked. 
 	â€œAte.â€​par 	â€œNo, what did you do wrong? â€​par 	â€œThanks a lot.â€​par 	â€œWel , Matthew told Fence you did.â€​par 	â€œGreat,â€​aid Ted, climbing faster. 
 	â€œWel , what?â€​par 	She expected him to shut her up, but he told her. Laura was awed. â€œPrince Edward would never do that!â€​par 	â€œWel , Iâ€™m not Prince Edward.â€​par 	â€œShhh!â€​par 	â€œSorry.â€​par 	â€œWhy canâ€™t you play Edward the way weâ€™re al playing?â€ Laura was breathless just from asking questions, and it was hard to climb stairs and pay proper attention to Tedâ€™s answers. But who knew when she might find him in this mood again? 
 	â€œBecause itâ€™s not a game. Itâ€™s important. 
 	Maybe if Edward wasnâ€™t such a milksop Randolph wouldnâ€™t have to kil the King. Maybe if the King respected Edward heâ€™d listen to him about sorcery.â€​par 	â€œHe doesnâ€™t respect you for hitting Andrew, does he? Didnâ€™t you say he was mad?â€​par 	â€œSure he was, but he might respect me for it anyway.â€​par 	Laura gave up and climbed in silence. The closer they got to the top, the colder it became. As she came around the last corner before Claudiaâ€™s knife and bumped into Ted, she realized that she could see her breath in the purple air. 
 	â€œYou see,â€​aid Fence to Ruth. 
 	â€œUh,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	She knelt on the step and looked at the knife. Laura, regarding the cold gleam of the jewels, felt a picture begin to form in them and looked away quickly, right at Fenceâ€™s robe. The stars exploded at her so that she blinked, and the flat red and green afterimages wavered into a vast field where the tiny figures of men and beasts strove together. 
 	Laura final y blinked again, and screwed both eyes tight shut, breaking the picture into meaningless dots. When she opened her eyes again, Ruth was talking. 
 	â€œItâ€™s like she took one of yours and one of ours and put them together,â€​he said. 
 	Fence looked horrified. â€œAnd where is the desert she made in the combining?â€​par 	Ruth looked taken aback, but Fence did not seem to expect an answer. 
 	â€œ â€™Twas not made for you,â€ he said to her. 
 	â€œCan you hold it harmless?â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said Ruth. She looked at the knife, and back up at Fence. â€œWhy donâ€™t you get Meredith?â€​par 	Randolph made an incredulous noise and looked at Ruth as if she were crazy. 
 	Fence shook his head. â€œThink, child,â€ he said. â€œI did not say â€˜nmake,â€™ but â€˜old harmless.â€™ â€​par 	â€œOh,â€​aid Ruth. She looked at the knife again. 
 	
 	â€œRuth,â€ said El en, â€œyou want to slow it down, right?â€​par 	Laura looked at her with admiration. She had forgotten al about Shanâ€™s Ring, but it was certainly the only thing they had that might keep Claudia out of the way. 
 	 â€œOh,â€​ said Ruth. 
 	â€œHey,â€ said Ted, sounding alarmed. Laura wondered what was the matter with him. 
 	Ruth put her hand in the pocket of her skirt and furrowed her brow. 
 	â€œI am a trinket,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œHush,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	 â€œRuth,â€​ said Ted. 
 	â€œShut up, â€ said Ruth, fiercely. She shut her eyes and put out her other hand for the knife. 
 	â€œRuthie, donâ€™t, â€ said Ted, putting his hand out too. Randolph caught his wrist, and looked at him as if he too were crazy. Ted seemed about to try to wrench his arm away, but then he gave up and stood glowering. 
 	Ruthâ€™s hand came down on the knife. There was not a sound in the stairwel . Ruthâ€™s lips moved briefly and she opened her eyes. â€œBlow time awry for this!â€ she said, and the jewels in the knife hilt went dark. Laura was impressed. At least things were working properly for Ruth. 
 	â€œWel !â€ said Ruth, pleased. She handed the knife to Fence, who flinched but took it and bowed to her, in the narrow stairway, without knocking anybody over. Randolph let go of Ted and they al began to climb again. 
 	Patrick was standing in the open door to Fenceâ€™s living room with a rug over his shoulders and a sword in his hand. Both were too big for him. 
 	When he had looked everybody over, he moved to let them in and put the sword on the mantelpiece. It was warmer inside, but it was not warm. Fence gestured at the fireplace, and flames leaped up again. 
 	â€œIt was a warm day for so cold a night,â€​e said. 
 	â€œThere is nothing amiss with the night,â€ said Randolph, sitting down where he had sat for dinner. 
 	Fence brought another chair to the table for Ruth, between Randolph and Patrick. Everyone else sat in his old place. 
 	Fence put both hands around the wine jug, and when he poured the wine, it steamed. 
 	â€œBefore anyone else pounds upon my door with urgent summons,â€ he said, â€œI wil have my spiesâ€™
 	reports.â€​par 	So Laura and Patrick and El en recited their parts, while Ted and Ruth sat with their mouths fal ing open. Fence made El en repeat one thing twice, and Laura two things. 
 	During Patrickâ€™s recitation of how the kitchen staff would not let an undercook magic the soup to make up for having left out the saffron, Laura saw Randolph look over at Fence, who grimaced at him. But that was al the reaction they got, and the whole thing was quickly over. 
 	â€œWel done,â€ Fence said to them. â€œYou have earned your rest, and â€™twere best you go toâ€™t. 
 	Agatha wil have my head on a pole if she discovers how late I have kept you.â€​par 	El en jerked herself up from where she had been fal ing asleep in Ruthâ€™s lap. â€œBut what happened at the council?â€​par 	â€œAnd whereâ€™s Claudia?â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œWhat do you mean, whereâ€™s Claudia?â€ said Patrick, coming suddenly out of his slouch. 
 	â€œNaught happened,â€ said Randolph. â€œFence and Andrew aired their philosophies.â€​par 	â€œWho won? â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œNone wins in the airing of philosophies,â€ said Fence, patiently. 
 	â€œWhat did the King think?â€​ersisted El en. 
 	â€œHe said not,â€​aid Fence. 
 	â€œEl ie,â€ said Ted, â€œgo to bed.â€ She looked at him, outraged, and he mouthed, â€œIâ€™l tel you later,â€
 	at her. El en shrugged. Fenceâ€™s mouth quirked. 
 	â€œWhereâ€™s Claudia?â€ repeated Laura. She felt that it was necessary to keep track of Claudia, much as it was necessary to keep track of a large puppy. They both made trouble when you werenâ€™t looking. 
 	â€œClaudia came to the council,â€​aid Fence. 
 	â€œWhat about your spell? â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œShe broke it,â€ said Fence, shortly. â€œShe came to the council and I made accusation of her, which she chose not to answer. She was taken to the South Tower. If she chooses to stay there and be tried, which she wel may if â€™t amuses her, al of us save Ruth may be cal ed as witnesses. If she hath not chosen to stay she is no doubt wherever it pleases her to be. I could discover her with some effort. Without her knife she is, I think, less menace than nuisance. Randolph and I wil make shift to deal with her, with Lady Ruthâ€™s help.â€​uth looked nonplussed. 
 	â€œHow does she do al this?â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œPeace,â€​aid Fence. 
 	â€œIâ€™m sorry,â€ said El en to Fence. â€œOnly nobody knows anything, and anything can happen.â€​par 	Randolph reached out and patted her head. El en glowered but sat stil under it, like a wel -trained cat. 
 	â€œAnything may usual y happen,â€ he said to her. 
 	â€œGet thee to bedâ€”and thee, and thee.â€​par 	Laura and El en got up, reluctantly, and came around to Fence, Patrick on their heels. â€œThank you for dinner,â€
 	they said, almost in chorus. El en burst out laughing, and Patrick looked disgusted. 
 	Fence smiled. â€œAnd for thy aid,â€ he said. He kissed Laura. Laura, looking back over her shoulder as he kissed El en, saw Patrickâ€™s eyes grow wary. He took Fenceâ€™s kiss as El en had taken the pat on the head, and came quickly away, hunching his shoulders. 
 	Randolph came to bar the door behind them, but he stood in the doorway watching them go down, and under even his imagined gaze they were quite silent. It was deathly cold in the stairwel , and every shadow looked like a beast about to appear. 
 	
 CHAPTER 16

 	WHEN the younger ones had disappeared down the steps, Ted began to say something to Fence, and saw with dismay that Fence had put his head into his hands. Ted and Ruth looked at one another. When Randolph shut the door behind Patrick and came to stand by Fenceâ€™s chair, Fence stil did not move. 
 	â€œLet it wait upon the morning,â€ Randolph said, and his look was anxious. 
 	â€œClaudia waiteth not,â€​aid Fence into his hands. 
 	Randolph was silent, and the four of them sat listening to the fire. Ted was very sleepy. Even with the fire, a cold crept out of the corners that made him expect to hear the wind howling outside. He looked at Ruth. He had to warn her about using Shanâ€™s Ring. He wondered what else she might have been using it for. 
 	Fence took his head out of his hands, and Randolph moved to sit on the edge of the table. 
 	â€œThree matters,â€ said Fence. â€œThis cold, Claudia, and Edwardâ€™s performance at dinner.â€​par 	Ruth looked a question at Ted, who scowled at her. 
 	â€œI had not thought the cold was Claudiaâ€™s doing,â€ said Randolph. â€œI had thought it one of the workings of the Dragon King. And proof of thy observations, if any heeded. But when thou didst arrive, the cold was lessened.â€​par 	â€œAnd lessened also,â€ said Fence, â€œfor that short time she held in my spel .â€​par 	â€œTo make the cold,â€ said Randolph, slowly, â€œis neither Green nor Blue sorcery, but yel ow. Her studies have been wide. Heaven grant they have not been deep also.â€​par 	â€œClaudia, then,â€ said Fence, and he looked at Ruth. 
 	â€œI am in your hands.â€​par 	Ted admired Ruth; she hardly blanched. â€œWel ,â€ she said, â€œI can do to her what I did to the knife.â€​par 	â€œHow long does such an enchantment endure?â€
 	Randolph asked her. 
 	Ruth did not even hesitate. â€œA year and a day,â€ said she. 
 	Fence whistled, and Ted jumped. 
 	â€œI wonder if I have missed my cal ing,â€​aid Fence. 
 	Randolph laughed. â€œEach magic hath his benefits.â€​par 	â€œAfter al ,â€​aid Ruth, â€œI can stop Claudia, but you have to find her for me first.â€​par 	Both Randolph and Fence looked astonished, and Ted wished he knew more about the magics of the Secret Country. If Ruth were winging it, she ought to stop. 
 	â€œIâ€™m only a student,â€ said Ruth, so crossly that Ted knew that she had been winging it. 
 	â€œRandolph,â€ said Fence, â€œhow is thy searching eye?â€​par 	â€œSharp enough,â€ said Randolph. He went to one of the carved chests, took a mirror from it, and left the room. 
 	â€œRuth,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œEdward,â€​aid Fence, â€œhave a care.â€​par 	
 	â€œI just want to say,â€ said Ted, â€œthat she shouldnâ€™t do to Claudia what she did to the knife.â€​par 	â€œIt wonâ€™t hurt her,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œIt might hurt us. â€​par 	Randolph came briskly in, laying the mirror on the table before Fence. 
 	â€œIs that she?â€​e asked. He sounded put out. 
 	Ted and Ruth craned to see into the mirror. It showed a tower room much like the one they were in, except that it had a bed and fewer tapestries. There was a shadow on the floor, but no figure to cast it. 
 	Fence put both hands through his hair, but he could not make it look much worse. Ted wondered who had cut it that way, and why. Fence turned the mirror around, tilting it, and sighed. â€œOf a certainty,â€ he said. â€œIs that the South Tower?â€​par 	Randolph nodded. 
 	â€œGo we there,â€ said Fence to Ruth. He looked at Randolph. â€œCanst deal with this miscreant?â€​par 	â€œBetter than thou,â€ said Randolph, with an emphasis Ted did not care for. 
 	Fence gripped the edge of the table and started to stand up, and Randolph moved quickly and almost lifted him out of his chair. Fence looked at him reproachful y. Randolph shook his head, and Fence laughed. 
 	â€œThou wilt be my greatest comfort in mine old age,â€
 	he said, â€œif only thou dost not tire of cosseting me sooner. My lady,â€​e said to Ruth. Ruth stood up. 
 	
 	â€œWait!â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œBe quick,â€​aid Fence. 
 	â€œRuthie,â€ said Ted, using the pet name and trying to catch her eye and strengthen his speech with significant gestures so she would know that it was he, Ted, and not a besotted Edward worried for her safety, who was talking. 
 	â€œYou canâ€™t use that spel on Claudia.â€​par 	â€œWhy?â€​aid Ruth, warily, in her sorcerer voice. 
 	â€œItâ€™s very dangerous!â€​par 	Al three of them stared at him. Their expressions were exactly alike: the condescending and slightly impatient look of an expert faced with a wrongheaded amateur. Ted felt as if he had told his French teacher that oeuf meant ear. 
 	â€œI know what Iâ€™m doing,â€ Ruth told him, making faces so that he would know that it was she, not Lady Ruth, who spoke. She seemed quite irritated and a little frightened, and Ted was not reassured. She was probably just afraid that he would give her away, or make her give herself away, to Fence and Randolph. 
 	â€œI know what Iâ€™m doing too,â€​e said. 
 	â€œTime arrays itself against us,â€​aid Fence to Ruth. 
 	â€œCalm down,â€​aid Ruth to Ted. 
 	Ted felt desperate, and decided to beat her at their own game. â€œI command you not to do this thing!â€​par 	Ruth burst out laughing. Fenceâ€™s mouth quirked. 
 	Randolph, looking acutely unhappy, said in a constrained tone, â€œI beg to remind Your Highness that no worker of magic is at your command.â€​par 	
 	â€œYou stop them, then!â€​par 	Randolphâ€™s face set in formidable lines, but his voice was very gentle. â€œI am an apprentice,â€ he said. â€œIn al earthly matters I obey you, my lord, but in the matter of magic even I am no servant of yours. I earnestly regret it.â€​par 	Fence by this time looked actual y sick. â€œAnd I,â€ he said. 
 	â€œGo,â€ said Randolph, and opened the door for them. 
 	When they had gone and he had bolted it, he swung on Ted like a cat pouncing. 
 	â€œAre you mad?â€​par 	Ted opened his mouth to reply, and a hot tear slid into the corner of it, startling him. He had been aware of no emotion save wrath. He swal owed, felt his face crumpling up, and turned around hastily. Standing up to Andrew, who was a vil ain, or even to the King, who was wrongheaded, was one thing. But he hated fighting with Fence and Randolph. He hated losing to them even more. 
 	He wrapped both arms around himself and stared at the watery rug. His vision cleared gradual y, and he saw that the rug real y was watery. It depicted a fountain crowded about with animals. Ted wanted to be intrigued by it, but that would have been an excuse. He had to face Randolph sooner or later. 
 	He turned slowly, stil hugging himself. Randolph stood just where Ted had left him, his grave and troubled gaze bent steadily on Ted. Ted refrained from backing away. 
 	â€œNow, Edward, whatâ€™s the matter?â€ said Randolph. 
 	â€œWhat isnâ€™t?â€​aid Ted, stal ing. 
 	
 	Randolph sat down on the edge of the table and reached for his cup. â€œArt thou stil my rival, then?â€​par 	â€œNo, itâ€™s not that,â€​aid Ted, so miserably that he could tel at once how very unconvincing Randolph found this assertion. 
 	He wondered if he should simply tel Randolph the truth, but al his instincts rebel ed. In the first place, the others should approve such a drastic step: It was their game, or their adventure, or their necks too. After al , if Shanâ€™s Ring did what he thought it might, they would al be in terrible trouble for using it. And if they were not real y the royal children, there was nothing to stop everyone from deciding that they were spies. They might be just the people Andrew was looking for. 
 	â€œMy God,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œI beg your pardon?â€​aid Randolph. 
 	â€œSorry,â€​aid Ted. â€œNothing.â€​par 	His knees were so shaky that he sat down across from Randolph. He felt as if someone had just hit him in the stomach. He could not imagine why none of them had thought of this sooner. If the Secret Country were real, then where were the real princes and princesses? Back with the Barretts, wreaking havoc? No, of course not, or the Barretts would have had something to say about it when he and Laura got back. Where, then? 
 	Ted felt suffocated. He had to talk to the others immediately. But Randolph stil regarded him gravely, and would have to have some sort of explanation. 
 	â€œAndrew bothers me,â€ Ted told him. â€œI donâ€™t like the way heâ€™s disrupting everything. How did he get the King to pay so much attention to him anyway?â€​par 	Randolph put his cup down. â€œPerhaps because thou hast paid so little to the King?â€​par 	Ted was confounded, and said nothing. He supposed that if Prince Edward were as shy and bookish as they had made him in the Secret, he would have been too scared and too absorbed to pay much attention to the King. 
 	â€œNot thou alone,â€ said Randolph. â€œHe is a warrior, and his favorites wizards al : Benjamin, Conrad, and even I. Thou art no wizard, but thou preferrest thy books to thy sword. No man likes a wizard, who hath not some magic himself, and Wil iam hath none. â€™Tis said it passeth from grandsire to grandchild, missing the son.â€ He had sounded more and more as if he were thinking aloud; now he shrugged and smiled. â€œThou seest,â€​e said. 
 	Ted was not sure either that he saw or that he did not. 
 	â€œAnyway, thatâ€™s not the point,â€ he said. â€œYou know heâ€™l do it Andrewâ€™s way, and you know whatâ€™l happen if he does. What are we going to do to make him change his mind?â€​par 	â€œIt may be that we cannot,â€ said Randolph. â€œBut if we can, the answer lies in just such things as I have said. 
 	Reason hath little power here. If thou wouldst thy father thought wel of wizards, â€™twere wel thou see toâ€™t that he thinks wel of thee.â€​par 	â€œSo maybe it was a good idea to jump on Andrew?â€
 	said Ted. 
 	â€œDidst not know when thou didst it?â€ demanded Randolph. 
 	â€œKnow what?â€​aid Ted, confused. 
 	
 	Randolph pul ed the circlet from his head, turned it in his fingers, and jammed it back onto his head as if he were slamming a door he knew would pop open again. 
 	â€œWhen you flung yourself upon Andrew,â€ he said careful y, â€œdid you not think it was wise to do so?â€​par 	â€œI didnâ€™t think it was anything to do so,â€ said Ted, irritated. Part of him stil itched to go after Ruth and stop her from using Shanâ€™s Ring, and this conversation no longer had anything in it to make up for wasting that opportunity. 
 	â€œAngels and ministers of grace defend us,â€ said Randolph, and something in the quality of his voice told Ted that he was quoting Benjamin. 
 	â€œHe made me angry,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œWhat hath come over thee?â€ Randolph asked him. 
 	â€œTime was when neither taunts nor blows could make thee angry.â€​par 	â€œIsnâ€™t it better this way?â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œNot if thou must show it thus. Answer Andrew with worse wordsâ€”draw and chal enge and be done with itâ€”but this starting what thou wilt not finish is madness. 
 	Besides, â€™twere better not to quarrel with Andrew, who has thy fatherâ€™s ear, and is useful in his fashion. And furthermore,â€ said Randolph, gesturing with both hands as if he would have liked to take Ted and shake him, â€œif thou must flout what hath been taught thee, I prithee flout not what I have taught thee so that thy father cast an angry eye on me as wel .â€​par 	â€œOh,â€​aid Ted. â€œSorry.â€​par 	â€œFlouting what I taught thee,â€ added Randolph, â€œin defense of a wizard. Oh, Edward, when fol ies come they come not single spies but in battalions.â€​par 	Ted wished he had not mentioned spies, even in a figure of speech. â€œBut what are we going to do about Andrew?â€ he said. â€œItâ€™s a bit late for me to start being a model son.â€​par 	â€œHow late?â€​aid Randolph. 
 	â€œWel , Benjamin saidâ€”â€​par 	â€œAh,â€ said Randolph. â€œTo win quickly, cleanly, easily, and with smal loss, far from our borders, we must indeed do as Benjamin says. To win a bloodier battle perilously close, we have yet a few months.â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said Ted, â€œIâ€™l do what I can.â€ He hesitated. â€œIâ€™m real y sorry, Randolph, but everythingâ€™s just fal ing apart.â€​par 	Randolph frowned, but his voice was kinder. â€œMake shift to gather the pieces together, then, and kick them not asunder like a child with a frozen puddle,â€​e said. 
 	â€œMay I go now, please?â€​aid Ted. 
 	Randolph nodded. â€œAnd ease thy mind,â€ he said. 
 	â€œAl may yet be very wel .â€​par 	As Ted left he saw Randolph settling himself by the fire to wait for Fence. 
 	Fenceâ€™s living room had not been warm, but the stairwel was like stepping into cold water. Tedâ€™s breath steamed away from him and made an eerie mist in the purple light. It seemed to be growing warmer as he went on down. Ted was not sure that this made sense, because warm air rises. He was pondering this problem and wondering if the knowledge he could gain would be worth the trouble of asking Patrick for it, when quite abruptly the stairwel became warm. 
 	Ted almost fel down the steps. He was not sure he liked the change. Presumably it was better for a castle to be warm in the middle of the summer, but it could hardly be natural for it to change so fast from being cold. He wondered if using Shanâ€™s Ring could do that. 
 	â€œClaudia,â€ he said aloud. If Claudia had been making the cold, and Ruth had used Shanâ€™s Ring on her, Claudia would not be able to make the cold anymore, and things would go back to normal. 
 	Ted almost fel down the steps again, as the tower shook itself and made grinding noises. Ted moved faster. He had half thought of waiting for Fence in the stairwel , but now he wanted nothing to do with it. 
 	â€œWhy would Claudia make it cold anyway?â€ he asked the gray wal s. He found it hard to think without the others clamoring at him. They were a nuisance, but at least they asked the right questions. 
 	The tower shook again, more gently. Ted burst through the door at the bottom and ran along the passage. He stopped at the next door and looked back. He knew that in an earthquake one was supposed to go outside, but he was not sure that there had been an earthquake. The torches stil burned in their sockets, and now al was quiet. If he went outside he might miss Fence returning. 
 	He perched himself on the sil of one of the windows that looked upon the inner courtyard. The stone was cold, but in the new heat of the air this was pleasant. A green smel came through the window, and behind it a faint scent of lilac. 
 	It seemed to go wel with the purple torches. 
 	
 	Ted was almost asleep when Fence came trudging along the passage. Nobody looked his best in that light, but Ted, knuckling his eyes and shaking the blood back into the foot he had been sitting on, thought that Fence looked as though he were sleepwalking. 
 	â€œSir?â€​aid Ted. 
 	Fence blinked, and focused on him. â€œWhere is Randolph?â€​par 	â€œHeâ€™s upstairs,â€ said Ted. â€œI wanted to speak with you alone.â€​par 	Fence came and sat next to Ted. â€œWel , then?â€​par 	â€œDid Ruth take care of Claudia?â€​par 	â€œOh, aye.â€ Fence fixed him with a glare. â€œHast forgotten al thy courtesy?â€​par 	Ted, who could make no sense of this remark, suppressed the desire to ask whether Shanâ€™s Ring was part of the Green Caves magic. In the first place, Fence might think that rude too; in the second, it might give everything away. 
 	â€œIs there aught else, my lord?â€ Fence asked him. 
 	Ted could not tel whether he was being polite to soften the fact that he wanted to get away, or whether he was angry and therefore being formal. 
 	â€œYes,â€​aid Ted, recklessly. 
 	Fence nodded at him. 
 	â€œI fear me,â€ said Ted, â€œthat if we do not convince the King that Andrew is wrong, that he must make sorcerous preparations, then Randolph wil kil the King to keep us al from being destroyed.â€​par 	
 	Fence did not move for what seemed a very long time. 
 	Ted became aware of the singing of summer insects in the courtyard, and of the autumnal smel that hung about Fence. 
 	â€œAre you mad?â€ said Fence at last. Randolph, asking the same question, had sounded furious; Fence sounded stricken. 
 	â€œNo,â€ said Ted, wondering how Patrick would answer that. 
 	â€œHath he spoken of this, then?â€​par 	â€œWel , no. I tried to bring up the subject, but he put me off.â€​par 	â€œSo,â€​aid Fence. 
 	â€œHe did say we probably couldnâ€™t convince the King.â€​par 	â€œProbably we cannot.â€​par 	â€œBut Fence, if we canâ€™t, what else is there to do but kil him?â€​par 	â€œWhat is the matter with you? We wil do our best in the battle, and live or die as it fal s to us. There was never kingdom that did not end at last, and to hear you, one would think this oneâ€™s ending delayed oâ€™er long.â€ His look at Ted, even in the uncertain light, was formidable. 
 	â€œButâ€”â€​par 	â€œWhy Randolph?â€​sked Fence. 
 	â€œClaudia,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œWel , you are not so mad as you might be,â€ said Fence. â€œShe hath no doubt embittered him and may have dul ed his wits, but none could so change him that he would do what you accuse him of planning. Lords of darkness,â€ said Fence, vehemently, â€œI am weary of accusations.â€ He put out a hand, suddenly, and took hold of Tedâ€™s chin to make Ted look at him. â€œWhy Randolph?â€​e repeated. 
 	â€œHeâ€™s my regent, isnâ€™t he?â€ said Ted, feeling on firmer ground. â€œHeâ€™d have the power to do what he wants done, then. Heâ€™s my teacherâ€”he knows Iâ€™m safeâ€”and not a match for him,â€ said Ted, grumpily. More and more he chafed under the restraints of Edwardâ€™s personality. 
 	â€œAny man in council knows thy mind, and Randolphâ€™s,â€​aid Fence. 
 	â€œBut if anybody else kil ed the King, Randolph would get him,â€​xplained Ted. 
 	Fence put a hand to Tedâ€™s forehead, and dropped it with a sigh. â€œI had hoped you were feverish,â€ he said. 
 	â€œDoes not the fact that Randolph wil deal with any man who does the deed show that he would not doâ€™t himself?â€​par 	â€œHeâ€™l get himself too,â€ said Ted, a little desperately. â€œHeâ€™l admit it after the battle.â€​par 	â€œNone of this,â€ said Fence, as if in spite of himself, â€œregards the fact that Randolph is not of the temper which does such things.â€​par 	Ted felt a sort of gleeful shock; just so had he sounded himself when his sister and his cousins used to draw him into heated discussions of the ridiculous. 
 	â€œYouâ€™ve been gone a long time,â€ he said. 
 	â€œMaybe heâ€™s changed.â€​par 	
 	â€œYou have been by him,â€ said Fence. â€œWhat think you is the instrument of such a change?â€​par 	â€œClaudia,â€ said Ted, with considerable force. 
 	Claudia certainly was an instrument of change, and even though she was providing a convenient excuse at the moment, he hated her. 
 	â€œWe have had that already,â€ said Fence. 
 	â€œNohow save by sorcery could she force him to such an unnatural deed as kil a king, and there is no sorcery at work in him. Besides, as Ruth has disposed her, she cannot reach him now.â€​par 	â€œCanâ€™t you ask him?â€ said Ted. â€œHeâ€™l have to tel you the truth, and then youâ€™l know, and that might stop him. Or you could stop him.â€​par 	Fenceâ€™s hand came down on the stone they sat on. 
 	â€œWhy didst thou not ask him thyself?â€​par 	Ted considered, while Fenceâ€™s eyes caught a gleam of light from somewhere and seemed to bore into him. Ted tried to distract himself by wondering how anyone could smel like burning leaves, but it did not work. He was forced to the dismal conclusion that he had not asked Randolph himself, first because he was afraid to, and second because he had not decided beforehand what he was going to do, but had acted without thinking. 
 	He did not much want to tel these reasons to Fence. But the recklessness which had possessed him for some time was stil working, and he recognized now that part of it was a spirit of experimentation. For al his belief that the Secret Country was real, stil he felt the impulse to see how far he could push in how many directions, and what would happen if he did. The thought of the sword sat in the back of his mind like a refuge: Even if it were al real, they could go home if it got too bad, and he could not see that they would have made things any worse. 
 	He answered Fenceâ€™s question. 
 	â€œMinisters of grace defend us,â€ said Fence. Ted thought that things could not be too bad if Fence did not cal on the angels too. He found that he had to choke back a giggle at this piece of wit. 
 	â€œThou?â€ said Fence. â€œThou! Thou whose main fault is that of thinking so precisely on the event that thou dost it not?â€​par 	â€œSee?â€ cried Ted. â€œSee! Iâ€™ve changed. 
 	Maybe Randolph has too.â€​par 	Fence was silent a moment. â€œI wil go so far with thee,â€ he said, â€œas to watch for some change in him. 
 	The question is not one to be asked by friend of friend, or even by master of pupil. But I wil watch for any changeâ€”the more so,â€ he added, chuckling, â€œfor that I see already how he watches for any in me.â€​par 	â€œThank you,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œGet thee to bed,â€​aid Fence. 
 	
 CHAPTER 17

 	FENCE had brought presents for each of his spies, and he gave them out the next day. He gave El en a leather pouch ful of packets of seeds from al the strange plants he had seen in his travels. El en was intrigued but nervous. 
 	(â€œHeâ€™l expect me to plant them,â€ she said to Laura, â€œand I donâ€™t know how.â€ â€œIsnâ€™t it the wrong time of year for that?â€ said Laura. â€œDepends on what they are,â€ said El en, â€œand thatâ€™s what I donâ€™t know.â€​
 	He gave Patrick a bronze knife with bats and snakes on its greeny hilt. Patrick was fascinated but wary. Laura caught him practicing with it several times, but he became sul en when discovered. 
 	He gave Laura an ivory unicorn that fit in the palm of her hand, with beryls for eyes. (â€œWhich is not according to nature,â€ he told her, â€œfor the eyes of the unicorn are violet. But there is more virtue in the beryl than in the amethyst.â€ Laura was enchanted. â€œIâ€™l lose it,â€
 	she said. â€œSo you wil not, then,â€ said Fence, â€œfor I have put on it a spel of finding and returning.â€​ Ted and Ruth, to Lauraâ€™s great amusement, were irked that Fence had brought them nothing. Ruth seemed merely to want something exotic; Ted was hurt that Fence did not think enough of him to bring him something. Patrick pointed out that none of the gifts would survive the return trip anyway, a remark which reduced Laura to tears and reopened the discussion of whether Tedâ€™s flashlight had real y turned into a lantern. 
 	
 	â€œIf it did,â€ said Patrick, testily, â€œthen El ieâ€™l end up with a bag of petunia seeds, and Laurieâ€™l have a plastic horse, and Iâ€™l have a Swiss Army knife or something. But it wonâ€™t work that way, actual y, because these arenâ€™t real objects. The flashlight was; it came from the other side, you see.â€​par 	â€œLike your watch, I suppose,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	This occasioned an argument which got them nowhere but shortened tempers considerably. None of them seemed to be feeling wel after the rigors of the night before. Laura was sleepy. She thought Ted looked as if he had a headache. El en looked sick to her stomach. Ruth and Patrick merely looked grouchy. The weather was grouchy as wel . The morning had dawned clear, but by noon the sky was the color of the water used for a long session of painting with watercolors, and little bouts of wind blew the dust from the dry paths into every corner of the rose garden. 
 	Then Ted brought up the matter of Shanâ€™s Ring and the Outside Powers. Nobody seemed to find his theory convincing. Ruth was furious with him for, as she put it, trying to ruin her position as a sorcerer by preventing her from doing the only thing she had been able to think of doing. Ted accused her of wanting to show off no matter what happened. This occasioned another argument which got them nowhere but made them thoroughly sick of each otherâ€™s company. 
 	Sick though they might be, they had stil to hear El en and Laura tel them about the door to Fenceâ€™s tower, and Fenceâ€™s dishes. Nobody had any idea what the original tapestry meant or why it was duplicated al over Fenceâ€™s possessions. Ted made the mistake of using this fact to reopen the argument with Patrick over whether what was happening to them was real. He elicited only the theory that they were making it up as they went along, as if they were dreaming it. Patrick sounded a little desperate as he propounded this idea, but he stuck to it stubbornly. 
 	After that it was stil necessary for Ted and Ruth to explain al the things they had been doing. Nobody but Laura approved of anything Ted had done. Al the others felt that they should have been consulted. Tedâ€™s explanation that he would have told Randolph the whole truth if he hadnâ€™t wanted to consult them did not make them any happier. 
 	When he explained his idea that they would be treated as spies if they tried to tel the truth, everyone (except Laura) was even madder. 
 	Then Patrick asked them about the Crystal of Earth, and they al looked at him as if he were crazy. Laura did not like the sound of the Crystal of Earth. She did not like to think that someone could break it like a cereal bowl and the Secret Country would disappear. Being wrought up and tired, she began to cry again. 
 	Ruth said emphatical y, â€œThere is no such thing. 
 	Itâ€™s just a product of Patrickâ€™s perverted mind. Did you look for it, Pat?â€​par 	Patrick looked secretive, hesitated, and nodded. 
 	â€œYeah,â€ he said. â€œItâ€™s not where I dreamed it was.â€​par 	â€œI wonder whatâ€™s with these dreams,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œHas anybody else had any?â€​par 	â€œNot like that,â€ said Laura. â€œBut I see things inâ€”â€​par 	â€œHey, thatâ€™s weird,â€ said Patrick. â€œIf this is a dream, should we dream that weâ€™re dreaming?â€​par 	
 	â€œOh, for heavenâ€™s sake,â€​aid Ruth. â€œIâ€™ve had about enough of this.â€​par 	They left one another with relief and wandered about desolately on their own, brooding. 
 	Â 
 	Ted and Patrick expected their fencing lessons to begin again two days after the banquet. They had not practiced. 
 	Ted had kept hoping for more dreams, and Patrick affected, at least, not to care what might happen. 
 	They both overslept that morning, and hurried down to the practice yard assuring each other that Randolph would have overslept, too. Castle gossip had him and Fence closeted in the North Tower day and night, either making battle plans or concocting arcane spel s, depending on whom you listened to. 
 	In fact he was not in the yard when they arrived. There were several other people off at the far end of the yard practicing exotic-looking maneuvers with short curved swords. Ted got from them the information that Randolph had not been there since they began, at dawn. 
 	â€œHeâ€™l be here any minute, then,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s practice what we can.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™ve been wondering what would happen if we didnâ€™t,â€ said Patrick, picking up a sword and putting it down again. â€œWhether the cardinal would rescue us again.â€​par 	â€œRandolphâ€™l have a fit even if the cardinal does rescue us,â€ said Ted. â€œHeâ€™l probably go ask its owner what he thinks heâ€™s doing, and then heâ€™l find out we donâ€™t have anything to do with the cardinals and weâ€™l be in for it. Come on.â€​par 	â€œWhat makes you think we donâ€™t have anything to do with the cardinals?â€​par 	â€œWhat makes you think we do?â€​par 	Patrick acquired his secretive expression. Ted had never seen it until they came to the Secret Country, but he was already as tired of it as he had ever been of Patrickâ€™s other habits. A natural desire to make Patrick as tired of him caused him to remember something. 
 	â€œYou know what,â€ he said. â€œIt was a cardinal that got us into this. If Laurie hadnâ€™t heard one singing, she wouldnâ€™t have dived into that hedge.â€​par 	Patrick looked intrigued. 
 	â€œDid you hear a cardinal when you were fooling around in the bottle-tree thicket?â€​par 	â€œThere arenâ€™t any cardinals in Australia,â€ said Patrick, in his most patient scholarly tones. â€œTheyâ€™re a North American bird.â€​par 	â€œCome on,â€​aid Ted, defeated. 
 	Tedâ€™s 
 	dream 
 	had 
 	remained 
 	clear 
 	in 
 	his
 	mindâ€”clearer, in fact, than he real y liked to have it. 
 	Although the fencing moves were useful, he hated remembering Randolphâ€™s face. But he was able to show Patrick a few things, of the when-I-do-this-you-do-that variety; by assuming a stance without thinking about it and then looking at what he had done, he was able to show Patrick how to salute, stand, move, and hold his sword. 
 	He thought Patrick did very wel for someone who had never liked any activity except that required to get him from one place to another. 
 	
 	They worked for an hour, and Randolph did not come. 
 	â€œI donâ€™t like this sword,â€​aid Patrick suddenly. 
 	â€œI donâ€™t like mine either,â€ said Ted, dropping its point to the ground. â€œBut thatâ€™s because I dreamed about a better one. Did you?â€​par 	â€œI also,â€ said Patrick, â€œdonâ€™t like the way those people are looking at us.â€​par 	Ted considered them. â€œThey donâ€™t look threatening to me.â€​par 	â€œNo, just curious. What if they come over to see what Randolphâ€™s so proud of teaching you?â€​par 	â€œWel , we could quit.â€​par 	â€œWhat I want to do,â€ said Patrick, â€œis go get our swords and find somewhere private to practice.â€​par 	â€œOurâ€”?â€​par 	â€œThe ones we got here with!â€​par 	â€œAre those for fighting?â€​aid Ted, uneasily. 
 	â€œWhy not?â€​par 	â€œWel , theyâ€™re magical.â€​par 	â€œThey sure are. They make these look like sticks of wood.â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s al we used to have,â€​aid Ted. 
 	Patrick squinted at him in the sunlight. â€œCome on.â€​par 	Â 
 	They ended up in the rose garden. Nowhere else seemed free of people. Ted was not altogether pleased with this. He saw laid over the bril iant sun and precise red and green of daylight the silver garden of his dream, like something in a double exposure. 
 	The magic sword did feel better in his hand than the practice sword had. To his considerable relief, it did not fit like the dream sword. 
 	â€œPat, I donâ€™t think this is a good idea,â€ he said. 
 	â€œThese are sharp. We could hurt each other.â€​par 	â€œWe donâ€™t have to do the whole sequence,â€​aid Patrick. â€œJust the initial stuff. I think we should get used to handling these swords. We should have them with us al the time, real y; theyâ€™re our way home.â€​par 	Ted reluctantly fel in with this plan. There was no wind. On the thick moss of the garden their feet were soundless. A great silence hung from tree to sky. The swords burned in the sunlight, throwing back blue and green so sharp that the garden seemed to pale and shrivel. They left great shining swaths in the clear air, like fireworks but unfading. Ted caught at the names of their motions as they fled under his mind: bind, double bind, circle parry, riposte. 
 	â€œCease!â€​aid a voice, at an enormous distance. 
 	Cold seized Tedâ€™s fingers, and the sword drooped slowly and slid to the moss. The sword paths dimmed and tattered like smoke in a wind, and as they went out the color came back to moss and rose and stone. Ted saw Patrick standing stock-stil , his pale brown hair bril iant, his white tunic dazzling. His face was horrified; he was looking at something over Tedâ€™s right shoulder. 
 	Ted found that he could move, and swung around. 
 	Randolph stood a few yards away, lowering his arms. He came and took Ted by the shoulders. â€œWhat in heavenâ€™s name!â€ he said, and his voice shook. He was very pale. 
 	â€œWe were practicing,â€ said Ted. â€œYou didnâ€™t show up.â€​par 	Randolph stooped for Tedâ€™s sword, and a flash of blue light pained their eyes as he touched it. Randolph said something Ted did not catch, and the light dwindled. 
 	â€œPatrick,â€​aid Randolph, â€œbring me thine.â€​par 	Patrickâ€™s face acquired a stubborn set, but he obeyed. Randolph held one sword in each hand and stared at them for some time. Ted looked at Patrick, who shook his head rueful y. He was very pale and sweaty. Ted felt pale himself. 
 	â€œHow did you come by these?â€ Randolph asked them. 
 	I found mine under a hedge,â€ said Ted, and saw Patrick close his mouth and look annoyed. â€œPatrick found his under a clump of trees.â€​par 	Randolphâ€™s gaze sharpened and pinned him. 
 	â€œWhere?â€​par 	â€œNear the Wel of the White Witch,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œDo you know their nature?â€​par 	â€œThey make it easier to practice,â€ said Ted. Wishing to tel the whole truth and afraid of the consequences, he told as much of it as he could, which for some reason made him feel better. â€œThey seem to make it easier to learn things.â€​par 	â€œThey give a headache to every sorcerer, every wizard, and every apprentice for leagues around,â€ said Randolph. â€œAnd what price the two of you have paid for their use I do not like to think.â€​par 	â€œWeâ€™re al right,â€​aid Patrick, edgily. 
 	â€œI think they were meant for us,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œIf they are what I think they are, woe to anyone for whom they were meant,â€ said Randolph. He frowned, and gave the swords back to them. â€œI think we must see Fence,â€​e said. 
 	He herded them along the paths to the castle. 
 	Fenceâ€™s room was flooded with sunlight. Fence was on his knees before one of the carved chests, rummaging briskly and whistling a tune that Ted almost recognized. He looked up as they came in, and the cheer and energy of his aspect were almost shocking. Ted thought that he must have needed a few nightsâ€™ sleep very badly indeed to look so much better than he had. He stil was not impressive. 
 	Fenceâ€™s mouth quirked when he saw Ted and Patrick. â€œThese?â€​e said. 
 	â€œShow him,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	Ted pul ed his sword from the sheath and held it out. 
 	â€œShanâ€™s blade,â€ said Fence. Ted thought he was merely being emphatic, but when Randolph nodded slowly, Ted realized that Fence had meant it. 
 	â€œShow him, Patrick,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	â€œThis is mine, â€​aid Patrick, but he drew it out. 
 	â€œThat is Melanieâ€™s,â€ said Fence. He was very stil for a moment. â€œHow came they to your hands?â€​par 	
 	â€œFound where you might expect,â€ said Randolph, when neither Ted nor Patrick answered. 
 	â€œHow long ago?â€​par 	Randolph looked at Ted in such a way that Ted thought it better to answer. â€œA few weeks.â€​par 	â€œAnd,â€ said Fence to Randolph, â€œisâ€™t so long he hath not been himself?â€​par 	â€œIt is.â€​par 	â€œI think,â€ said Fence, â€œthat we had better have them.â€​par 	Ted handed his over promptly, although doing so gave him a sinking sensation in the stomach. The less fuss he and Patrick made about losing the swords, the easier it would be to get them back again. 
 	Patrick must have had other ideas. He put his sword back into its sheath, and his expression was not pleasant. 
 	â€œPatrick?â€​aid Fence. 
 	â€œThis is mine,â€ said Patrick. â€œYou canâ€™t know itâ€™s Melanieâ€™s without testing it.â€​par 	â€œYou have tested it for us,â€​aid Fence, dryly. 
 	â€œPat!â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œThy training is not in this,â€ said Randolph. â€œIt wil serve thee il .â€​par 	He took a step toward Patrick and held out his hand, as if he were trying to make friends with a dog of uncertain temper. 
 	Patrick leaped back against the wal and whipped out the sword. Tedâ€™s had done nothing when he took it out to give to Fence, but Patrickâ€™s blazed green. 
 	â€œPatrick!â€ said Ted, and moved toward him. 
 	Randolph caught his shoulder and held him stil . 
 	â€œMy lord,â€ said Randolph to Patrick, with the sudden assumption of icy formality that the Secret Country people did so wel . â€œWil you be pleased to hand over the sword, or must I take it?â€​par 	â€œYou must take it,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	The sword Patrick had held the night before when they al came back upstairs after the council was leaning against the mantel. Randolph took it, jerked it from its sheath, tossed the sheath behind him, and went at Patrick so fast that even if Ted had known what to do he would not have had time to do it. There was a clash of metal and a flare of green, and Patrickâ€™s sword thumped to the rug. Patrick stood backed against the wal , furious, Randolphâ€™s sword at his throat. 
 	â€œFence,â€ said Randolph, but Fence had already stooped for the blazing sword. It dimmed as he touched it. 
 	Randolph drew back and put his sword into its sheath again, and leaned it against the mantel. Patrick stayed where he was, his eyes steady on Randolph. Ted was glad that Patrick was not in the habit of carrying a dagger. 
 	â€œThank you, Edward,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	This was a dismissal. Ted moved for the door, trying to signal Patrick to come along quietly. 
 	Patrick would not look at him. He pushed himself away from the wal as if he wanted to knock it over, and addressed himself to Fence. 
 	â€œYouâ€™l be sorry,â€ he said. He was stil wrathful, but there was a tinge of satisfaction in his tone that made Ted anxious. 
 	Fence nodded. â€œThe more you say,â€ he said, â€œthe less sorry I shal be. It is high time these were taken from you both. They work great il . Edward, I think thou seest now the force behind that which we spoke of last night.â€​par 	Ted was too eager to get out to argue. He nodded and pul ed at Patrickâ€™s arm as he went by. Patrick yanked away from him, but came along. 
 	â€œWhat the hel got into you?â€ Ted demanded, when they were several turns down. 
 	â€œMe?â€ said Patrick, in such a low tone that Ted could hardly hear him over the stony echo of their feet, but with considerable force. â€œMe? Iâ€™m not the one who turned traitor and gave up our only way out of here!â€​par 	â€œWhatâ€™d you expect me to do, kil them both?â€​par 	Patrick went faster, passing Ted and disappearing around the next curve. Tedâ€™s legs stil hurt from the climb up, but he tried to hurry too. 
 	â€œWhere are you going?â€​par 	No answer. 
 	He trailed Patrick back to their own room, where his cousin flung open a wooden chest, banging its lid on the wal behind it. He pul ed out a sword, thumping the hilt on the side of the trunk, and whipped past the astonished Ted, the sword held in front of him like a hockey stick. 
 	Ted, panting and incredulous, caught up with him in the stairwel and grabbed the col ar of his tunic. Patrick just stood there, waiting for Ted to go away. 
 	
 	â€œWhatâ€™s that sword?â€​par 	â€œItâ€™s nothing special,â€ said Patrick, â€œbut itâ€™l do what I want.â€​par 	â€œI suppose itâ€™l kil Fence and Randolph for you?â€ said Ted, trying for sarcasm and achieving what sounded to him like fright. 
 	â€œYes and no.â€​par 	â€œYou canâ€™t beat Randolph fencing. Youâ€™l just get yourself in trouble and feel stupid.â€​par 	â€œCome on and see,â€ said Patrick, twitching out of Tedâ€™s grip. He rounded a corner in the wrong direction for Fenceâ€™s tower. Ted, hoping that he had gotten confused, said nothing. It soon became obvious that they were headed for the North Tower. Ted tried to remember what was there, and could not. 
 	The corridor to the North Tower was dim at this time of day, and the dust raised by their hurried passage made it worse. Ted began to wonder how much of High Castle was unused. 
 	The door to the stairs was carved very oddly, and Patrick did not give Ted time to figure it out. He banged through it as if it were any door in a supermarket, and bounded up the stairs. 
 	The door to the first tower room was plain wood. Patrick pushed it open and waited for Ted. Ted, panting, looked into a round bare room. In the middle of the room was a round wooden table. In the middle of the table was a dazzling globe. It might have been ful of bits of colored glass, or the color might al have been the rainbows made by the sunlight shining through the crystal. It was bigger than Tedâ€™s head. It made the tears come to his eyes, and when he had blinked them away, Patrick was standing over the globe with the sword raised. 
 	â€œThis is another way out,â€​e said to Ted. 
 	â€œWhat the hel are you doing?â€​par 	â€œThis is the Crystal of Earth. And when I break it, al this wil vanish and weâ€™l al be back home.â€​par 	He gripped the sword with both hands. 
 	â€œPatrick,â€ said Ted, in an agonized squeak; then, when Patrick ignored him, he shouted. â€œDonâ€™t!â€​par 	Patrick raised the sword above his head and brought it down. 
 	There was a tremendous flash, as the crystal of the Secret Country exploded into a bil ion colored shards, and a ringing, terrible, sustained crash as the land, from end to end, from the Mountains of the North to the Dubious Hil s, from the Wide West Waste to the Sunrise Sea, cities of men and manners, climates, councils, governments, the boast of heraldry and pomp of power, al that heart heard of or mind expressed, trees, flowers, cottages, and wel s, the unicorn, the cardinal, the dragon, and the owl, sun, moon, stars, clouds, the loving detail of High Castle, the barely imagined cities of the Dwarves, the fabulous mines whence came Lord Randolphâ€™s ring, the Green Caves and the Magic Wood, King Johnâ€™s solemn tomb, Laura and El en downstairs, the stones beneath them and their very bones, shook, rang, shattered, and seemed to col apse in dust. 
 	
 CHAPTER 18

 	TED breathed for one moment a dustier and thicker air, and saw in a flash the drooping leaves of the hedge and the bulk of the secret house, looking shabbier than he remembered it. A car horn honked behind him, he jumped, and the scene was gone. 
 	Ted and Patrick stood stil . Sunlight streamed through the flawless windows. Out of the windows, far away across the green plain, they saw sheep grazing the slopes. Above the sheep the clouds sailed, high and white. A bird went in a red streak by the window. Patrickâ€™s sword was stuck six inches into the solid oak of the table, and on the table was a scattering of broken glass and bits of color, brighter than the bands of sunlight on wal and floor. 
 	â€œCriminy,â€ said Ted, whispering. â€œWhat wil they do to us?â€​par 	â€œWhat wil we do?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œGet a broom,â€ said Ted. He thought he should be angry, but he was much too tired. 
 	â€œHow are we going to get out of this?â€​par 	Ted looked at him. Patrick went out, and came back with a broom. He tried to sweep up the glass, but he knocked the wooden handle of the broom, which was tal er than he was, into al the chairs until Ted, who felt he could not stand any noise that he was not making himself, took the broom away from him and began sweeping. 
 	Patrick put both hands over his face as if he were going to cryâ€”which Ted had never seen him doâ€”and said, matter-of-factly, â€œWhen does this stop?â€​par 	â€œWhen itâ€™s over,â€ said Ted, wishing he had the strength to say, â€œI told you so.â€​par 	â€œAre you going to kil Lord Randolph?â€​par 	â€œNo,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œWhat makes you think you have a choice?â€​par 	Ted unbent himself from under the table, where he was pursuing elusive splashes of glass, and said, â€œWhy shouldnâ€™t I?â€​par 	â€œEverything else weâ€™ve tried to stop it hasnâ€™t worked.â€​par 	â€œWe havenâ€™t real y tried much,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œAnd anyway, this is me.  I have a sword, and I can use it, or not, and I wonâ€™t.â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s what I thought,â€ said Patrick, looking at the scarred table. 
 	â€œBut you were trying to do something, and it didnâ€™t happen to work. I choose not to do something. How can that not work?â€​par 	Patrick shrugged. â€œMaybe youâ€™l stab him through the arras because you think heâ€™s Andrew.â€​par 	Ted shivered. Then he thought about it. â€œWel ,â€ he said, â€œeven that would be better than kil ing him in the rose garden.â€​par 	â€œWhy?â€ demanded Patrick. â€œAs long as weâ€™re stuck in this story we might as wel . . . stick to it. 
 	Deviating only causes trouble, as far as I can see. I bet if you hadnâ€™t been acting so weird, Randolph wouldnâ€™t have taken the swords away.â€​par 	
 	â€œMe?â€ said Ted, stung. â€œMe? If youâ€™d been satisfied with normal practice swords and not wanted to play with the magic onesâ€”â€​par 	â€œOkay, okay,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œAnd did you hear what Fence said to me? He thinks my suspicions of Randolph were caused by the sword, and now heâ€™l never believe them.â€​par 	â€œYes, al right. But see? Deviating causes trouble, thatâ€™s al . I wish Iâ€™d thought of this sooner.â€​par 	Ted sat down, feeling resigned. â€œThought of what?â€​par 	Patrick said patiently, â€œI think a random element enters the plot whenever itâ€™s necessary to keep us from changing the final outcome.â€​par 	â€œWhat random elements?â€​par 	â€œShanâ€™s Ring,â€ said Patrick. â€œThat Lady Claudia. And now this.â€​par 	â€œBut howâ€”â€​par 	â€œWe never found out the riddle of Shanâ€™s Ring before, but we had to do it this time or we couldnâ€™t have stayed at al . And this crystal didnâ€™t work the way it should have, so weâ€™d have to stay.â€​par 	â€œHow did you expect it to work?â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said Patrick, â€œI thought that just this once, my mind might be able to overpower al the rest of your minds, because the other three donâ€™t believe anything about the Crystal of Earth because we didnâ€™t make it up and they havenâ€™t seen it. And you werenâ€™t sure what you thought about it, and you hadnâ€™t seen it either. I figured that, whatever is real y going on, if I destroyed this place or seemed to, by its own rules, you know, weâ€™d have to end up back where we came from.â€​par 	Ted, about to yel at him for being stupid and risking al their lives on his pet theory, remembered the brief glimpse of their own world he had had, and bit his lip. â€œYou know,â€ he said, â€œit almost seemed to work. Did you noticeâ€”â€​par 	â€œYes,â€ said Patrick, a little smugly. â€œFor just a minute I saw the bottle trees and the dog. But something kept it from working. So now Iâ€™m not sure whatâ€™s going on, but I think somethingâ€™s trying to keep the story going.â€​par 	â€œAnd what about that Claudia?â€​par 	â€œNow thereâ€™s a real y random element,â€ said Patrick. â€œTel ing the King about Fence too soon, getting that council cal ed too early, trying to ambush Fence on the stairsâ€”and bewitching Randolph.â€​par 	â€œBut she hasnâ€™t real y managed to do anything,â€
 	said Ted. â€œWel , unless you count making such a fuss that Ruthie used Shanâ€™s Ring on her, which I think could have had a nasty effect.â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s what I mean,â€ said Patrick. â€œI think she wants the story to come out right, and since weâ€™re different from the characters in the story and it might not, she has to do things differently to balance that.â€​par 	â€œYou think she kept the crystal from working, then?â€​par 	â€œWel . . .â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t see how she could have,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œWith Shanâ€™s Ring holding her, you mean. Wel , maybe sheâ€™s working for somebody else. Say for the maybe sheâ€™s working for somebody else. Say for the cardinals. We never had any cardinal interrupt our practice before.â€​par 	â€œAnd they also had her bewitch Randolph?â€​par 	â€œSo he wouldnâ€™t be reasonable about kil ing the King. Thatâ€™s what I think.â€​par 	â€œBut look,â€ said Ted, grappling rebel iously with this theory, which seemed even mistier than Patrickâ€™s other theories, â€œin the first place, I donâ€™t think she did bewitch Randolph.â€​par 	â€œHe said she did.â€​par 	â€œThat was just a figure of speech,â€​aid Ted. 
 	Patrick looked scornful. 
 	â€œWhy should she have to, anyway?â€​aid Ted. 
 	He was beginning to get a headache, and his cheek hurt suddenly. He put a hand up to it and came away with a smear of blood. 
 	â€œI mean,â€ he said, â€œRandolph was going to be unreasonable, in the original story, so she shouldnâ€™t have had to mess with him.â€ He thought some more. â€œI mean,â€ he said, â€œ if she did it, she bewitched him before we got here, right? Now if sheâ€™d bewitched him after weâ€™d done something to make him change his mind, that would make sense.â€​par 	Patrick screwed up his forehead. â€œWait a minute,â€
 	he said. â€œLet me think. This just came to me, you know. 
 	Okay. What if she knew we were coming and so she got him ready just in case.â€​par 	â€œHow could she know?â€​par 	â€œMaybe she brought us.â€​par 	
 	Ted felt a cold creep up his backbone. â€œPatrick,â€ he said. â€œWe got so mad at each other, when we were al talking yesterday, I forgot to mention something. It hit meâ€”if weâ€™re not the right kids for this story, then where are they?â€​par 	â€œI think they ought to be back home,â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œThat would at least be tidy.â€​par 	â€œBut then we wouldnâ€™t have been missed al those times we were gone.â€​par 	Patrick shrugged. 
 	â€œSo what else did Claudia do?â€​par 	â€œTried to kil Fence, and got the King mad at Fence, and got that council moved.â€​par 	Ted frowned. â€œThat doesnâ€™t make sense. If she had kil ed Fence, that wouldnâ€™t have helped the story. I can see getting him in trouble by tel ing the King he was here before he was ready to see him. And maybe ruining his performance at the council by cal ing it before he was ready.â€​par 	Patrick sat down on the table. â€œWel ,â€ he said, â€œif youâ€™re right about Shanâ€™s Ring being dangerous, maybe she never real y meant to kil Fence; she knew he could beat her in a fight and then heâ€™d cal Ruth and Ruthâ€™d use Shanâ€™s Ring.â€​par 	â€œHow would she know itâ€™s dangerous?â€​par 	Patrick shrugged again. â€œIf she could bring us here, she probably knows a lot.â€ He shook his head violently. 
 	â€œWhy am I arguing with you? Who cares what the mechanism is if it isnâ€™t real?â€​par 	
 	Ted said sourly, â€œYou want it to be tidy, whether itâ€™s real or not.â€​par 	Patrick got up on his knees on the table and tried to pul the sword out of it. â€œI wonder how I got it in so deep?â€
 	he said. 
 	â€œYou were pretty worked up.â€​par 	â€œWel , how are we going to get out of here?â€​par 	â€œWhen the time comes, weâ€™l steal the swords.â€​par 	â€œEasy, huh?â€ Patrick, having begun scornful y, looked suddenly thoughtful and then secretive. 
 	Ted tried to disregard this. â€œWel , weâ€™ve got lots of time to find out where they keep them. And we donâ€™t have to be sneaky about it. I figure that when we get desperate enough to steal the swords, we wonâ€™t want to come back.â€​par 	It probably wouldnâ€™t real y be that easy, but Ted felt even tireder by now, and another discussion with Patrick would be too much. 
 	â€œAnd just when wil that be?â€​par 	Ted shrugged. â€œWel , either before the battle if we donâ€™t want to have anything to do with that, or before Iâ€™m supposed to kil Lord Randolph, because I certainly donâ€™t want to have anything to do with that. â€​par 	â€œLast time we mentioned it you didnâ€™t want to have anything to do with the battle.â€​par 	â€œI guess I stil donâ€™t,â€ said Ted, slowly. â€œBut if youâ€™re right about something working to make the story come out, then thereâ€™s real y nothing to be afraid of, is there?â€ Even as he asked the question, he remembered Lauraâ€™s ideas about waiting for the worms to come. He put the thought away. 
 	â€œOnly kil ing Lord Randolph,â€ said Patrick, with a nasty grin. â€œIn for a penny, in for a pound.â€​par 	â€œStop sounding like Agatha.â€​par 	â€œYou know what I mean.â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said Ted, â€œwhy shouldnâ€™t we be able to fight this thing, whatever it is? Especial y now that itsâ€”its secret agentâ€”is out of the way.â€​par 	â€œIf you fight it,â€ said Patrick, â€œwhatâ€™s to keep it from getting fed up and letting us al get kil ed after al ?â€​par 	â€œI stil think youâ€™re crazy,â€ said Ted, whose patience was wearing thin. He did what was almost always a mistake, and told Patrick what he real y thought. â€œThis is real, and I think we can do things to make it different.â€​par 	â€œExplain how it fits in with the game, then.â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€​aid Ted, â€œweâ€™ve al been acting as if we put this here, out of our heads. What if it put itself into our heads somehow?â€​par 	Feet pounded up the stairs. 
 	â€œHere it comes,â€ said Patrick, and sprang off the table. 
 	Ted was expecting guards. But it was Ruth, El en, and Laura who burst into the room. They al looked absolutely wild; windblown somehow, Ted thought, and furious. 
 	Ruth opened her mouth, and Patrick spoke first. 
 	â€œHowâ€™d you find us?â€​e said mildly. 
 	Ruth clamped her mouth shut; she was clearly fighting to keep from either shrieking at him or slugging him. 
 	â€œThe noise came from here,â€ said El en, â€œand it just pul ed us along.â€​par 	â€œDid you think you were home?â€​sked Ted. 
 	â€œMaybe for a minute,â€ said Laura. â€œEl en thought so, but I donâ€™t see how anybody could tel anything with al that noise.â€​par 	â€œI thought so too,â€​aid Ruth, very quietly. 
 	She had been looking around the room while the others talked, and now she stooped under the table and picked up a shard of colored glass. She held it up to the light, and behind her on the bare wal sprang the figures of an old man in wizardâ€™s garb with a young man at his feet. They were wavery, as if they were under water, but the colors were bril iant and the scene easy to recognize. It was one of the earlier scenes from the tapestry in the West Tower. 
 	 â€œAgain!â€​ said El en, almost in a wail. â€œIâ€™m not even sure I blame you for smashing it. Did it have the hole or the sun, Patrick?â€​par 	â€œWhat did you smash?â€​emanded Ruth. 
 	Patrick looked straight at her, and Ted, who had been trying to think of a plausible lie to save them much anger and more argument, saw that Patrick wanted to tel her the truth, and was relishing the moment. 
 	â€œThe Crystal of Earth,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	Ruth flew at him and shook him. â€œYou idiot! You are so stupid! You are so stupid I could kil you!â€​par 	She smacked him across the face. Laura burst into tears. 
 	El en, crying, â€œCut it out, Ruthie!â€ flung herself at them, fel over a chair, and knocked them both over. 
 	Ruth stood up. â€œYou are so stupid I donâ€™t have to kil you, youâ€™l do it yourself,â€​he said, calmly. 
 	â€œIâ€™l tel you whoâ€™s stupid,â€ said Patrick from the floor. â€œYou didnâ€™t even bother to find out why I did it.â€​par 	There was a bright red mark on his cheek, and he was considerably ruffled, but he managed to exude great dignity. 
 	Ted was not sure whether to cheer for him or kick him. 
 	Probably it would make no difference to Patrick. 
 	Ruth tossed her head. Ted had never seen her do anything like that, even when she was Lady Ruth. 
 	â€œWel , why did you?â€ El en asked Patrick. She was stil on the floor herself. 
 	â€œBecause Fence and Randolph have the swords,â€
 	said Patrick. He looked so pleased that Ted would not have minded smacking him too. 
 	Ruth looked up from patting Laura. â€œAnd how did they get them?â€​par 	Patrick told the story with aplomb, but it did not help his case with Ruth. 
 	â€œI said you were stupid,â€ she remarked. She looked at Ted. â€œAnd so are you. Donâ€™t you have any better sense than to play with magic swords?â€​par 	â€œDonâ€™t you have any better sense than to play with magic rings?â€​ed said bitterly. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s different. It was necessary. You just got those swords out of laziness because you didnâ€™t want to learn fencing.â€​par 	
 	â€œYou just used the ring out of laziness because you didnâ€™t want to learn sorcery,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s not true!â€ cried El en. â€œShe had an emergency. You were just practicing.â€​par 	Patrick shrugged and stood up. â€œWhatâ€™s the matter with Laura?â€​par 	â€œI want to go home,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œDonâ€™t we al ,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œNo,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œIt occurs to me,â€ said Patrick, â€œthat we ought to get out of here. Why didnâ€™t the guards come running when I broke that thing?â€​par 	â€œYou made me forget, screaming and fighting,â€ said El en, â€œbut everybody was frozen, like somebody stopped the movie. We couldnâ€™t stop to look at them because the noise was bringing us here, but they were just stopped in the middle of what they were doing.â€​par 	â€œLucky for us,â€ said Patrick. He looked at Ted. 
 	â€œAdd another one to your list.â€​par 	â€œWhat list?â€​aid Ruth irritably. 
 	â€œNot now,â€ said Ted. â€œItâ€™s another one of his theories. If he tel s you now youâ€™l probably kil him.â€​par 	â€œAl right, later,â€ said Ruth. â€œBut look, Patrick. 
 	Youâ€™ve got to stop doing things like this on your own. 
 	You couldâ€™ve kil ed us al . And itâ€™s not fair.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t care about fair,â€ said Patrick. â€œI just want us to stay in one piece.â€​par 	â€œWe wonâ€™t if you run around doing things without thinking.â€​par 	â€œIt wasnâ€™t without thinking. I thought about it for days. I just didnâ€™t expect to need it.â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™re missing the point.â€​par 	â€œNot now, â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œAl right,â€ said Patrick. â€œLetâ€™s discuss something easier, like how to keep Laura from breaking her neck on the Unicorn Hunt.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™m not going,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œItâ€™s not just Laura,â€ said Ruth. â€œEl ie and I canâ€™tâ€”what?â€​par 	â€œNot going.â€​par 	â€œItâ€™l be fun,â€​aid El en, sounding outraged. 
 	â€œBanquet of Midsummer Eve was supposed to be fun.â€​par 	â€œDidnâ€™t you like it?â€​aid El en, surprised. 
 	Laura was silent. 
 	â€œAnyway,â€ said Ruth, â€œEl ie and I canâ€™t ride that wel , either, Pat. Rocks and hil s and trees, and gal oping.â€​par 	â€œI think,â€ said El en, frowning, â€œthat Agatha and servants and old people walk on behind with picnic baskets or something. Maybe we could go with them?â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t think any of us should ride,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œWel , maybe we could al go with the walkers, then,â€
 	said Ruth. 
 	â€œI can ask Agatha,â€​aid El en. 
 	
 	â€œAnd now can we get out of here?â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œI suppose the guards wil have to unfreeze sometime, and they might remember that something odd happened.â€​par 	â€œWel , donâ€™t leave the evidence lying around like that,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	She supervised Tedâ€™s sweeping the shards of the Crystal of Earth into one pile. They al stood around looking at it. Ted felt the sadness of having broken something beautiful, and wondered whether Laura felt like that al the time. 
 	â€œTheyâ€™re bound to find out about this sooner or later,â€​e said. â€œI wonder why it wasnâ€™t guarded.â€​par 	â€œI wonder why it didnâ€™t work,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	After some halfhearted argument, Ruth was al owed to bundle up the pieces of the Crystal of Earth in El enâ€™s pinafore and bear them away to her room. Patrick wanted to bury or hide them somewhere, but Ruth said shortly that she would feel better being able to keep an eye on them. 
 	Ted and Patrick went back to the practice swords, and had little to say to one another. 
 	
 CHAPTER 19

 	ON the day of the Unicorn Hunt Laura woke up at dawn with her ivory unicorn clutched in one hand. El en had objected to Lauraâ€™s sleeping with it, maintaining that she, Laura, would certainly let go of it in her sleep and she, El en, rol over on it and be gouged. But Laura had been stubborn. 
 	Now, wriggling her hand to get rid of the lines and creases left by the statue, she decided that Fence real y had put a spel of finding and returning on it. 
 	She climbed out of bed and went over to the window. She tried to be quiet. If she couldnâ€™t sneak out and hide herself before El en woke up, El en would make her go to the Unicorn Hunt. The floor was chil y, but no more than you would expect of a stone floor in the early morning. She put her head out into the pale air. 
 	The sky was faint and pure. The long thin sunlight of early morning spread like a blanket over the treetops, but the roots of the Enchanted Forest were blue with shadow, and High Castle reared its massive height over the lake so that the lake too was dark. Or was it? Laura almost fel out of the window. There were hundreds of them, a sea of cloudy manes and spiral horns, and they shed about them a substantial light. The trees in the sunshine were more ephemeral than they. Laura jumped down from the window seat and made for the door. 
 	â€œEl en!â€ she yel ed. â€œWake up!â€ She jerked open the door and ran in her nightgown down the passage, down the back stairs, and out into the light. 
 	â€œGood morrow, Child of Man,â€​aid the unicorn. 
 	
 	â€œGood morning,â€​aid Laura, staring. 
 	â€œWhat do you wish?â€​par 	â€œI only wanted to watch,â€ said Laura, and bit her tongue, wondering if this was an admission that she had never seen a unicorn. â€œAnd to greet you,â€​he said. 
 	â€œThat was gracious,â€​aid the unicorn. 
 	Laura was embarrassed, and said nothing. 
 	The unicorn too was silent. The others had drifted away, elusive as the things that crowd the edges of your vision. 
 	This last one slid farther into the lake, and Laura grabbed handfuls of her nightgown and waded into the water. It was shockingly cold. 
 	The unicorn said, â€œWe do not regard the Children of Men with such awe as you give to us, and you are only a child, who wil grow only to a woman. But you seem to me ful of some power, as if we were the transient thing and you the lasting. But this is not so. What power is in you?â€​par 	I made you up, thought Laura. But looking at the unicorn, she could not believe that she had. It was enormous and solid. Its breath was warm on the top of her head. It had whiskers on the sides of its nose. The long horn with its spiral of violet gleamed and slanted, cold and dangerous, as the animal moved its head. Laura, sinking slowly into gravel y mud, looked up into its inquiring eyeâ€”violet, as Fence had said, and with an upright pupil like a catâ€™sâ€”and felt herself a slight and wavering thing. She remembered the exasperating line from Hamlet that Ted quoted at her when she could not understand his explanations, and she shook her head. 
 	â€œNo,â€ she said, â€œI never dreamed you in my philosophy.â€ The unicorn took two paces backward, drenching Laura to the waist. 
 	â€œCertainly you did not,â€ it said, but it sounded startled. 
 	â€œOh, donâ€™t go away,â€​leaded Laura. 
 	â€œYou wil see me again,â€ said the unicorn. 
 	â€œToday is the hunt.â€ It wheeled around like a leaf in a whirlpool and fled after the rest of the herd. 
 	Laura, backing away slowly, as if she were retreating from an audience with a king, tripped over her nightgown and sat down with a tremendous splash in the shal ows of the lake. 
 	She trudged back upstairs, leaving a trail of sand and water, and dripped into their bedroom. El en sat in the middle of the unmade bed with a very red face, trying to braid her hair. â€œShanâ€™s mercy!â€ she said fiercely as Laura entered. 
 	â€œDonâ€™t swear,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s not swearing,â€ said El en crossly as she looked up and stared. â€œWhat happened to you? â€​par 	â€œI talked to the unicorns!â€​par 	â€œIn the water?â€​par 	â€œI tried to wake you up.â€​par 	â€œWel , you did, but you were already gone.â€​par 	â€œAnd I have to talk to Patrick.â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™d better dry off first,â€ said El en. â€œHe wonâ€™t be very pleased if you go dripping cold water on him. Did you go swimming?â€​par 	â€œNo. I just talked to one of them for a minute. Oh, El ie, you should have seen.â€​par 	â€œWas it like the Secret?â€​par 	â€œMuch better,â€ said Laura. â€œWe didnâ€™t know anything about it at al . Those are real unicorns.â€​par 	â€œAre you going to start arguing with Patrick?â€
 	demanded El en. 
 	â€œIâ€™m just going to tel him.â€​par 	â€œWel , letâ€™s get dressed first.â€​par 	â€œWhat in?â€ asked Laura, stopping in the act of untying the bow at the neck of her nightgown. â€œI refuse to go in the woods in one of those dresses.â€​par 	El en bounded out of bed and went over to the wardrobe. 
 	â€œTheyâ€™re special festive clothes,â€ she said, â€œlike the ones for the banquet. So if we can find two more outfits that look alike, Iâ€™l bet thatâ€™s it. No, donâ€™t you come over here, youâ€™l get everything al wet. Why donâ€™t you go dry off.â€​par 	Laura dripped obediently into their bathing room. Today, for some reason, the towels were black, but they were stil linen. Laura wrapped herself up in one and wished for a mirror. Agatha had a hand mirror which she used to show El en and Laura what she had done to their hair, although Laura did not think that a protest on their part would make her change the hair. Ruth had a hand mirror in her room. The only other one Laura had seen was Fenceâ€™s, which was probably not a mirror at al . There was a room cal ed the Mirror Room, but in fact its wal s were covered with tapestries. 
 	Laura stalked out of the bathing room, intoning, â€œI am the Demon Queen.â€​par 	
 	the Demon Queen.â€​par 	El en, who had her arms ful of green stuff, favored her with the remark, â€œYou donâ€™t have any warts.â€ She dumped the clothes on the bed. â€œThese must be the right ones,â€ she said. â€œSee, theyâ€™ve got short skirts and no lace, and theyâ€™re al loose. This one is bigger, it must be mine. Here.â€ She threw the other dress across the bed to Laura and began climbing out of her nightgown. â€œDid you hang up that wet nightgown?â€ she added. 
 	â€œClaudia doesnâ€™t have any warts,â€ said Laura, dropping the towel in a heap on the floor and pul ing the dress over her head. â€œAnd sheâ€™s a demon queen.â€​par 	â€œSheâ€™s somebody awful,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œI want my tennis shoes,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œTheyâ€™re in Agathaâ€™s mending basket,â€ said El en. â€œAnd the cat ate one of the laces. Theyâ€™d look funny with that dress anyway.â€ She went over to the wardrobe again. â€œHere. Green boots. Or moccasins. Or something.â€​par 	â€œToo heavy,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œThere are brambles out there,â€ said El en. 
 	â€œAgatha said if we tried to wear our sandals like we did last year, sheâ€™d leave us behind with bread and water.â€​par 	â€œOh, wel .â€ Laura sat down and took the boots. 
 	â€œ Did we wear sandals last year?â€​par 	They put the boots on, with some trouble, as the laces were complex. â€œLet the cat eat these,â€ mumbled Laura. Then they went to find Patrick. 
 	
 	He was sitting in the middle of his bedroom floor, lacing his boots up with a sort of pleasurable concentration on his face. He was wearing a tunic of the same color and material as their dresses, and his boots were green too. 
 	â€œAgatha says both Ted and Ruth canâ€™t come with her party,â€​aid El en. 
 	Patrick looked startled. â€œOh,â€ he said. â€œI should have thought of that. But wil she let Laurie go?â€​par 	â€œSure. Everybody except Ted, or except Ruth. So one of them has to ride.â€​par 	Patrick finished his boots and frowned. â€œWho rides better, Ted or Ruth?â€​par 	â€œRuth,â€​aid El en, loyal y. 
 	Patrick shrugged. â€œI think Ted should go with the main hunt. Heâ€™s the prince, after al .â€​par 	â€œIâ€™l tel Ruth to come with us, then,â€ said El en. 
 	â€œAgatha says if weâ€™re late weâ€™l be left behind.â€​par 	Patrick shrugged again. 
 	â€œWhereâ€™s Ted?â€​sked El en. 
 	Patrick pointed to a lump in their wildly untidy bed. 
 	â€œHe wonâ€™t get up. He had bad dreams last night, and spent hours walking the battlements, or something.â€​par 	â€œWel , tel him he has to ride today.â€​par 	Laura, who had been fidgeting around, said, â€œPatrick, we didnâ€™t make up those unicorns.â€​par 	â€œNo, of course we didnâ€™t. The Greeks did,â€ he said. â€œOr was it the Middle Ages?â€​par 	
 	â€œBut you saidâ€”â€​par 	â€œ We didnâ€™t,â€ said Patrick. â€œNot the way we made up Lord Randolph. Not the idea of unicorns. But we put them here. It doesnâ€™t make them any realer, Laurie, just because somebody else made them up, does it?â€​par 	â€œYou donâ€™t make any sense at al !â€ said Laura, crossly, and bolted into the hal . She was not sure, now, that she could describe her early morning experience to anyone. 
 	She certainly could not describe it to Patrick. She wondered what he would say if she told him that the unicorn had seemed to think that she had made it up. 
 	â€œI hope,â€ said El en, joining her, â€œthat youâ€™re not going to be nasty al day.â€​par 	â€œWhoâ€™s nasty?â€​aid Laura, astonished. 
 	â€œNever mind,â€ said El en, eyeing her sideways as they went down the stairs. â€œSometimes you act just like Princess Laura.â€​par 	Laura considered this al the way down to the dining hal , and became pleased with herself. She thought that High Castle must be rubbing off on her somehow. She thought about riding horses, and liked the idea no better than she ever had. The rubbing off must be slow. 
 	There was nobody in the dining hal , but there was even more food than usual on the sideboard; some empty plates and cups on the table showed that other people were up too. They inspected the sideboard. 
 	â€œHey!â€​aid Laura. â€œOatmeal.â€​par 	â€œGah,â€ said El en. â€œIâ€™m getting tired of pork chops for breakfast.â€​par 	
 	They took their food and dishes and sat down at one end of a long table. The high roof of the hal arched above them, ful of shadows. It was very quiet. Outside two birds argued. 
 	Laura buttered her bread lavishly, licked her knife, and blanched. She kept forgetting that there was no salt in the butter. There was none in the oatmeal either, or perhaps something else was wrong with it. Whatever was wrong, she didnâ€™t like it. 
 	â€œHow long,â€ she asked El en, â€œare we going to be here?â€​par 	â€œWel ,â€ said El en, laying a bare chop bone on her plate, â€œI guess it depends on how many stories weâ€™ve made up. We never did use them al , you know. 
 	By the time Ted comes back to life and is kingâ€”â€​par 	â€œBut wait,â€ said Laura. â€œThose other stories came before now. We didnâ€™t want them to happen afterward because we didnâ€™t like having stories without Lord Randolph.â€​par 	â€œ I never thought Lord Randolph was so much,â€ said El en, scowling. â€œWho wants murderers around anyway?â€​par 	â€œBut he wasnâ€™t a murderer before.â€​par 	â€œHe was thinking about it.â€​par 	â€œWel , you agreed,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œHuh,â€ said El en. She picked up her plate, letting t h e bone fal to the table, and examined the pattern. 
 	â€œHey,â€ she said. â€œItâ€™s that darn pattern again.â€​par 	â€œHas it got the sun or the hole?â€​par 	El en turned the plate, examining it. â€œWel !â€ she said. 
 	
 	El en turned the plate, examining it. â€œWel !â€ she said. 
 	â€œIt doesnâ€™t have that scene at al .â€​par 	â€œI wonder whatâ€™s going on,â€​aid Laura, sadly. 
 	There was a sudden commotion at the door as Ted, Ruth, and Patrick al struggled to get through it at once. It was just barely too narrow for al of them, and none of them would give way. Ruth and Ted were laughing, but Patrick, who was stuck in the middle, kept repeating calmly, â€œI won this race.â€​par 	â€œHa!â€ said Ruth, dropping to her knees and scooting between their legs and across the floor to the sideboard. 
 	â€œHa!â€ she repeated, standing up. â€œYou said, Iâ€™l race you to breakfast. This is breakfast. I win.â€​par 	El en and Laura looked at one another. 
 	â€œMaybe 
 	sheâ€™s 
 	forgotten 
 	about 
 	being 
 	a
 	sorcerer,â€​hispered El en. 
 	Laura doubted it. She knew of no rule that sorcerers could not occasional y be sil y. 
 	Patrick picked himself up off the floor and came sedately over to join her. Ted fol owed. Before they had finished choosing their breakfasts, Randolph, Fence, and Matthew came in and made for the sideboard. 
 	â€œListen, you guys,â€ said Ruth, holding a ladleful of oatmeal over the iron pot and watching it dubiously, â€œdo you real y think Ted can keep up with the hunt? Iâ€™ve been riding longer, andâ€”â€​par 	â€œShut up!â€ said El en, making odd movements with her eyebrows at the two lords and the magician. 
 	Ruth did not see her, but they did. Fence and Matthew simply stopped walking and looked receptive, but Randolph, to the everlasting astonishment of Laura, came quietly up behind Ted, who was careful y spooning honey onto a plate, and tickled him. El en burst out laughing. Laura dropped her cup of mead into her lap. 
 	Ted gave an unnerved shriek and leaped backward, his hand going to his belt. Laura saw that he had there a dagger in a leather sheath, and any impulse to laughter she might have felt was stil ed. 
 	Randolph was smiling at Ted, but he looked a little anxious. Ted stared at him for a moment and then giggled, possibly in relief. Patrick rol ed his eyes at the ceiling, which made Laura giggle too. Ruth placidly served herself some oatmeal. Fence and Matthew, exchanging glances Laura would have given a great deal to know the meaning of, came and got their own breakfasts. 
 	Fence sat across from El en and Laura as El en was trying to mop the mead off Lauraâ€™s dress. 
 	â€œStupid napkins,â€ she muttered. â€œTheyâ€™re as bad as the towels.â€​par 	â€œNever mind,â€ said Laura, trying to squirm away from her. Fence looked suspicious again. She had not seen him since he gave her the ivory unicorn, and her reaction to that seemed to have been what he expected. Apparently spil ing mead in her lap was not what he expected of her. 
 	Laura cursed Princess Laura and pushed El enâ€™s hand away. 
 	â€œSeek out the old napkins,â€ said Matthew to El en, sitting down beside Fence. â€œThey grow more pliable with age.â€​par 	â€œUnlike men,â€ said Randolph, and slid himself in next to El en. 
 	
 	â€œThis is not a day for such remarks,â€ said Fence severely. 
 	Randolph looked at him, and Laura expected him to shrug. He looked remarkably like Patrick for a moment. 
 	Then he smiled. â€œI cry you mercy,â€ he said, and bit into his bread. 
 	â€œI have been thinking,â€ he added, with his mouth ful , a thing for which he had chided Laura at dinner the night before, â€œthat we require a new riddle for the ceremony for the hunt, if that which we commonly ask the unicorns hath been answered by another. Am I not right, lady,â€ he said to Ruth, â€œto say that you have solved the riddle of Shanâ€™s Ring?â€​par 	Ruth choked on her oatmeal and turned red, whether from the choking or from embarrassment Laura did not know. 
 	The rest of them sat very stil ; Laura looked at Ted and saw that he was afraid. 
 	â€œWhat?â€​aid Fence, dropping his knife. 
 	â€œWel ,â€​aid Ruth, and cleared her throat. 
 	â€œOh, wel done!â€ said Fence, beaming at her. Ruth was too nonplussed to say anything. 
 	â€œItâ€™s what I used on Claudia,â€ she told him, cautiously. 
 	Fence nodded. â€œI had wondered,â€ he said, â€œbutâ€”ah, wel , â€™tis not for me to pry into your secrets. So Shanâ€™s Ring goes now to be an heirloom of the Green Caves.â€​par 	Ruth shrugged; Laura suspected her of being confused. 
 	â€œI would we had known this sooner,â€ said Fence, looking reproachful y from Ruth to Randolph. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Ruth, â€œI thought weâ€™d ask the riddle again and check the unicornâ€™s answer this year, just to be sure. I mean, the Ring could do what itâ€™s done so far because of a lot more theories than mine.â€​par 	Laura felt Patrick, who had sat down on her other side, move jerkily. She glanced at him. He looked outraged. She supposed that he disliked Ruthâ€™s taking credit for his ideas. 
 	â€œCautious, prudent, sober,â€ said Fence. â€œNot according to the Unicorn Hunt, methinks.â€​par 	â€œWhat instead, then?â€​aid Randolph. 
 	â€œThere is our present distress,â€ ventured Matthew, but both Fence and Randolph shook their heads at him. 
 	â€œNot so close to battle as we are,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	â€œIndeed not,â€ said Fence. â€œThe answer would raise more dispute than it could answer; each man would bend it to his own need. The unicorns speak not straightly. 
 	We would be more muddled than we are, and what little strategy we have would be undone. Besides, some things it is better not to know.â€​par 	â€œIsnâ€™t that pretty cautious and prudent too?â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œVery wel ,â€ said Matthew, patiently. â€œThen let us ask the unicorns what is the nature of Claudia?â€​par 	Everyone turned toward him with exclamations of surprise and pleasure. He looked smug. 
 	â€œExcel ent,â€​aid Fence. 
 	â€œOh, good,â€ said Laura. â€œWe can find out who she is and what sheâ€™s up to andâ€”â€​par 	El en bumped her. 
 	â€œWhy do you ask who she is?â€ said Randolph. 
 	â€œShe has lived here longer than you have. She and I were from our childhood days brought up here.â€​par 	â€œShe was a goodly child,â€ said Fence, thoughtful y. 
 	â€œWhen, I wonder, didâ€”â€​par 	â€œ I keep wondering,â€ said Laura, who had just thought of it, â€œif she could have put a spel on us to make us think sheâ€™d been here and was Andrewâ€™s sister and was nice, butâ€”â€​par 	â€œThat would be a considerable spel ,â€​aid Fence. 
 	Laura began to feel irritated with him. Obviously he did not like to admit that someone he had not taught could do anything right. 
 	â€œIn the same league,â€ said Randolph, suddenly, â€œas covering the Southlands with monsters that seem as trees?â€​par 	Fence stared at him. â€œI had thought she furthered her own ends. A spy of the Dragon King?â€​par 	â€œNo , no! â€ cried Laura, unbearably exasperated. 
 	â€œLord Andrew is the spy of the Dragon King!â€​par 	â€œ Laurie! â€​aid Ted. 
 	 â€œLaura!â€​ said Randolph a bare second behind him, and much more severely. 
 	But Fence brought his hand down on the table with a crash that rattled the bones on the plates and spil ed what remained of Lauraâ€™s mead. â€œWhy not?â€​aid he. 
 	
 	â€œWhy?â€​aid Randolph. 
 	â€œConsider his beliefs touching magic,â€ said Matthew. 
 	â€œAl the better,â€ said Fence. â€œThe deluded mind is the easier to deceive.â€​par 	â€œFie on this,â€ said Randolph, â€œwhere is the evidence?â€​par 	â€œLaura?â€ said Fence, and looked at her much too intently for comfort. 
 	Laura was unbearably frustrated and extremely frightened. 
 	None of the others seemed inclined to help her. Or perhaps they could not; they looked frightened too. She swal owed. 
 	â€œI just thought so,â€ she said. â€œBecause he hangs around the King al the time and you can tell he doesnâ€™t like him.â€ This was a restatement of something Ted had said when he was reporting the second council to them. 
 	Randolph shrugged. â€œAndrew likes no one, save perhaps himself.â€​par 	â€œWel , he doesnâ€™t hang around anybody else,â€
 	said Laura, gaining a little confidence from the mere fact that someone had bothered to answer her. 
 	â€œMaybe he wants to be King,â€ said El en, a little shakily. Laura looked at her with gratitude. 
 	Fence had an expression on his face that Laura was not sure she liked; he looked as if he were about to pounce. 
 	â€œHow could he become King?â€ said Ruth to El en, a little irritably. 
 	â€œHeâ€™s related,â€​aid El en, bristling. 
 	
 	Randolph, looking at Fence, said, â€œIt is but distantly.â€​par 	â€œSo,â€ said Fence, â€œwho stands in his way? Ted, Patrick. Who next?â€​par 	â€œSiblings,â€ said Randolph, with a sort of glee that Laura did not understand at al . â€œPatrick the Elder. Anna. 
 	Children of siblings. Justin the Younger. Angus. Laura, El en. 
 	Children of the grandsiresâ€™ siblings.â€​par 	El en began to giggle. 
 	â€œWil iamâ€™s father, John V, had one brother, Edward,â€ said Fence, frowning as if he were doing mental arithmetic. â€œHis children were James and Elaine.â€​par 	â€œElaine,â€ said Matthew, with the air of one entering a game, â€œis High Sorceress, and has forfeited her claim.â€​par 	â€œJames,â€ said Fence, â€œis a hermit in the Dubious Hil s.â€​par 	â€œJohn also,â€ said Fence, â€œhad one sister, Celia, who had five sons and two daughters. None is dead and al have children.â€​par 	Laura had not the remotest idea what they were al doing, but they were so obviously having a joke that she, too, began to giggle. 
 	â€œWe may see by this,â€ said Fence, raising his voice over their chortles, â€œthat the other heirs to the throne are far too numerous to be disposed of by assassination or by any other means that Andrew might effect on his own. His al iance with the Dragon King lies therefore within the borders of the probable. Granting the premise,â€ he added, nodding in El enâ€™s direction. She snorted, and began to laugh again. 
 	
 	â€œThere is a much simpler premise,â€ said Randolph. 
 	â€œAndrew wants, not the throne, but rather that considerable degree of power that comes from being in the Kingâ€™s favor and in his confidence, both of which he hopes to gain by speaking what he views as hard sense, when every other counselor who is his own man is babbling childrenâ€™s stories.â€​par 	â€œIn which case,â€ said Matthew, â€œAndrew must himself believe what he says touching magic?â€​par 	Randolph shrugged. â€œItâ€™s like him,â€ he said, scornful y. â€œHe can see inward to the minds of men, but never outward to anything that is not Man.â€​par 	â€œ â€˜he proper study of Mankind is Man,â€™ â€
 	mumbled Ruth. 
 	â€œAnd a more foolish teaching Iâ€™ve seldom heard,â€ exclaimed Randolph. â€œHad King John studied Man we would al be slaves in the mines of the Dragon King and al our gardens would be a wilderness of snakes.â€​par 	â€œLaura,â€ said Fence, â€œwhy did you say that Andrew was a spy?â€​par 	Ruth said to Randolph, â€œIf the Dragon King had studied man, heâ€™d only be a man now, and we wouldnâ€™t have to worry about Andrewâ€™s loyalties.â€​par 	â€œIf pigs had wings,â€ said Fence, laughing, â€œthey would be pigeons.â€​par 	â€œNo matter the circumstances, we needs must concern ourselves with Andrewâ€™s loyalties,â€ said Randolph, â€œfor that they lie always with himself whether that be right or wrong.â€​par 	â€œRandolph,â€​aid Fence. 
 	
 	â€œHave a care for thine own tongue,â€ said Randolph, smiling; there was an edge to his words. 
 	Fence looked thoughtful y at him, and nodded. â€œA very palpable hit,â€ he said. â€œThis is a day neither for politics nor for philosophy, save what twisted and uncertain bits ofâ€™t come our way in the Riddle Game. But once more, before we turn our tongues to merrier things. Laura?â€​par 	â€œI already told you,â€ said Laura, a little sul enly; she had thought the danger was over. 
 	Fence dropped his hand to the table. â€œYou may be a child,â€ he said, â€œwhich I can see you hope wil excuse you, but you are not stupid, nor malicious, nor fanciful. I wil have this out of you ere the next council. Let it be for now.â€​par 	With one accord they stood and made for the door. 
 	Â 
 	I knew I shouldnâ€™t have come, thought Laura, but she could not dread Fenceâ€™s questions when the Unicorn Hunt lay before her. She felt that seeing a unicorn again was al that anyone could ask for. 
 	â€œNot malicious or fanciful, maybe,â€ said Ted in Lauraâ€™s ear, â€œbut youâ€™re certainly stupid. What made you do that?â€​par 	â€œThey need to know!â€​par 	â€œNot unless you can back it up.â€​par 	â€œWel , you told Fence about Randolph!â€ said Laura, and then stared at him. Had he told Fence as she had, without thinking, because he was exasperated? She tripped on the doorsil , and Ted picked her up. Laura was relieved that Fence had not seen. 
 	
 	â€œKeep an eye out for Agatha,â€ said Patrick, on the other side of Laura. â€œWe donâ€™t want you breaking your neck.â€​par 	â€œAgathaâ€™s right there,â€ said Laura, waving as they came out into the courtyard. â€œWhere are the horses for Ted and everybody?â€​par 	â€œThereâ€™s Benjamin,â€​aid El en, behind her. 
 	Al four of them stopped and stared. Benjamin was on foot, and he was not dressed for riding. He led one white horse, without a saddle. With him came the King and the other counselors. They were al on foot, and they were not dressed for riding either. 
 	â€œWhat now!â€​aid Ted. â€œClaudia again?â€​par 	â€œWhere?â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œNo, I mean she did this.â€​par 	â€œHow could she?â€ said Laura. â€œSheâ€™s locked up.â€​par 	â€œBe quiet a minute,â€ said Ted, watching the rest of their breakfast party merge with the Kingâ€™s. Randolph kissed the Kingâ€™s hand and spoke to him earnestly. 
 	Several counselors made for Fence. Matthew stood looking amused, and Ruth hovered nervously near him. A cardinal whistled out of the fir trees. 
 	â€œI know perfectly wel ,â€ said Ted, â€œthat this hunt goes on horseback. Now whatâ€™s she done?â€​par 	â€œWel , it saves a lot of trouble,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s unusual for Claudia,â€ said Ted. He caught Patrick by the sleeve. â€œName me those random factors again,â€​e said. 
 	
 	Patrick blinked at him. â€œSolving Shanâ€™s Ring. And it looks like you were wrong about that too; itâ€™s not dangerous. Letâ€™s see. Getting Fence in trouble a couple of different ways. Claudia definitely did that. And the Crystal of Earth not working.â€​par 	â€œAnd no horses on the hunt?â€​par 	Patrick strode across the courtyard, fol owed by Ted, and tapped Matthewâ€™s elbow. â€œSir.â€​par 	â€œMy lord?â€​par 	â€œWere we not to ride upon this hunt?â€​par 	â€œThe Unicorn Hunt?â€ said Matthew, astonished. 
 	â€œIt was never so. You know that.â€​par 	â€œHeâ€™s just being troublesome,â€ said Ted, dragging at Patrick, who had acquired his stubborn look. 
 	â€œDonâ€™t be an idiot,â€ Ted said to him. â€œIf she can make them believe sheâ€™s been at court al her life, if she did, or get out of Fenceâ€™s spel , which he says she did anyway, she can make them think theyâ€™ve never used horses for the hunt, canâ€™t she?â€​par 	â€œI want to know whatâ€™s going on.â€​par 	â€œStil at Claudia?â€​aid Matthew. 
 	Patrick looked up at him. â€œI remember as wel as I remember anything that we ride to this hunt.â€​par 	â€œAnd I,â€ said Matthew, â€œremember better than anything that we do not.â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™re bewitched!â€​par 	â€œOr you are,â€ said Matthew, sounding mildly interested. 
 	
 	 â€œMe!â€​ said Patrick, outraged. 
 	Ted felt cold al over. â€œWhy not?â€ he said. â€œHow could you tel ? Maybe thatâ€™s how they put al this into our heads.â€​par 	Behind them there came a tumult of horns, a blare and blast of enormous melody that shook the bones in them and seemed likely to accomplish what Patrick had wanted when he broke the Crystal of Earth. Their ears rang, the ground trembled, a cloud of pigeons shot away from the towers of High Castle, and Ted saw the cardinal go like a red arrow out of the fir trees. 
 	
 CHAPTER 20

 	THE hunters came in a crowd of hounds. They were tal men, with intent faces and large eyes. They were dressed in red and green, and they had caps with feathers. Some of them carried horns, but most of them had long spears. Their eyes stared over or around or through the assembled lords and ladies and servants and children. They seemed to contemplate, with infinite patience, something enormously remote, farther than the mountains, past the shores of evening, west of the west. 
 	The King stepped from among his counselors to greet these men, and he bowed to them. 
 	â€œYou are welcome, my lords,â€ he said. His voice carried as wel in the courtyard as it had in the Council Chamber. â€œYou do us great honor, to come so far for so brief a time that we who cannot even track the hart may be overbold and merry with the unicorn. Is al wel with you?â€​par 	â€œMy lord,â€ said one of the hunters, â€œone who was ever of our company goes missing.â€​par 	Ted was quite sure who this was, and he looked at Patrick. Patrick seemed poised between fury and fascination. 
 	â€œMy lord, it grieves me to hear it,â€ said the King. 
 	â€œWho?â€​par 	â€œThe Lady Claudia does not ride with us.â€​par 	â€œHow did he know that so fast?â€ Ted whispered to Patrick. 
 	
 	Matthew glared at them, and Patrick did not reply; he did manage to look eloquently disgusted. 
 	â€œMy lord,â€ said the King, â€œI deeply regret that you were not informed, and that we sought not to replace her. 
 	We are hedged about with troubles, and our minds set on things other than festival. I crave your indulgence; this shal be remedied.â€​par 	He looked away from the hunter, and his eye fel on Ruth, who stood between Matthew and Patrick, looking at the ground. 
 	â€œMilady Ruth,â€​aid the King. 
 	Ruth looked at him warily. â€œSire.â€​par 	â€œI prithee take Claudiaâ€™s place in this game, that al be not cheated of their celebration. Thy hand dispatched her to the dungeon; come then and fil the gap thouâ€™st made.â€​par 	â€œSir,â€ said Ruth, in a voice so low that Ted, just the other side of Patrick, could barely hear her. He saw Laura and El en, across the courtyard with Agatha, staring in bewilderment. â€œI did not dispatch Claudia to the dungeon on a whim,â€ Ruth went on, looking straight at the King and growing red, â€œbut because it was needful. And I wil never, in jest or in earnest, ask me who wil , my lord, play such a part as she played yearly here. Do not ask me to.â€​par 	The King seemed to have had no trouble hearing her; he turned red, too, and began to speak. 
 	 â€œRuth!â€​ said Patrick, overriding the King. 
 	 â€œItâ€™s only a game!â€​
 	Ruth stepped clear of Matthew, who had tried to take her arm. She glared at her brother; this time her voice carried to everyone. 
 	â€œIt is a base treachery,â€ she said, not with the shril ness of Ruth when she was excited, but with the impressive deepness of Lady Ruth in a temper, â€œand I would not act such a part in the meanest theater in Telma!â€​par 	Patrick closed his mouth, despair in his face. Ted, crazily, wondered what Telma was. 
 	Into the awful silence came El enâ€™s voice. 
 	â€œIâ€™l do it,â€​he said. 
 	Ted jumped and looked at her. Laura was gaping at her; Agatha was regarding her with the kind of proprietary pleasure Ted had seen exhibited by mothers at school concerts. She had startled other people too. 
 	Patrick elbowed Ted. â€œWho did the maiden in the game?â€​par 	â€œEl en,â€​aid Ted, wearily. 
 	â€œYes, I know, but was she Princess El en or justâ€”â€​par 	The King cocked an eyebrow at El en, and gestured. She came across the cobblestones to him, looking defiant. The King looked down at her for a moment, and nobody breathed. 
 	â€œThat was wel done,â€​aid the King. He turned to the hunter. â€œWil you take this maid to be of your company this day, that al things may be as they were first done and written?â€​par 	â€œWil she be faithful?â€​par 	â€œI pledge it,â€​aid the King. 
 	
 	â€œOuch,â€ said Patrick in Tedâ€™s ear. â€œIf she should break it now.â€​par 	â€œShush!â€​aid Ted violently; this entire ritual was new to him and he did not want to miss any of it. 
 	â€œLet her come, then,â€ said the hunter, beckoning, and El en went to stand with his tal grave men. 
 	â€œHere begins the Hunt of the Unicorn,â€ said the hunter. 
 	Three of his men put horns to their lips. Ted braced himself, but they blew more gently this time. Then they al began walking down the hil , through the terraces and gardens below High Castle, making for the Enchanted Forest. The inhabitants of High Castle fel in behind them in a babble of voices which sounded, to Ted, more strident than merry. 
 	â€œRuthieâ€™s going to get it,â€ said Patrick, on Tedâ€™s right. 
 	â€œYou shut the hel up,â€ Ruth said over Tedâ€™s head to him. 
 	â€œNo doubt she is,â€ said Matthew behind them, to Tedâ€™s relief. â€œBut must you talk about it here and now? For shame, al of you. If you cannot be merry together, have at least the grace to sulk separately. This is festival.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t care if I do get it,â€ said Ruth to Patrick, heatedly. â€œItâ€™s a dirty rotten trick to cal the animal when you know it has to show up because youâ€™re al pure and innocent, and then let the huntersâ€”who could never catch it on their ownâ€”come and kil it. They can cut my head off before Iâ€™l do it.â€​par 	â€œRuthie,â€ said Ted, with sudden hope, â€œlisten, okayâ€”thatâ€™s how I feel about what I have to do.â€​par 	â€œClaudia,â€​aid Patrick, loudly, â€œdoesnâ€™t look very innocent to me.â€​par 	â€œDo not slander the absent,â€ said Matthew, peaceably. 
 	â€œItâ€™s not the same at all, â€​aid Ruth to Ted. 
 	â€œI didnâ€™t say it was, I said I felt the same.â€​par 	Matthew, staring at them, opened his mouth. 
 	â€œMy lord,â€ said Patrick to him, desperately, â€œare those wild strawberries?â€​par 	â€œWhere?â€​aid Matthew. 
 	Patrick pointed ahead of them. Ted looked too, and saw that the grass beyond the last terrace was thick with flowers, as thick as the needlepoint his grandmother did. Among them he saw trails and clumps of the sharp-edged leaflets and pale yel ow stars of the strawberry. 
 	â€œIndeed they are,â€​aid Matthew. 
 	â€œWeâ€™l have to come and pick them when theyâ€™re ripe!â€ said Patrick, with an exuberance foreign to Tedâ€™s experience of his moods. He bounded down the last steps ahead of them and went knee-deep into bluebel s. 
 	â€œThink again,â€ said Matthew. â€œWhere even you lose the path, my prince, the strawberries in that field are perilous. This is the border of the Enchanted Forest.â€​par 	â€œWhere is the path?â€ said Ted. â€œWhereâ€™s the hunt?â€​par 	They looked at him, and they looked ahead and behind. 
 	
 	Up the hil among the terraces and fountains, no one walked. 
 	The bright meadow before them was empty of al but butterflies, and the eaves of the forest were ful only of shadows. They heard the wind, and one lone cardinal, and their own breathing: no step, no laugh, no cry of hound or horn. 
 	â€œThis is the first spel of the Enchanted Forest,â€ said Matthew. â€œMayhap we are set for our own adventure.â€
 	He looked at Ruth. â€œMy lady, you may yet play that part you refused. The Hunt of the Unicorn goes not always to the hunters.â€​par 	â€œIt doesnâ€™t?â€ said Patrick. Ted winced, thinking that Patrick should know this already, but Matthew did not seem to think so. 
 	â€œOne year when I was very young, it went to two of the kingâ€™s counselors and a vil age child,â€ said Matthew. 
 	He chuckled. â€œOh, and the murmuring and whispering among the other ten of the counselors, and the dark looks and hints! My father was a counselor then, and he brooded over it in the evenings until the feast of Shan.â€​par 	â€œWhy did it go to them?â€ asked Ted. They had al stopped walking. 
 	â€œWhy does the wind blow?â€​aid Matthew. 
 	â€œDo you real y think, my lord, that this time it could go to us?â€​par 	â€œI wonâ€™t do it,â€​aid Ruth. â€œIâ€™l throw rocks at it first.â€​par 	â€œEven if you should accept the part,â€ said Matthew, â€œwhich among the rest of us would draw his sword?â€​par 	â€œNot I,â€​aid Ted. 
 	
 	â€œNor I,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	Ruth, disgraceful y, giggled. â€œYou sound like the bad animals in the Little Red Hen. â€​par 	Patrick grimaced at her, and Ted, whose parents did not like the traditional childrenâ€™s stories, simply stared, but Matthew smiled. 
 	â€œDo you know the story?â€​emanded Patrick. 
 	â€œHow old are you?â€​aid Ted at the same time. 
 	Matthew looked at them in mild surprise. â€œCertainly I know it, and I am seven-and-twenty,â€ he said. Ted caught himself goggling, and looked at Ruth and Patrick, who were staring at Matthew as if he had tongues of flame above his head. 
 	â€œHow long have you been a counselor?â€​uth asked. 
 	â€œFive years,â€​aid Matthew. 
 	They went on staring at him. 
 	â€œIs there aught else you would know?â€ said Matthew, not unkindly. â€œIf there is not, we had best be on our way. 
 	A show of effort likes the unicorns.â€​par 	â€œBut do they like it?â€ murmured Ruth, who, thought Ted, knew perfectly wel that likes once meant pleases,  and that Matthew was so using it. Ted poked her, and she grinned at him. 
 	â€œKeep thy distance from the maid,â€ said Matthew to Ted. 
 	â€œOh, for heavenâ€™s sake,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œI had not thought,â€ said Matthew; he was beginning to look grim. 
 	
 	â€œNeither had we,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s go,â€ said Patrick. â€œWhereâ€™s the path?â€​par 	Matthew stepped down into the grass, and, fol owing him, they saw that there was indeed a path hidden in the flowers, barely wide enough for one person to stand on with his feet together. 
 	â€œLook,â€ said Ruth. â€œPeriwinkles. But what are those? I wish we had El ie with us.â€​par 	â€œIâ€™ve never seen so many flowers in my life,â€
 	said Ted, and could have bitten his tongue; he ought to be acting as if he had seen them every year since he could walk. He looked out of the corner of his eye at Matthew, but that young man only smiled at him. 
 	â€œThere are none anywhere like these,â€​e said. 
 	â€œMore bluebel s,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	They plowed on through the waist-high grass. The scent of flowers and greenness and grass baking rose to Ted. He felt as if he had the soul of summer almost in his grasp. 
 	â€œWatch it!â€​al ed Ruth. 
 	 â€œOw!â€​ said Patrick. 
 	â€œBrambles,â€ said Ruth, rueful y, looking at her brother as he tried to pul them out of his tunic. 
 	Ted and Matthew came panting up. 
 	â€œYou donâ€™t want to come this way,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	Ted, blinking, saw that they had come some considerable distance into the forest. 
 	â€œNor do we,â€ said Matthew. â€œHere, hold stil .â€
 	
 	He caught hold of Patrick and began unwinding him. 
 	â€œCan you get out, my lady?â€​par 	â€œWait a moment, I think I see something,â€ said Ruth. 
 	â€œThereâ€™s a clearing on the other side of these bushes. I think. The sunâ€™s coming in, anyway.â€​par 	â€œYou canâ€™t get there from here,â€ said Ted, gloomily. He had liked the meadow better. 
 	â€œWe can go around these things.â€​par 	â€œThat is the stream, not a clearing,â€​aid Matthew. 
 	Patrick yelped. 
 	â€œI cry you mercy,â€​aid Matthew. 
 	â€œItâ€™s al right,â€ said Patrick, â€œas long as Iâ€™m out.â€ He sucked at a scratch on his wrist and looked over his hand at his sister. â€œAre you coming out of there?â€​par 	â€œThe pathâ€”â€​egan Matthew. 
 	â€œHush up a minute,â€ said Ruth, as if he were one of her siblings. 
 	They hushed. Thin and far they heard what might have been the crying of hounds, and then thin but clear the notes of the huntersâ€™ horns. 
 	â€œAh,â€ said Matthew. On his flushed and sweaty face was an enormous pleasure. â€œAt least we shal not missâ€™t altogether.â€​par 	Ruth crashed her way out onto the other side of the brambles and looked back at them. She was covered with scratches and her hair was coming down, but she looked as pleased as Matthew. 
 	
 	â€œA little water clears us of this deed,â€ she said gaily, and plunged on into the underbrush. 
 	Matthew flung his hair back from his forehead and went after her. Ted and Patrick stood looking at each other. 
 	â€œTheyâ€™re crazy,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œI guess,â€ said Ted. He thought he knew how they felt, and wondered why they had kept the feeling when he had lost it. 
 	He and Patrick plowed through the bushes, trying to steer around the worst of the brambles. Ted hit himself in the forehead with a tree branch. 
 	â€œGod damn it!â€​e said, reeling back. 
 	â€œHey,â€ said Patrick, â€œhey, Ted. Look at this tree.â€​par 	Ted was dizzy, and he felt that sense of enormous outrage peculiar to people who have been hurt unexpectedly. 
 	â€œHow the hel can I look at it when Iâ€™ve practical y kil ed myself on it?â€​par 	â€œLook at the fruit.â€​par 	Ted, rubbing an aching and gritty forehead with a grimier hand, squinted at the vexatious tree. â€œHuh,â€​e said. 
 	Patrick held a fruit out to him. It was perfectly round and dul red, with a thick rind. 
 	â€œWhatâ€™s that?â€​par 	â€œI think itâ€™s a pomegranate.â€​par 	Ted stared at it, and an idea crept into his mind. 
 	â€œPatrick,â€​e said. 
 	â€œWhat?â€​aid Patrick, warily. 
 	
 	â€œLetâ€™s see if two can play this game.â€​par 	â€œWhat?â€​par 	â€œClaudiaâ€™s changing things. Letâ€™s change something ourselves.â€​par 	â€œWhat the hel do you think I was trying to do with the Crystal of Earth?â€​par 	â€œNot like that. Letâ€™s try to add something new.â€​par 	â€œWe did that back at the beginning, when Ruth tried that story about Green Cave ceremonies on Benjamin.â€​par 	â€œNot like that. Letâ€™s decide, the way we used to, that something new is true.â€​par 	Patrick looked skeptical. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s say,â€ said Ted, deliberately, â€œthat for every pomegranate seed we eat, any of the five of us, we al have to spend one month out of every year in the Secret Country.â€​par 	â€œYou can say it,â€ said Patrick, â€œbut I wonâ€™t eat it. Besides, weâ€™ve eaten them before; weâ€™ve probably eaten ten yearsâ€™ worth. Do you want ten years here for every one at home?â€​par 	â€œNot just any pomegranate, then,â€ said Ted, dismissing the notion that there was something wrong with Patrickâ€™s arithmetic. â€œOnly the ones here. This is the Enchanted Forest.â€​par 	â€œWhat do you want to come back for?â€ said Patrick. 
 	â€œWhat I want is to get out.â€​par 	â€œI want out, too, so I donâ€™t have to kil Randolph. 
 	Butâ€”but once Iâ€™m out of that I want to be able to get back inâ€”I want to know if this is real, I want to know whatâ€™s going on.â€​par 	â€œYouâ€™re crazy,â€ said Patrick, â€œif you think you can get out of kil ing Randolph if you come back. How do you know you just wonâ€™t come back right where you left off? What makes you think theyâ€™l let you off so easy?â€​par 	â€œWho?â€​par 	Patrick shrugged. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s say,â€ said Ted, â€œthat while we are gone, then, time goes on here as it does at home with us, but that while we are here, the spel of Shanâ€™s Ring holds.â€​par 	The wind died among the leaves; the birds were stil . Ted looked at the strange pointed leaves of the pomegranate tree. For a moment he was acutely conscious of his tangled hair, his torn tunic, his scratched legs. Then he felt ful of confidence and power. The tangled ground sent a prickle through him, as the swords had done. He could do as he said. He dug with his thumbs at the fruit, unsuccessful y, and above his head a mockingbird began to sing. The breeze picked up again. 
 	Ted felt grimy but determined. â€œI canâ€™t get it open.â€​par 	Patrick put a hand to his knife. â€œOne month a year for the rest of our lives? What if we get tired of it?â€​par 	â€œDonâ€™t you think weâ€™l get tired of that? â€​par 	demanded Ted, waving his arm in what he thought was the direction of the wel , the house, and the hedge. 
 	â€œBut the rest of our lives?  Look, why not one seed for one month, period? Every time we come back we can eat another if we want to.â€​par 	
 	â€œThatâ€™s risky.â€​par 	â€œYour wayâ€™s worse.â€​par 	Ted felt his certainty draining away, but he stil wanted to do something, and stil thought he had the power. 
 	â€œWel .â€​par 	â€œAnd shouldnâ€™t we ask the girls?â€​par 	â€œWel â€”â€​par 	â€œIâ€™ve got a knife to cut it open with, but I want you to know what youâ€™re doing.â€​par 	Ted was shocked. Patrick had never acted this way before. Ted wondered if the Enchanted Forest was having an effect on both of them. But at the same time he felt that Patrick was behaving properly, however uncharacteristic of him the behavior was. Ted thought, suddenly, that many of Patrickâ€™s most exasperating habits might always have been caused by his wanting the rest of them to know what they were doing. He grinned at his cousin. The feeling of power steadied in him. 
 	â€œNever mind the pomegranates,â€ he said. â€œBut stick around when Iâ€™m king, wil you?â€​par 	Patrick did not seem surprised. â€œLetâ€™s go find the hunt,â€​e said. 
 	They made their way around the brambles and down a slight slope tumbled with stones and logs, and stood considering the stream. 
 	â€œLooks deep to me,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œRuthieâ€™s got longer legs.â€​par 	There was a sudden clamor of hounds and a discordant bleat from one horn, and right out of the bushes across the stream from them leaped a unicorn. They sat down hastily, and the unicorn cleared the water, themselves, and the whole bramble patch with one leap. The hunters crashed through the bushes a bare five seconds behind it, made a tremendous noise of splashing and trampling, gained the opposite bank, and began plunging their way around the brambles. Behind the hunters crowded the hounds, and then El en, and then al the inhabitants of High Castle, flushed and gleeful. 
 	Ted and Patrick scrambled to their feet and turned around, and the scornful remark Ted had planned for the hunters and their clumsiness died in his throat. The unicorn had stopped just before the brambles, and stood waiting for the hunters under the pomegranate tree. 
 	Ted saw the animal framed in trees: plum, hol y, hazelnut, hawthorn. When he had hit himself in the head with the pomegranate tree and proposed his plan to Patrick, he had seen nothing on the ground but sticks and stones, nondescript greenery and the offensive bramble. Now the ground blazed with the crowded blooms of daisy, marigold, primrose, yel ow flag: incredible gold, but it was not so bright as that horn; there was flaming and jubilant white, but a mere field and moonlight color beside the coat of the unicorn. 
 	Ted had never paid any attention to the names of trees and flowers. He knew these because their names ran along under his mind as the names of the fencing moves had in his dream. 
 	A spear whished between Ted and Patrick and hit the ground with two thuds, to be swal owed up in flowers. A second one hit the pomegranate tree, shook there for a moment, and flopped meekly down. But a third grazed the neck of the unicorn. Hunters and hounds pushed past Ted and Patrick, who stood staring, to close on the unicorn, which shook itself like a man interrupted in his daydreams, whipped itself around, and kicked vigorously. Two hunters fel back onto several hounds. The dogs yelped and everyone who had not fal en laughed. The unicorn cleared them al again and went, with a shower of water that caught almost everyone, into the middle of the stream. 
 	Ted and Patrick turned around again and craned their necks to see over the crowd. Behind the unicorn on the banks of the stream and far up the thinly wooded slopes grew feverfew, love-in-a-mist, and forget-me-nots; down into the water crowded cattails and plantain and water soldiers. 
 	Water lilies covered the stream from bank to bank. 
 	â€œWhat happened to the trees?â€ demanded Patrick in a whisper. â€œIt was dark over there before, they were so thick.â€​par 	Two hounds bolted into the midst of the water lilies, snapping at the flanks of the unicorn. It put its head down, graciously, and touched the throat of one and the side of the other with its horn. The touch did not even ruffle their fur, but both of them yelped, much more loudly than they had when the hunters fel on them. They backed out of the stream in a flurry of water and fel over onto their sides, neatly and identical y. 
 	The unicorn looked at the hunters, daring them to move. 
 	One of them stepped to the waterâ€™s edge and raised his spear; the unicorn moved its head the barest distance, as if it had heard something far off, and knocked the spear aside with its horn. The hunter leaped backward, shaking his hand and gasping. Two more hunters moved forward. The unicorn slid out of the stream like a wisp of morning fog and was gone up the opposite slope. Two spears crashed into the underbrush far behind it, and several people groaned. 
 	â€œThis is worse than usual,â€ said one of the counselors; Ted thought a minute and remembered that this was Conrad. 
 	â€œRemember that this is the unicornâ€™s sport as wel as ours,â€​aid Matthew, whom Ted had not noticed before. 
 	â€œEven so, it could choose less brambly ways.â€​par 	The master huntsman looked around at the company and raised his eyebrows. â€œBeaten so soon?â€​e said. 
 	â€œEarly, but not easily,â€​aid Randolph. 
 	Ted wondered what had been happening to them while he and the others looked at the flowers, and while he and Patrick debated over the pomegranate. 
 	â€œWel , if you choose to begin your feasting at noon and not at sunset, what is that to me?â€ The huntsman looked them over again. â€œEl en,â€​e said. 
 	Ted fol owed his gaze and saw El en standing between Ruth and Agatha. She was bedraggled, and had lost her boots. 
 	â€œSir?â€​he said. 
 	â€œMake thy garden.â€​par 	El en came forward slowly, her great cloud of hair standing out in al directions and her eyes like a catâ€™s. 
 	She went by Ted and Patrick as if they were two more trees and strode barelegged into the brambles. 
 	Ted, watching her progress, saw that as flowers had grown wherever the unicorn stood, al around El en the brambles were covered with roses. It was not that they sprang suddenly into being. They were not gone one minute and there the next. It was like looking at a tree and thinking that it was a bear, and then suddenly realizing that it was only a stump after al . Roots and lumps and oddities you had ignored when you thought it a bear, because they did not fit the bear shape, suddenly assumed their proper importance, so that you wondered now how you could have ever thought the stump was a bear. 
 	In the same way, as the change in the mind from stump to bear takes no time, so, suddenly but not unnatural y or magical y, for it was his eyes changing, not the forest, the tangled sprawl of brambles became a hedge of roses. 
 	There was an arched opening in the hedge, and through it Ted saw a garden and a fountain. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Patrick in Tedâ€™s ear, â€œshe always was good with the garden.â€​par 	A rabbit hopped over Tedâ€™s foot, and another, and two more. He watched them lol op through the arch in the hedge, and then he saw two pheasants balancing on the rim of the fountain. A wanking and a flapping from behind made him wince, and two mal ards landed noisily in the stream. 
 	Two white ducks came more sedately after them. 
 	â€œCriminy,â€ said Ted as Patrickâ€™s fingers dug into his arm. He wondered if Patrick realized he was doing this: It was a most uncharacteristic gesture. Finding it more comforting than otherwise, he did nothing to disturb it. 
 	Two lions came drifting through masses of violets and cornflowers and the three shadings of the periwinkle. Behind them, treading delicately in the path they had made, was a stag. Caught in its antlers were trailing ribbons of green leaves. A hissing made Ted look from the stag back to the stream, where two ruffled swans and a serene heron now paddled and sailed. Ted looked at Patrick. 
 	â€œThere must be a forest fire somewhere,â€ said Patrick, but he did not sound as if he believed it. 
 	The heron came out of the water right next to Ted and began to preen itself. Ted jumped, and hit his elbow: He was standing under a peach tree. He had thought it just another brambly bush, and a danger only to the shins. 
 	â€œCome along in,â€ said Matthew behind him. Ted was holding up the procession. 
 	Ted obeyed him. The fountain had several intriguing but not pleasant stone heads, of no clear family. They spat torrents of water back into the stream, which had suddenly developed a branch of itself in the garden. The smooth lawn around it was aswarm with animals. Ted saw foxes, and squirrels, and one lynx, staring down one of the hounds from a nest of pimpernel and ground cherries. 
 	The crowd of people was quite silent, and the animals were so stil that Ted wondered if they were il usory. Then the breeze shifted, and he caught a whiff of lion. He was not sure whether he recognized it from trips to the zoo, or whether the back of his mind was tel ing him things again. 
 	El en stood under an apple tree just beyond the fountain. 
 	She looked bemused. The unicorn turned its head one way and then the other, surveying its serene animals and its sweaty pursuers. Then it knelt and dipped its horn into the stream. The bowl of the fountain was hidden in roses. In the silence Ted could hear water trickling. El en sat down in the grass and held out her hand to the unicorn. 
 	â€œPlease come,â€ she said. She did not speak very loudly, but in that quiet she did not have to. 
 	
 	The unicorn stood up and looked at her. It reminded Ted of a cat deciding whether to obey you. Then it lowered its head and went to her. It slid to its knees with a movement very like a catâ€™s, certainly more like a catâ€™s than a horseâ€™s, and laid its great head on her knee. El en was as pale as the unicorn. She put a hand on its ear and burst into tears. 
 	A cluster of hounds bowled over the rabbits and birds and swarmed upon the unicorn. The birds squawked, the hounds barked, and El en shouted, â€œGet away!â€ Two hunters picked her up from under the unicornâ€™s head and put her down in a cloud of milk thistle. 
 	The master huntsman put his spear to the breast of the unicorn. The unicorn flung itself into the air with a terrible cry, its horn flashing, but the hounds fastened themselves on its flanks and bore it down. The unicorn seemed to hover a moment, its shadow a dark stain on the green lawn. Then it dropped to earth with a force that shook the forest from end to end. 
 	Birds flew shrieking from the trees. The animals vanished into the brush and flowers. The bowl of the fountain burst and soaked everyoneâ€™s feet. People put their heads in one anotherâ€™s shoulders, cringing. The sunlight darkened and went gray. 
 	In the silence that fol owed, they looked at the unicorn. It lay in the dimness, shining with its own light. The hounds, the only moving things in al the landscape, stood four feet away from it and extended their long heads, sniffing cautiously. 
 	The master huntsman, his bright colors quenched, stood like a figure in a tapestry, staring not at the unicorn but at his fal en spear. 
 	
 	After a long time one of the hounds whined, and the huntsman moved. He looked over the fal en unicorn at his group of men, and gestured with his hand. Two hunters carrying long horns pushed through the group of rigid hounds to stand before the unicorn. They blew their horns, and in a blare and flash of gold the sun came back. The unicorn stood up like a flower opening and bowed its head to the hunters. People shook themselves and began to murmur, and al the animals crept out of the bushes, twining and rubbing on peopleâ€™s ankles as they went, and fawned upon the unicorn. 
 	Patrick let go of Tedâ€™s arm. â€œIâ€™d hate to see a real hunt,â€​e said. 
 	One of the hunters crossed to where El en stil sat in the milk thistles, and bowed to her. She stood up with a rebel ious air and looked at him. He held out to her a gold col ar. El en took it and looked at the unicorn. 
 	Ted watched her across the broken fountain, which stil gurgled cheerful y to wet al their feet. He had been observing El enâ€™s expressions ever since she had been old enough to play with him, and he recognized this one. He knew, with a dreadful certainty which threatened to turn to laughter, that El en was going to throw the col ar right into the stream. Beside him Patrick drew in his breath. 
 	El en, with a wild grin, lifted her arm, and froze as the unicorn came toward her and bowed its head for the col ar. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s right,â€ said Patrick, under his breath. 
 	â€œThe unicorn wouldnâ€™t like it.â€​par 	El en put the col ar around the unicornâ€™s neck, fumbled, and fastened it with a distinct and final-sounding click. 
 	
 	â€œNot for them,â€ she said, in a voice that could probably be heard back at the castle, â€œbut for you.â€​par 	The unicorn said something in her ear, but Ted could not hear it. They turned together, El enâ€™s hand hooked in the col ar, and sloshed peaceful y past the fountain and across the garden, fol owed by the hunting party and an exaltation of animals. 
 	In the middle of the garden was a peculiar tree with a fence around it. It was another pomegranate. El en led the unicorn inside the fence, came back outside, and shut the gate on it. The unicorn lay down neatly, its forelegs stretched out before it like a catâ€™s and its plumy tail draped over the fence. It looked smug. 
 	Ted and Patrick, by dint of pushing and elbowing, managed to find themselves places at the front of the throng. 
 	There were a fox and a lion in front of them, but the fox was not in the way and Ted did not feel like disputing with the lion. Patrick did not seem to like being so close to it. 
 	â€œYou canâ€™t trust them even when you think theyâ€™re tame,â€​e informed Ted. 
 	The lion turned around and yawned at him. 
 	Tedâ€™s stomach quivered, but he also wanted to laugh. 
 	â€œYou should be more polite, then,â€​e said. 
 	The master huntsman made his way through al the live things and stood near the fence. â€œLet the First Riddler come forth,â€​e said. 
 	â€œI hope,â€ said Patrick, â€œthat somebody told the King about Shanâ€™s Ring.â€​par 	King Wil iam came gravely out of the crowd with a cardinal on each shoulder, and stood outside the fence before the unicorn. He did not bow, probably because of the cardinals, but he inclined his head. 
 	Â 
 	Â 
 	 â€œWho are these who come from the south On the eagleâ€™s wing with the lionâ€™s mouth?â€​
 	Â 
 	â€œWhat?â€​aid Patrick. 
 	The King had taken his counselors by surprise too. Ted, by craning his neck, could see that Andrew was pleased, Matthew astonished, and Randolph furious. He could not see Fence. 
 	The unicornâ€™s head came up a little, and it fixed the King with its great eye as if it hoped to make him back down. The King stood patiently. The cardinals, against his white hair, looked as if they had been cut out of cardboard. 
 	At last the unicorn spoke. Its voice was clear and piercing, like the sound of a flute. It said, 
 	Â 
 	Â 
 	 â€œThese are the stuff of foolish dreams; these are far more than they seem.â€​
 	Ted looked as if by compulsion at Randolph, who smote his forehead in exasperation. A lynx leaped at the swinging tassel of his sleeve. It missed and landed upon two squirrels. They scolded. It spat at them. The unicorn looked at them and they quieted down like guilty children. Randolph was bright red, and Ted felt a treacherous laugh wel ing up in him. He began to wonder if he could get through this ceremony without disgracing himself. The crowd was remarkably quiet. Many people were grinning, but no one laughed or spoke. 
 	The King retired back into the crowd, grinning himself, and the master huntsman said, â€œLet the Second Riddler come forth.â€​par 	â€œAl the riddles on the same day?â€ whispered Patrick. 
 	â€œPut it on your list,â€​aid Ted. 
 	Conrad came forward, fol owed by a number of ducks that muttered behind him like a gossipy chorus. 
 	â€œI thought of a great way to put this one,â€ said Patrick into Tedâ€™s ear. â€œ â€˜s King John/Putting us on?â€™ â€​par 	Ted quel ed him with a glare and managed not to giggle. 
 	Conrad said, 
 	Â 
 	 â€œDid King John write in earnest or in jest? 
 	 Are those who shun his works the worst or best?â€​
 	Â 
 	â€œYou know,â€ said Patrick, â€œtheyâ€™re doing just what Randolph and Fence thought they shouldnâ€™t.â€​par 	The unicorn said, 
 	Â 
 	 â€œKing John wrote as he thought he knew. 
 	 His readers are as mixed as you.â€​
 	
 	Â 
 	â€œYou know,â€ said Ted, answering Patrick a little obliquely, â€œI donâ€™t think the unicorns take this very seriously.â€​par 	â€œThey donâ€™t take anything seriously, if you look at their history,â€ said Patrick. â€œEl ie and her weird ideas.â€​par 	The lion turned its head and yawned at them, and Patrick was silent. 
 	â€œLet the Third Riddler come forth,â€ said the huntsman. 
 	Ruth came forward. No animals came with her. She did the unicorn a courtesy, and it inclined its head to her with a little chink of its col ar. This pleased Ted immensely, and he saw that Patrick looked briefly smug. 
 	â€œWho is Claudia, what is she?â€ said Ruth, and Patrick made a muffled snort. â€œDoes your high court commend her?â€ finished Ruth, and sent Patrick a look almost as alarming as the lionâ€™s. 
 	The unicorn paused, flicking an ear. â€œSubtle, fair, and wise is she,â€ it said, and although its voice had no expression as human voices do, Ted could have sworn that somewhere in its answer there was a touch of delighted malice. â€œBut none of ours did send her.â€​par 	A murmur rose from the crowd, and a number of animals snarled, whether to shut the people up or because they too found the answer odd, Ted did not know. He looked at Randolph. Fence had appeared beside him, and the two of them were carrying on a conversation with grimace and gesture. They both looked put out. 
 	
 	â€œ â€˜ubtle, fair, and wiseâ€™?â€ demanded Ted of Patrick. 
 	â€œFair is foul, and foul is fair,â€​aid Patrick, gloomily. 
 	â€œHover through the fog and filthy air,â€ said Ted, completing the quotation. 
 	They stared at one another, and the gaze of the lion did not stop them this time. 
 	â€œYou know,â€ said Ted, â€œthere was an awful lot of fog and filthy air around before we locked her up.â€​par 	â€œYes,â€ said Patrick, intently, and then shrugged. 
 	â€œWhatever that means.â€​par 	Ruth had made another courtesy and backed off. The unicorn stood up, shook itself and chinked its col ar, and cast an indecipherable look upon the crowd. It leaped the fence, and was gone through the woods like a shaft of sunlight between cloud and drifting cloud. Ted looked around in some alarm, but the lion had disappeared. 
 	
 CHAPTER 21

 	THE huntsman inclined his head to the crowd with a gesture like that of the unicorn. â€œGo to your feasting, then,â€ he said to them. â€œMeet we again next year?â€​par 	â€œMeet we again,â€​aid the King. 
 	The huntsman beckoned to his men. They moved into the thick of the forest. They went south, while the unicorn had gone north, but were gone almost as quickly as the unicorn. 
 	With their passing the quality of the light changed. It was stil that of a clear summer day, just past noon, but it felt, at least to Laura, ordinary, as if it might have been in Il inois or Australia as wel as in the Secret Country. 
 	People began to chatter and laugh, and to move down an avenue of trees that had not been there before. They went in the direction the hunters had taken. 
 	Laura had lost Ruth and Agatha in the crowd, so she hung back to wait for El en. But the hunt, it seemed, had not done with El en yet. Benjamin came up to where she stood by the empty circle of fence around the pomegranate tree. He led the white horse they had seen at the beginning of the hunt. 
 	Laura thought that, as horses went, it was beautiful, but after the unicorn it looked like a bad drawing. 
 	El en seemed to think so too; she scowled at Benjamin and started to walk away. Laura hurried to intersect her path, tripped over a rabbit, and fel face first into a clump of bril iant red flowers. She sneezed. 
 	â€œIt is the honor due thee,â€​enjamin said. 
 	â€œFor what?â€​emanded El en. 
 	
 	Laura sat up and watched them. 
 	â€œThou hast tamed the unicorn.â€​par 	El en opened her mouth, and shut it again. She looked as if she were remembering something, and the look stabbed Laura with jealousy as sharp as a splinter. Laura had hoped that the hunt would be even better than that morning, but she had barely seen the unicorn, let alone spoken to it. Knowing that she was a coward, she had admired equal y Ruthâ€™s refusal to be the huntâ€™s bait, and El enâ€™s offer. But suddenly she thought that, if she herself had offered to be the bait, then she would be sitting there with that look of secret delight. Tears burned her eyes, but they were not the easy tears that turned to howls. Laura forced a swal ow down her aching throat and stood up, grimly. 
 	Benjamin made a stirrup of his hand, and El en stepped into it and swung herself astride the white horse. She petted its ear. â€œYou poor thing,â€​he said. 
 	Laura knew what she meant, but she was surprised when Benjamin did. 
 	â€œShe would not be as the unicorn,â€​aid Benjamin. 
 	He turned to lead the mare after the last of the hunting party, and Laura ducked behind a peach tree. She watched them out of sight, and set off to fol ow the unicorn. 
 	Once she got out of the immediate area of the hunt, this was easy. The unicorn had left, in the brambly and branch-littered forest, a clean trail of flowers. Laura felt so fierce that she did not even mind stepping on them. Their trampled scent rose about her and made her dizzy. Even in the shade it grew hot, and sweat stung al her scratches. 
 	It was extremely quiet except for the crackle and thud of her footsteps. Al the animals in the forest seemed to have come to the Unicorn Hunt and stayed for the feast. After a time that probably seemed much longer than it was, she came to a real path, brown and beaten. The unicornâ€™s flowers grew on either side of it, so she fol owed it. 
 	She was getting tired, and plodded along with her head down. It had certainly been a long time now. A wind began among the branches, swooped down, and blew a flurry of leaves past Laura, drying the sweat and blowing her hair into her eyes. She swiped it out of the way and looked up. 
 	â€œShanâ€™s mercy!â€ she said. There was a sudden stil ness in the forest, but she was too stunned to mind it. 
 	Al around her it was autumn. She did not know the names of the flowers that stil bordered the path, but they were rust-and flame-colored, and so were the trees. The floor of the forest between them was piled with red and yel ow and brown. Many trees already held bare black branches against a watery blue sky. The wind came back, a chil puff, and Laura shivered. 
 	She looked along the brightly bordered path. Ahead, almost on the edge of her vision, rose a green hil topped with a wal or fence; the path led up the hil . 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Laura, â€œitâ€™s shorter to go on than to go back.â€ This was something Agatha often said to her and El en when they were tired of doing something and wanted to leave it unfinished. 
 	The path led to an iron gate in a stone wal . The gate was heavy, but it opened outward. After she had tugged it the first few inches it swung wide suddenly, and she fel down the hil . The grass was soggy. 
 	She trudged back up and went through the gate. Inside, making her blink after the thorny tangle of the forest, was a vast flat green space ful of gravestones amid a riot of flowers. Some stones stood up, and some lay flat on the ground. Some were bril iant white, and some were gray, and some were green with moss. 
 	Laura paused just inside the gate, biting her lip. This did not look like a place for unicorns. But it would be sil y to go back without looking around. She trod sturdily across the close green turf. There were no walks here, no trees or bushes. Flowers were planted thick around each gravestone, but otherwise there was only the flat grass. 
 	Laura felt as if she were in the middle of a mosaic. 
 	The first stone she came to had raw earth around it, and its flowers were less thick than those of its neighbors. It must be newer. Laura bent to look at the letters on the stone. She did not even recognize the alphabet, but a shiver crept up her backbone just the same. She turned away, and two rabbits shot across the grass. 
 	Laura felt better; where there were animals, there might be unicorns. She methodical y quartered the whole place, but nothing else moved, and the only marks on the grass were hers. She knew the letters on some of the stones, but the words they spel ed made no sense to her. 
 	Laura stood in the middle of the graveyard and thought. 
 	Al she could decide was that she had gone the wrong way when she came to the path. She went back out through the gate and hauled at it unsuccessful y for a little while. She barked three knuckles, but she could not push it closed against the slope of the hil . Leaving it open made her feel that she was letting something soggy and unpleasant in from the forest, but there was nothing to be done about it. 
 	
 	Laura went back through the forest, faster than she had come. The wind was colder. She did not realize until she came to where the trail of flowers met the path how much she had expected it to be summer here. It was stil autumn. 
 	The path did indeed run on both sides of the flower trail: Laura had turned right the first time, so now she took the other way. 
 	After a few windings the path settled down beside the stream. Laura threw a few pebbles in, startling a school of silver fish, and tried whistling â€œThe Minstrel Boy.â€ She stil had not remembered why it was so familiar. 
 	Nothing happened. Laura, with a vague idea of seeing farther, climbed a wil ow tree. Once there, she sat stolidly. 
 	The water mumbled along below her, the yel owing wil ow leaves hissed and fluttered. But not a bird, not a squirrel, not a rabbit moved or spoke anywhere. The wind died and the air sat like a damp blanket on her head. 
 	She looked in al directions, but saw no white elusive shapes. She found that she was exasperated, and was pleased not to be afraid. A certain amount of thought produced the conclusion that, if she could not find the unicorns, she would have to make them find her. She had thought that the â€œMinstrel Boyâ€ tune should do this. But as long as she was whistling . . . she imitated, as best she could, the song of a cardinal, and almost fel out of the tree as something landed pricklingly on her shoulder. 
 	â€œPlease,â€ she said to the cardinal, feeling not at al foolish for sitting in a tree in the middle of a wet woods and talking to a bird, â€œIâ€™m looking for the unicorns.â€​par 	The cardinal rose from her shoulder and flew away. When she started to climb down to fol ow it, it came back and scolded her severely, so she stayed where she was. The cardinal darted off and returned in a very little time, not with a unicorn, but with Lady Claudia. 
 	Ruth had said that Shanâ€™s Ring would keep Claudia out of the way for a year and a day, but here she was. Laura found herself more resigned than surprised. It was just like Claudia. Then she scowled. Maybe it was not this fal , but next fal . 
 	Claudia was col ecting plants from the waterside and noticed neither the cardinal nor Laura. Laura was just as happy not to be noticed, but she felt she should trust the cardinal. 
 	â€œGood afternoon,â€​he cal ed, feeling foolish. 
 	Claudia, with no evidence of surprise, gave Laura a smile that made her feel like a mirror Claudia was looking into, and came graceful y along the stony path. She was not dressed for walking, and wore slippers, not boots, but she seemed perfectly comfortable. Laura, whose hunting clothes were not elegant at their best and had suffered from the hunt and her subsequent ramblings, stopped feeling like an adventurer and began to feel rude and rumpled. 
 	â€œArt thou stuck?â€ Claudia asked her, increasing the feeling. 
 	â€œNo,â€ said Laura, â€œI can see more from up here.â€ Claudiaâ€™s husky and insinuating voice, so strange in the wet and prickly forest, was familiar to her, but she did not know why. El en, she remembered, had recognized it, too, at the banquet. 
 	â€œWhat wishest thou to see?â€ asked Claudia, looking straight up at her and sounding so like a fortune-tel er that Laura shivered unexpectedly and again almost fel out of the tree. 
 	â€œI was hoping to see a unicorn,â€​he said. 
 	Claudia seemed amused. â€œIt is too late in the year, mild autumn though this is,â€ she said. â€œThey are al gone south for the winter.â€​par 	Laura was both disappointed and appal ed. Unicorns should not migrate like robins; they should not have to pay attention to the weather. Claudiaâ€™s voice stil nagged at her, but she could not place it. I must be going crazy, she thought, I keep recognizing things I canâ€™t remember. 
 	â€œWel , I was hoping,â€​he said. 
 	Claudia shrugged. â€œI must be going on before the forest dries more,â€ she said. Her voice was not as eerie in its familiarity as the tune of â€œThe Minstrel Boy,â€ but Laura had had enough of it. 
 	â€œIâ€™l just sit here awhile longer,â€​he said. 
 	Claudia nodded and went on her way. 
 	Laura looked up and saw the cardinal a few branches above her, looking smug. 
 	â€œThanks a lot,â€​he said. 
 	The cardinal beeped at her. 
 	She looked down, and there was a unicorn standing in the water and drinking, with no more noise than the stream made going over the mossy rocks. 
 	Lauraâ€™s first feeling was not relief or pleasure, but an outrage directed at Claudia for lying to her. Then she sat and watched the unicorn. It was browsing in the plants that Claudia had been gathering. The water where it stood was flashing with fish. Rabbits stood up along the banks, five squirrels ran down Lauraâ€™s tree, and hundreds of birds sat above her, singing. She looked over the heads of the rabbits and saw two stags standing among the trees. She looked back to the unicorn. Six butterflies shot out of the bushes and made a dance around its horn. Laura stared; it was too late for butterflies. 
 	The unicorn raised its head. Laura, fearful of losing it, climbed down the tree and walked straight into the chil y water. The unicorn nuzzled her as a horse would; its whiskers were wet. Laura thought perhaps she would think more kindly of horses in the future. 
 	â€œWel , Child of Man,â€​t said. 
 	â€œClaudia said you had al gone south.â€​par 	The unicorn snorted. â€œWe are always here,â€ it said. 
 	â€œClaudia is a tale-weaver. What did you desire of us?â€​par 	â€œThe answer to a riddle,â€ said Laura. It occurred to her for the first time that she had not invented a rhyme. Wel , it was too late now. 
 	â€œThat must be decided in council,â€ said the unicorn. 
 	â€œIt is not the season for riddles.â€​par 	â€œCan you take a message to the council, then?â€​par 	â€œNo,â€​aid the unicorn. 
 	Laura was relieved. She had seen and spoken to the unicorn. It would have been fun to have returned in triumph with the answers to al the riddles the hunt had been too stupid to ask, but that had not been what she wanted most. 
 	â€œBut I can take you,â€​aid the unicorn. 
 	Laura was taken aback. But the thought of being left alone in the woods in the wrong season and with only Claudia for company was worse than the thought of riding even a horse, and this ought to be better than riding a horse. 
 	â€œAl right,â€​he said. 
 	The unicorn knelt in the water, and Laura climbed onto its back. It felt like satin, and it was much warmer than the water. She took a double handful of cobwebby mane, wondered how many bones she would break, and said, â€œIâ€™m ready.â€​par 	The unicorn went in one bound out of the stream and over an enormous stretch of underbrush. Lauraâ€™s hair unbraided and tangled itself behind her. The trees went by like a flurry of fal en leaves. The sky streaked to gray. The unicorn stopped, and Laura promptly fel off into a pile of leaves. 
 	A dozen other unicorns moved away to give Laura room to stand up, but she could not see where she was. They were warm and spicy smel ing. The one she had ridden spoke to the others in a most peculiar language. Laura could not help expecting them to sound like horses; they looked more like horses than like anything else. But the one she had spoken to in the lake, and the one at the hunt, and the one she had ridden, al sounded like flutes when they spoke human languages. When they spoke their own, they sounded deeper, but stil like some strange horn. 
 	The others did not answer the one Laura had ridden; when it had finished speaking to them, it said to her in human language, â€œSpeak your riddle, Child of Man.â€​par 	Laura took a breath. It had been hard to think while riding the unicorn, but she had come up with something that sounded formal, if not rhymed. 
 	â€œHow can a world be and not be? How can a play be a world? How can a sword be a gate?â€​par 	The unicorns moved like a flash of sun on water and made odd noises, like a group of recorders being warmed up. 
 	â€œThe form is not proper,â€ the one she had ridden informed her. 
 	â€œI havenâ€™t had much practice,â€ said Laura, at random, and a little sulkily. 
 	The unicorns became discordant. Laura lay back on the crackling ground and watched the leaves whirling against the clean-washed sky. She breathed in the cinnamon-or-ginger smel of the unicorns and discovered that it was impossible to worry. 
 	â€œThat is nonsense,â€ the one she had ridden said. 
 	â€œYou have walked out of your own time, you have played the Flute of Cedric, and you have found one of our number outside al feasts and customs.â€​par 	â€œI didnâ€™t mean to walk out of my own time!â€
 	protested Laura. â€œAnd I never even heard of the Flute of Cedric, and I asked the cardinal to find me a unicorn.â€​par 	The unicorns became even more discordant, like a very badly played brass band. They moved uneasily, and Laura suddenly found it hard to see them when she looked straight at them. 
 	â€œWhat hast thou seen that thou hast not told?â€
 	demanded one of them. 
 	Laura, who was by now thoroughly bewildered, felt as if she were in the middle of a mystery novel. She had never read one herself, but Ruth had read dozens of them one summer in a rebel ion against Shakespeare, and had told the stories to the rest of them. Patrick had said that Shakespeare did it better, which had enraged Ruth. It was true, though, that none of those mystery stories had become parts of the Secret Country. 
 	Unless, of course, she was in one now. Maybe Ruth, while being mad, had made up a mystery story for the Secret Country without tel ing anyone. In that case, Laura could not possibly know what she had seen and not told. She sat up thoughtful y. Thinking of things happening to her that had not happened in the game . . . 
 	â€œOh,â€ she said. â€œYou mean the pictures I see in the swords, and the lamps, and the jewels, and al that?â€​par 	â€œNo doubt,â€ said the unicorn, dryly. It sounded, despite the airy and inhuman quality of its speech, like Fence. Laura wondered if he often talked to unicorns. 
 	â€œWhy,â€ the one she had ridden asked her, â€œdid you see so much and tel nothing?â€​par 	â€œThey donâ€™t listen,â€​aid Laura, quite sulkily. 
 	The wind stopped, and the leaves fel straight down, showering the unicorns and making Laura sneeze. The unicorns hooted like the musicians at the Banquet of Midsummer Eve, but more melodiously. 
 	â€œThe seasons listened,â€ said the one she had ridden. â€œThe path of flowers listened. The cardinal listened. Those others are but men. Wherefore could one such as you not make them listen?â€​par 	â€œParticularly,â€ added the other one who had spoken, â€œto such things as these must be. Why, look you, Child of Man, how the not tel ing hath turned you awry.â€​par 	â€œIs that why Iâ€™m out of my proper time?â€​par 	â€œWe do not answer why,â€ said the one she had ridden. â€œBut that is how.â€​par 	â€œHow do I get back, then?â€​par 	â€œTel what you have seen.â€​par 	â€œBut how can I unless I get back?â€​par 	â€œA pretty problem,â€ said the other one who had spoken. The rest of them made burbling sounds that Laura was sure were chuckles. Being laughed at by unicorns was unnerving. They looked serene, austere, unearthly, and more beautiful than anything she had ever seen. They did not look as if they could laugh. She did not like to think of what kinds of things must make them laugh. 
 	And itâ€™s not as if theyâ€™re laughing because Iâ€™m me, or even because Iâ€™m a Child of Man, she thought, or they would have done it earlier. Theyâ€™re laughing at the way things are. I want to go home. 
 	â€œWait,â€ she said. â€œIf I went to High Castle now and told them then,  could I go back? Do I have to go back? 
 	Could I stay in the fal ?â€ After al , everything bad should be over by then. 
 	â€œThings should be told as they are seen,â€ said the one she had ridden. 
 	â€œBut I already didnâ€™t,â€​aid Laura, ready to cry. 
 	â€œTel as close to the occurrence as you may, then.â€​par 	â€œBut you said I couldnâ€™t get back until I did tel them!â€​par 	The unicorns were quite silent. 
 	â€œDidnâ€™t you?â€​aid Laura. 
 	A flurry of wind rustled the drying leaves, and a rabbit streaked into the underbrush. Laura picked up a handful of leaves, stirring up a rich smel that reminded her of Fence. 
 	The thought of him was comforting. She looked up at the circle of pale sleek faces and violet eyes. She was not good at puzzles and riddles, but she recognized the quality of this silence. The older children had a certain type of joke that produced this same smug, expectant, and gleeful quiet. 
 	Laura thought careful y. 
 	â€œYou didnâ€™t say I had to tel them before I could go home!â€​he cried. â€œYou just said I had to tel !â€​par 	This was greeted with a chorus of whistling and piping. 
 	They were pleased with her, which was more than Ted and the others had ever been on the rare occasions when she figured out their jokes. 
 	â€œIf I tel you wil you take me back to summer?â€​par 	â€œIf you tel us you wil return to summer.â€​par 	â€œDo I stil have to tel people too?â€​par 	â€œIt would be wise,â€ said the unicorn she had ridden. 
 	â€œAlthough we might find mirth in your not tel ing.â€​par 	Laura resolved to tel anyone she could find everything she could remember as soon as she possibly could. 
 	â€œWel ,â€​he said, â€œI have to think.â€​par 	The unicorns murmured, and several of them lay down with the abrupt motion of a cat that wants to play. Laura thought. She was surprised to realize how long they had been in the Secret Country. Finding the sword seemed like something that happened in another year. Of course, from where she was now, it had happened in another year. Laura wondered if she was having trouble remembering through that much time even though she hadnâ€™t lived through it yet. Magic was certainly confusing. 
 	â€œOkay,â€ she said at last, slowly. â€œThe first time the swords lit up, I just saw a lot of faces, and more swords shining, and something like a horse, only . . . I bet it was one of you.â€​par 	â€œNo doubt,â€ said one who had not spoken before. 
 	Laura wondered if Fence had taught them English, or whatever it was she was speaking with them. 
 	â€œAfter that,â€ said Laura, â€œat breakfast, the first day, I saw something. In the jewels on Randolphâ€™s dagger. It was that lady in the secret house. She was looking in a mirror, but she wasnâ€™t in the mirror.â€ She stopped, fearful that she had given too much away, or that the unicorns would want to know why she had said the â€œfirst day.â€ They gave her a grave and attentive silence. 
 	â€œIt seems like something else happened that day too,â€ said Laura, â€œbut I canâ€™t think what.â€ She looked at the unicorn she had ridden. â€œCan I go back even if I forget?â€​par 	â€œPerhaps.â€​par 	The unicorn sounded uncompromising. Laura thought harder. The unicorns around her were perfectly stil . As she thought, they faded and slipped sideways into the periphery of her vision, and the things she had seen and not told crowded the leafy clearing. 
 	â€œOn Midsummerâ€™s Eve,â€ said Laura, â€œat supper, in Fenceâ€™s room, I looked at Randolphâ€™s ring, and I saw a lot of shapes, al misty, but up in the sky was Claudiaâ€™s face. And it was the same as one of the faces I saw in the sword, before. It was big, bigger than the sun would be.â€​par 	The silence held. 
 	â€œAnd later El ie and I found the knife Claudia made, and I saw Tedâ€™s face in it, al bloody. Hey!â€​aid Laura, sitting up and trying to address a unicorn through the shifting shadows. â€œWhen Patrick brokeâ€”I mean, later, I did see Ted with blood on his face! Real y. Except . . .â€ She frowned. â€œI think,â€ she said, slowly, staring straight before her to where a ghost of Claudiaâ€™s dagger winked, â€œI think when I saw him in the dagger his face was a lot dirtier. Itâ€™s hard to be sure.â€​par 	â€œCertainty is a trap,â€​aid a unicorn. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Laura, â€œand that same night I looked at Fenceâ€™s robe and I saw a lot of people and beasts al running around on a flat place. And I think,â€ she ended, â€œthat thatâ€™s al .â€ A great gust of wind swept through the trees, and the unicorns filtered back into view. Laura blinked. How had they done that? 
 	â€œWel , Child of Man,â€ said the unicorn she had ridden, â€œI think it is time we had your name.â€​par 	â€œLaura,â€ said Laura. In the silence after she had spoken, a kind of resinous fragrance wafted by, prickling but sweet; on the very edge of hearing a horn blew happily. 
 	The unicorns drew back a little. 
 	Laura wondered if she had been rude. â€œMay I have yours?â€​he asked. 
 	The one she had ridden came forward again. 
 	â€œChryse,â€ it said. Laura, gazing upward, saw for the first time that its eyes were not violet like the othersâ€™, but a bril iant gold. The wind and the light sweetened suddenly into summer again, and the grass was ful of dandelions. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s pretty,â€ said Laura, before she thought, but Chryse did not seem to take it amiss. 
 	â€œMy thanks to you,â€ it said, graciously. Then its ears went back. â€œYours,â€ it said, â€œis much more than pretty.â€​par 	Chryse did not sound precisely pleased, so Laura changed the subject. â€œI guess you canâ€™t answer my riddles?â€​par 	â€œWhen you change time of your own power,â€ said Chryse, â€œwhen you have played the Flute of Cedric and found the unicorn in winter, bereft of the cardinal, then we wil answer your riddles.â€​par 	â€œThank you,â€ said Laura, glumly. Ruth could change time of her own power, and she could play the flute, too, though she probably didnâ€™t know who Cedric was; Laura saw no possibility of doing any of these things herself. 
 	â€œI think,â€ she said, â€œsince itâ€™s summer again and they might start to miss me, Iâ€™d better go back now.â€​par 	â€œThis is not your summer,â€ said Chryse. The other unicorns were slipping sideways again, sliding into sunbeams and not emerging on the other side. â€œBut I wil take you to it.â€ It knelt, and Laura climbed onto its back again. 
 	Chryse leaped, and things became a blur of green and blue and gold, and Laura fel off suddenly, flat into the middle of the abandoned fence from the hunt. 
 	â€œThank you,â€​he said. 
 	â€œDue payment duly paid,â€ said Chryse, with a remote amusement, and it shot over the fence and disappeared. 
 	Laura picked herself up, brushed herself off, climbed over the fence, and fol owed the trampled trail of the others to the feast. 
 	
 CHAPTER 22

 	IT seemed that Laura had not been gone very long. She caught up to El en, Benjamin, and the white horse before they had come to the feast. She trudged along behind them, looking at the wild tangle of El enâ€™s hair, and found that she was stil jealous, but that she no longer had to do anything about it. She was sure, without knowing why, that El en had not felt the harder edge of the unicornsâ€™
 	character, the almost malicious mirth and the inhuman laughter. El en had behaved in accordance with custom, and the unicorns had been kind to her. Laura had not, and though they had not been unkind, they had been difficult. 
 	Laura tried to think of this as a superior adventure, but it felt more like a breach of manners. She shrugged and ran. 
 	â€œWait for me!â€​par 	The white horse shied and Benjamin spun around, but El en looked over her shoulder and grinned. â€œThere you are,â€​he said. â€œDid you get to see everything?â€​par 	â€œYes,â€​aid Laura. 
 	â€œNow I know what you meant about the lake,â€ said El en confidential y. 
 	â€œYou were braver,â€​aid Laura, with an effort, and felt a little better. 
 	â€œBut you were first,â€​aid El en. 
 	Laura looked at Benjamin, but he seemed to be busy leading the horse. He was a little grim, but Benjamin had never, either in the game or in the reality, been a very cheerful man. 
 	
 	The avenue of trees ended and they came out into a wide sunlit space crowded with people. There were three pavilions of dark blue with banners flying from them. The banners al bore a running fox, like the one on the tunic Ted had worn for Midsummerâ€™s Eveâ€”or, come to think of it, like the one on the seal El en had used for the note they had sent to Fence. 
 	Laura turned to El en as Benjamin helped her off the horse. 
 	â€œYou see why it couldnâ€™t be a unicorn on the banner,â€​he said. 
 	â€œWhat?â€ said El en, rubbing the horseâ€™s neck. 
 	â€œWil it have a feast too?â€​he asked Benjamin. 
 	â€œOf a certainty,â€ said Benjamin, and took the horse away. 
 	â€œYou see why it couldnâ€™t be a unicorn on the banner,â€​epeated Laura. 
 	â€œOh,â€ said El en. â€œNo, I suppose it couldnâ€™t. It would be wrong.â€​par 	â€œIt would be asking for trouble,â€​uttered Laura. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s eat,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œI have to tel you something,â€ said Laura, fol owing her through the crowd. â€œThe unicorn said I had to tel you.â€​par 	â€œAt the hunt?â€​par 	â€œNo.â€​par 	â€œOh,â€ said El en, â€œthe one this morning, in the lake.â€​par 	
 	Laura blessed her for the mistake. â€œI see things in things,â€​he said. 
 	â€œWhat?â€​par 	Laura explained. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s weird,â€ said El en, stopping in the middle of the crowd, so that a young woman carrying a tray of pasties had to dodge her, and two pasties flew off the tray. The young woman looked as if she would have liked to swear, but a smal boy caught one pasty and a large dog the other, and she smiled and went on. 
 	â€œWhat al have you seen?â€​par 	Laura told her. El en was unconvinced by Lauraâ€™s feeling that Tedâ€™s face had been too dirty, in her vision, for the vision to have been of Ted in the tower after Patrick broke the Crystal of Earth. She became very excited. 
 	â€œYouâ€™re a fortune-tel er!â€​he said. 
 	â€œI am not,â€ said Laura. â€œWhatâ€™s the use of tel ing people theyâ€™re going to have blood on their faces sometime?â€​par 	â€œI wonder what it meant about Claudia,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said Laura, â€œwhen I saw her looking in the mirror but she wasnâ€™t in the mirror, that means that Randolph is right and she can use those mirrors he and Fence use to see other places. But I donâ€™t know what her face in the sky means.â€​par 	El enâ€™s gleeful expression vanished. â€œBrr,â€​ she said. â€œYou know, if we were what she was looking at in the mirror, and we could see her,  wouldnâ€™t her face look huge?â€​par 	
 	Lauraâ€™s stomach jerked. â€œI guess it would,â€ she said. â€œBut I donâ€™t know if she was looking at us, then,â€ she added hopeful y. â€œShe was looking at a battle, I think.â€​par 	â€œWel , weâ€™re going to be in a battle,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œOh.â€​par 	â€œI donâ€™t think Iâ€™m so hungry after al ,â€ said El en. 
 	â€œI was wondering if I should tel Fence that Claudia can real y use those mirrors,â€ said Laura. She thought Fence might make her feel better. 
 	â€œYou sure should,â€ said El en. â€œLetâ€™s find him.â€ She began to push through the crowd, and Laura fol owed her. 
 	â€œWhy,â€ El en demanded over her shoulder as they s t o o d waiting for a cart ful of bread to pass by, â€œdidnâ€™t you tel anybody sooner?â€​par 	Laura was indignant. â€œThey donâ€™t listen, you know they donâ€™t.â€​par 	â€œ I do.â€​par 	â€œYou do not. You were right there when I tried to say things, and you didnâ€™t pay any attention either.â€​par 	â€œEverybodyâ€™s 
 	so loud, â€ said El en, more
 	thoughtful than defensive. This being true, Laura could not say anything to it. 
 	â€œThereâ€™s Fence,â€​aid El en. 
 	Laura 
 	looked 
 	to 
 	where 
 	she 
 	pointed. 
 	Fence, 
 	distinguishable mainly by his shortness, stood between the King and Randolph. They were al laughing. The sight of the King laughing made Laura very uncomfortable. He was going to be poisoned soon; this might be his last feast. It would not seem so bad if he were unhappy anyway. 
 	â€œYou know,â€ said El en, â€œI donâ€™t know if weâ€™re al owed to be serious today.â€​par 	â€œFence didnâ€™t like it at breakfast,â€ said Laura, grateful for any excuse for staying away from King Wil iam. 
 	â€œWeâ€™l tel him first thing tomorrow, al right?â€​par 	â€œSure.â€​par 	One of the undercooks, dressed in motley, came by and popped a sticky confection into each of their mouths. 
 	â€œWel ,â€ said El en around it, indistinctly, â€œmaybe I could eat after al .â€​par 	Laura laughed. â€œAnd you have to tel me about the unicorn.â€​par 	They helped themselves to the more portable sorts of food, shook their heads at the long tables ful of potential eavesdroppers, and went and sat under an oak tree at the edge of the clearing. 
 	El en had many things to say about the unicorn, but only two of them, Laura thought, were important. The first was that the unicorn had, El en thought, found the entire hunt, including the most solemn and formal portions of it, enormously funny. Laura had suspected this herself. The second important thing was what the unicorn had said in response to El enâ€™s, â€œNot for them, but for you.â€ It had said, â€œFor such a sentiment, my house owes a debt to yours.â€​par 	â€œDid it think that was funny?â€​sked Laura. 
 	
 	â€œWel , I donâ€™t think so,â€ said El en. â€œItâ€™s hard to tel what they think. It said it quite seriously.â€​par 	Laura chewed thoughtful y on a piece of marzipan. When it was gone, she said, â€œI didnâ€™t tel you everything.â€
 	Then she did. 
 	El en kindly overlooked al mention of jealousy, an emotion Laura had often thought her to know nothing about. She was excited al over again by what the unicorns had told Laura. 
 	â€œDo you remember any of it?â€ Laura asked her anxiously. â€œDid you make it up? Do you know anything about Cedric?â€​par 	â€œNot a thing,â€ said El en, with every evidence of satisfaction. â€œItâ€™s al new. Isnâ€™t it great?â€​par 	Laura gave up on her, and ate in silence. They were about two-thirds of the way through their col ection of food, and considering whether they had perhaps taken too much, when Ruth, Ted, and Patrick joined them. 
 	â€œLaura has something to tel you,â€ said El en, by way of greeting. 
 	Ted sat down next to her. â€œI have something to tel you.â€ Laura stared at him, almost forgetting her own news. 
 	He no longer reminded her of Lord Randolph. 
 	â€œNo, you donâ€™t,â€ said El en. â€œLaura first. 
 	Sheâ€™s been in terrible trouble for not tel ing you already.â€​par 	Laura thought this an exaggeration; the unicorns had been discomforting, certainly, but as terrible trouble they had nothing on Aunt Kathy in a responsible rage. 
 	â€œWhoâ€™s been yel ing at you?â€ asked Ruth, showing that her ideas of terrible trouble were like showing that her ideas of terrible trouble were like Lauraâ€™s. 
 	â€œUnicorns,â€​aid Laura, with some pleasure. 
 	She had expected a babble of comment after her explanation, but they received it in a profound silence. 
 	â€œI wish youâ€™d seen something more definite, â€​par 	said Ruth at last. 
 	Laura, suddenly knowing how Patrick felt at times, just shrugged. 
 	None of them knew how she might change time of her own power, none of them remembered anything about Cedric, let alone his flute, none of them knew what it might signify to find the unicorn in winter. 
 	â€œDoes that mean weâ€™l be here in winter?â€
 	inquired El en. â€œI thought we were going to leave so Ted wouldnâ€™t kil Randolph.â€​par 	â€œThatâ€™s what I wanted to talk about,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œWhen we lost the huntâ€”after you and Matthew disappeared, Ruthieâ€”Pat and I found a pomegranate tree.â€​par 	â€œPomegranate trees donâ€™t grow in this climate,â€
 	pronounced El en. 
 	â€œWel , al right. It was a tree with pomegranates growing on it, I promise you. And we were talking about trying to change the game, by saying that for every seed we ate of a pomegranate from the Enchanted Forest, we would get to spend one month out of every year in the Secret Country. We didnâ€™t try it,â€ he said hastily, stil ing several furious protests. â€œWe thought we should consult you. But listen. We could have done it. You know how the magic swords make your hand fal asleep? The ground in the Enchanted Forest feels the same way. We could stand on it and change anything. I could tel .â€​par 	â€œAnything?â€ said Ruth. â€œMake it that Randolph and Fence didnâ€™t take the swords away? Make it that Randolph doesnâ€™t kil the King, and the King sees reason?â€​par 	â€œI think so,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s cheating,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œEl en Jennifer Carrol ,â€ said Ruth, â€œfor the mil ionth time, this is not a game.â€​par 	â€œIt is,â€ said El en, turning red, â€œif you can change it just like that.â€​par 	Laura, who had been waiting for some time for Patrick or El en to say a particular thing, decided that she had better say it herself. â€œHow do you know you can change anything if you didnâ€™t try it?â€​par 	â€œI could tel ,â€​aid Ted, stubbornly. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s go try it,â€ said El en, standing up and showering them with crumbs. â€œRight now.â€​par 	They looked around. The clearing was stil crowded with people, and the sun was stil high. They could probably go and return with no one the wiserâ€”except, Laura hoped, themselves. 
 	They shouldered through the crowd and walked in their best unconcerned manner down the avenue of trees, back toward the clearing where the unicorn had al owed El en to tame it. Once she had put the matter to herself that way, Laura found it hard to behave unconcernedly. 
 	The avenue of trees ended abruptly at the bank of the stream. The clearing and the circle of fence were gone. 
 	Laura, after a little effort, found the hedge of roses. It looked as if it had been planted a hundred years ago and left to itself ever since. 
 	â€œThe ground doesnâ€™t feel magical,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œCan you see the pomegranate tree?â€ Ted asked Patrick. 
 	â€œItâ€™d be on the other side of the stream.â€​par 	â€œThat streamâ€™s much deeper than it was,â€ said Ruth. 
 	â€œThe forest is reverting,â€ said Patrick, looking at Ted. â€œWhat if it can change things only when the unicorns are in it?â€​par 	Ted wore a very Patrick-like expression, an Iâ€™m-miles-ahead-of-you expression. â€œThe ground didnâ€™t prickle until after Iâ€™d said what I wanted to do.â€​par 	â€œWel , what, then?â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s say that Patrick and I didnâ€™t practice with the magic swords, and therefore Fence and Randolph didnâ€™t take them away from us.â€​par 	The mild breeze went on moving the leaves, and the remains of the rose hedge blurred and wilted a little before Lauraâ€™s eyes. 
 	â€œTed,â€ said Patrick, forestal ing a scornful remark by El en, â€œthe last time you wanted to change something, it was something that hadnâ€™t happened yet.â€​par 	â€œBut we need a test,â€ said Ruth. â€œWe need to see a change now. â€​par 	â€œLetâ€™s say,â€ said Laura, their ritual phrase giving her courage, â€œthat Prince Patrick broke not the Crystal of Earth.â€​par 	She yelped and sat down suddenly, as both arms and legs fel thoroughly asleep and then very slowly began coming awake again. The others stood over her in attitudes varying from exasperation to alarm. 
 	â€œDid a bee sting you?â€​sked Ruth. 
 	â€œNo! The ground put me to sleep.â€​par 	â€œYou!â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œI canâ€™t help it,â€ said Laura, hurt. He had the grace to look sorry. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s go see!â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œNo, wait,â€ said Ted. â€œLaura, if itâ€™s you who can do it, we might as wel try everything, okay?â€​par 	â€œTel me what to say,â€ said Laura, who was beginning to feel frightened. 
 	â€œLetâ€™s say Randolph and Fence didnâ€™t take the magic swords away from Patrick and me.â€​par 	Laura repeated this. 
 	â€œDid you feel anything?â€​sked Ted. 
 	Laura was stil prickling and tingling too much to know how to answer this. After considering for a moment, she said, â€œNothing special, I think. Not another prickle.â€​par 	â€œMaybe the first oneâ€™s stil working,â€ said Ted. 
 	â€œSay, â€˜etâ€™s say that Randolph wil convince the King to see reason about the strategy for the battle, and Randolph wonâ€™t have to poison the King.â€™ â€​par 	Laura said it, with no great conviction. She felt more normal and less magical every minute. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she could not help being relieved at this. 
 	â€œAnything else?â€ Ted asked the assembly in general. 
 	â€œDo you suppose we could keep your aunt and uncle and our mother and father from noticing we were gone, when we get back?â€​sked El en. 
 	â€œBetter not,â€ said Ruth, to Lauraâ€™s great relief. 
 	â€œTheyâ€™re outside the Secret Country. I think that real y would be cheating.â€​par 	â€œI know,â€ said Ted. â€œLetâ€™s say, please, Laura, that, no matter what else happens, I donâ€™t kil Lord Randolph.â€​par 	Laura said this, resignedly. She would have been wil ing to bet a great deal that, somewhere, the unicorns were laughing at them. 
 	â€œ Now letâ€™s go see,â€​aid El en. 
 	Ruth picked Laura up, and after a few most unpleasant moments, she was able to walk. They found the avenue of trees narrower and the ground of it rockier and beginning to be overgrown. Laura supposed the unicorns thought that this was funny too. She felt desolated. She wished she had not come back to see the forest in its everyday dress. 
 	People were stil feasting when they returned to the clearing, but there were fewer of them. The five children accordingly went back to High Castle as fast as they could go, nodding at guards and muttering to one another. 
 	Ruth, by refusing to listen to anyone, got them al to her room first, and pul ed from a chest the linen towel in which she had wrapped what Patrick had left of the Crystal of Earth. It did not clink or rattle. Ruth laid it on her bed and unfolded it with considerably more care than any of the rest of them thought necessary. 
 	There was nothing inside the towel. Ruth shook it in the air a few times, looking pensive, and consented to go to the North Tower. Patrick, who had disappeared without anyoneâ€™s noticing, met them at the foot of its stairs with the announcement that his sword, at least, had not returned to the place he used to keep it. 
 	â€œMaybe we can only change things we did,â€
 	suggested Ted. â€œSo we should have said, â€˜etâ€™s say Patrick and I didnâ€™t practice with the magic swords.â€™ â€​par 	â€œWel , at least you did say that you wouldnâ€™t kil Lord Randolph,â€​aid Ruth, and they started up the stairs. 
 	The North Tower was already dim at this time of day. It was perhaps for this reason that the light spil ing out of its first-floor room seemed so vivid. Laura, trudging in the rear as usual, thought that the door must be open. But when she peered under Tedâ€™s elbow, she saw that the door was firmly shut, the light wel ing al around and through it and showing up a myriad of tiny cracks and holes. It was like sunlight, but a deeper gold. It was much less discouraging than the purple light Laura had seen at other times, but it stil made her uneasy. 
 	Ruth and Ted looked at one another, and simultaneously put a hand to the door. The door opened quietly. 
 	â€œGood Lord!â€​aid Ruth, walking in nonetheless. 
 	Nobody else found anything to say. Laura fol owed them into the room and understood why. Poised in the middle of the air was a globe the diameter of a wading pool. It painted the bare stone room with gold light, but inside itself it had shifting and sparkling points of al colors. 
 	â€œGood Lord,  Patrick!â€ said Ruth. â€œHow did you bring yourself to break that?â€​par 	â€œI didnâ€™t,â€ said Patrick. Even with the gold light on his face, Laura thought, he looked pale. 
 	Laura moved closer to the globe, and cracked her chest against something hard. The globe was sitting on a table. 
 	â€œBe careful, Laurie,â€ said Ted, grabbing her. 
 	â€œThatâ€™s not what he broke, Ruthie. What we saw was much smal er, and it didnâ€™t glow.â€​par 	â€œYou know what, though,â€ said Patrick. â€œ This is the one I dreamed about. Itâ€™s not where it was in the dream, but this is what it looked like.â€​par 	â€œYou mean somebody knew you were going to try to break it and put a false one here for you to find?â€​par 	â€œClaudia, I bet,â€​aid Patrick. 
 	â€œWel , maybe she put the false one here, but who put this one back?â€​par 	â€œThe unicorns,â€ said Laura. â€œTheyâ€™d think it was funny.â€​par 	â€œI suppose thatâ€™s your fault,â€ said Patrick to El en. 
 	â€œTheyâ€™d be boring without a sense of humor.â€​par 	â€œSome sense of humor,â€​aid Ted. 
 	â€œWel ,â€​aid Patrick. â€œI bet if we broke this one, it would be al over for the Secret Country, and we wouldnâ€™t have to put up with their sense of humor.â€​par 	â€œDonâ€™t you dare,â€​aid Ruth. 
 	â€œIâ€™l save it for more desperate times,â€ said Patrick, only a little reluctantly. 
 	â€œMaybe we wonâ€™t have more desperate times,â€
 	said Ted. 
 	â€œI guess this means we arenâ€™t going home?â€
 	said Laura, half wishing that she had never made her first wish about the Crystal of Earth. 
 	â€œDo you stil want to?â€​par 	â€œWel â€”al the things that were supposed to be nice are over, that you didnâ€™t want to miss. Al thatâ€™s left are the awful ones.â€​par 	â€œWel , we think weâ€™ve prevented the awful ones.â€​par 	â€œSo al thatâ€™s left are boring ones, then. Councils and battles.â€​par 	â€œNow look,â€ said Ted, cajolingly. â€œYou have an important mission. You have to change time of your own power, and play the flute of Cedric, and find the unicorn in winter, so the unicorns wil answer your riddles and we can find out just what the hel is going on around here.â€​par 	â€œDonâ€™t swear,â€​aid El en. 
 	â€œYou shut up. Okay, Laurie?â€​par 	Laura wished very much that it were Ted, or El en, who must do al these things. Either of them would delight in it. 
 	She herself hated the very thought of being important. But she would have to be important later; if she declined her mission, they would laugh at her and scorn her courage now. 
 	
 	â€œOkay,â€​he said. 
 	They looked at the Crystal of Earth for a long time, but its colors made no shapes or pictures, and no answers.