Corvan lay on his back and studied the painted faces on the ceiling of the library in Katay Alba. It may have been because they were clean, but unlike the ones in Kadir or Anamir, these ones seemed pleased to be observing him.

  Kael had suggested he rest before they went up the tunnel to Kadir, but the bright light from the pool where his father was being healed and the constant murmur of voices in the cubicles around him made it difficult to fall asleep. He turned on his side and closed his eyes, but it was impossible to relax with his thoughts circling through Tsarek's betrayal and Kael's stories about his father and mother. The way Kael talked, it felt like Corvan's family was the lowest class of people in the Cor, almost as low as the Broken. He had always pictured his grandfather as a man of honor; now Kael had him wondering if his grandfather had been another self-righteous crackpot, like the crazy leader of the rebels.

  The curtain parted and the same tall woman who smiled at him when he first entered the library, stepped inside, her blond hair brushing the top of the curtain framework, just like his mother's did when she entered his bedroom door at home. Although she was obviously younger, she looked a lot like his mom.

  "I brought you something to drink," she said, handing him a short metal cup with a handle on both sides. "This will make you sleep but it might also give you vivid dreams. You will feel a bit dizzy when you first wake up, but that will pass quickly and leave you feeling refreshed."

  Corvan had no doubt, he could trust her, just as he trusted his mother when she brought him medicine. He drained the cup and handed it back to her.

  The woman waited until he lay back down before taking a soft, thin blanket from under her arm, and tucking it around him. "Close your eyes now and rest. You have a long journey ahead of you."

  "I can't sleep," he said.

  "Are you afraid?"

  The motherly tone of her voice brought a lump to Corvan's throat.

  "You've done well to come so far,” she said. “Your father will be proud of you when he is healed and comes out of the pool."

  Corvan found himself wondering if that would be true. The last few years he hadn’t felt very connected to his father. "Will he be able to see again?" he asked.

  "Even better than before."

  "I'd like to talk to him before I leave."

  "I know, but there isn't time. He needs more time to fully heal, and the gatekeeper grows impatient. Kael is running out of ways to stall his plans to attack Kadir and teh fate of the entire Cor weighs heavily upon my counterpart. We need your help before it is too late."

  She placed a hand on his forehead, and he shut his eyes. He wanted to ask her why Kael's grandfather hated Corvan’s family so much, but a rush of warmth swept through his head, then flowed down to his toes, leaving him too exhausted to even open his eyes.

  The woman began to hum a song that was similar to the tune his mother used to sing to him when he was younger. The melody soaked up his worries and he quickly faded into sleep.

  When someone called his name, Corvan lazily opened one eye. Was his mother calling him? She'd been here just a minute ago and he'd forgotten to tell her that he loved her. Maybe he would draw her a picture with his crayons. He grinned. She'd given him too much cough syrup. She'd done that once before and he slept for most of the day, dreaming about strange things and talking like he was drunk.

  High overhead, large painted faces seemed to be laughing at him and Corvan had a sudden urge to laugh along. The voice came again, and he tried to sit up. His head bobbed about, and his stomach heaved. He flopped back on the bed. "Mom?"

  "It’s not your mom. This is Kate. Where are you?" Her voice echoed inside his head. This time his mother’s medicine was making him hallucinate and hear voices.

  "Can you hear me?" the voice claiming to be Kate asked. Was someone playing a trick on him?

  Corvan closed his eyes. I hope I' not going crazy, he thought.

  "You're not going crazy." Kate's voice came again. "I'm in the chamber and you can hear me talking through your medallion."

  Medallion? Corvan pulled the silver disk out from under his tunic and held it up to his ear.

  Kate voice came through. "Where are you, Corvan?"

  Corvan pulled the medallion down to his mouth and spoke into the center of the circle. "I don't know. Where are you? In the city?"

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  “I’m in the . . .” Her voice crackled and faded.

  Corvan tucked the disc away. The snowstorm must have blown the lines down. They would fix it after the blizzard finished and then Kate could call back. Right now, I just wanted to sleep. He pulled the covers over his head.

  Kate’s voice grew louder and more urgent. "Corvan! Don’t go to sleep! Where are you? Tell me what you can see."

  Corvan tugged the blanket down to his nose and focused on the faces on the ceiling. He couldn't quite put the words together to describe them. I’m not sure who they are but they like watching me.

  "Who's watching you? Can they see you now? Can you get away from them?" Kate's voice was making his head hurt.

  Corvan studied the faces overhead. Their eyes were open, but they didn't seem to be looking directly at him. They can't see me, Kate, and I'm too tired to go anywhere.

  Kate's voice pierced the fog in his head. "You can’t sleep. Keep talking to me in your mind."

  Corvan pictured Kate and tried to imagine talking to her but the image faded away. My mind is fuzzy from the medicine the nice lady gave me. I'm too sleepy.

  "Corvan!" Kate shouted. "You must get away from there. Don't take any more of their medicine. They want to make you into a Rakash so you can destroy Kadir."

  No, no. That’s not it. The tall man is letting my father swim in a pool of light so I can leave here to find my mother.

  "You aren't making any sense. Your mother is at home and your father . . .your father is dead, Corvan. That man is lying to you. You need to get away from there."

  Corvan pushed himself up on all fours under the blanket, just like his dog used to do. He laughed to himself and growled.

  "What are you doing?" Kate said, "You're frightening me."

  Don't be afraid, Kate. I'll hold your paw. He choked on a giggle and his head swam.

  "Quit talking nonsense. Are you standing up?"

  I'd rather crawl. It's rather dizzy in here.

  "Then crawl until the dizziness passes but keep moving. Please, Corvan. Don't give up."

  Crawling over slip of blue light between two curtains, Corvan pushed his head out. Across the way a blue light was shooting up to the ceiling. The large faces are drinking blue soda pop through a huge straw.

  "Corvan?" Kate's voice punctured his fuzzy world. "What are you saying? That isn't pop, its poison. Can you stand up?"

  I can try, he thought, and grabbed ahold of a metal frame that supported the curtain. Putting one hand over the other he slowly pulled himself upright, but the entire room tilted sideways, as if the water would flow out of the pool. That would be funny. My father is going to ride the blue water to the other side of the room.

  "I don't understand what you're saying. Look around the room. Can you see a way out of there? Focus, Corvan!"

  Kate was getting upset. It would be best to help her calm down and do what she asked. He looked to the doors at the top of the stairs, but the room was far too slanted for him to that way. It would be easier to go slide downhill and could see a small door beyond the four stone people who were staring into the blue water. Hey, those people are watching my father swimming. My mother won't like that. He doesn’t have any clothes on! I need to tell them to close their eyes.

  "No Corvan!” Kate was almost shouting, and it made his head hurt. “Just move toward the door. Stay far away from those people."

  Corvan tottered out, dragging his blanket behind him. Someone was moving about in the blue light by the pool, and he stumbled towards them. If they touched the breathing tubes, his father would drown. A young girl with short-cropped hair and large round eyes, like in a comic book, sat on the edge of the pool, a black cape thrown back over one shoulder. She was washing her hands and blue light was dripping from her fingertips, but at least she wasn’t close to the tubes. He had seen her somewhere before. She was the one that played music with the ball thing she carried. "Hi girl,” he said, waving at her as stumbled forward, bumped into something solid and fell to the floor.

  In an instant the girl was beside him and dragging him under the shadow of whatever he'd he banged into. "Be quiet," she whispered.

  "Sure, I can be quiet for you." Corvan touched her face. A nice person is going to help me.

  "Who are you talking to? Who is so nice and helping you? Do you know them?" Kate's voice filled his head. Corvan stuck a finger across his mouth and the words slurred together. "Shhh, she's a girl with beautiful eyes."

  The girl reached up and clamped a hand over his mouth, but she was grinning at him. "Be quiet or they'll hear you." Pulling on his hand she dragged him out from under the round shadow. "Get up," she whispered in his ear, then hauled him to his feet.

  Corvan stumbled as she pulled him along, but she managed to keep him upright. "You're pretty strong for such a short girl," he whispered. You remind me of another strong girl I met, and I kissed her.

  "Are you with Atiya?" Kate voice echoed sharply in his head.

  Yeah, yeah, that's right, Atiya and she has beautiful eyes.

  The girl set Corvan down on a padded bench by the wall. Was Atiya the same girl that had the raisin cakes? He liked those a lot and right now he wanted a snack. He leaned toward her. "Can I taste your cakes?" he asked.

  Shaking her head she pushed him firmly back against the wall. "You need to close your eyes and rest. They gave you a drug. Don't talk anymore." She sat beside him.

  Kate's irritated voice was in his head at the same time. "How did Atiya get to you? Why are you thinking about kissing her?"

  Corvan shook his head to get the voice to stop. What was she saying to him? Did Kate want him to kiss this girl? He leaned over to the girl on the bench and flopped up against her. "I think I should kiss you."

  The girl grinned as she shook her head. "Let’s save that for later. Right now, you need to sleep until this wears off a bit more." She helped him lie flat on the cushion. "I'll be back as soon as I check things out.” She covered him with the blanket. “Promise me you'll stay here."

  "I promise I will stay with you forever." Corvan closed his eyes and turned toward the wall, but Kate was still talking about Atiya and asking too many questions.

  Leave me alone, Kate. I need to sleep. I don't want to talk to you anymore.

  Kate’s voice went silent.