He was in Menosi, and it was full of life and color. There were people in old-fashioned clothing in the streets, and flags and banners on poles everywhere, like it was a festival day. He could see the palace down a nearby street and walked toward it, since it was the only place in the city that he really knew. He was almost there when the great doors opened and Rhazat and a handsome Aurënfaie man came out. She looked younger, and even more pretty, and was wearing a blue gown, not red, with a golden coronet on her brow.

A great cheer went up and she and the man smiled and waved at everyone, then mounted two white horses and headed toward the city gate. The people started chanting something that Mika couldn’t understand. As the woman and man came abreast of where he stood, Rhazat smiled down at him and said something that sounded like what the voice in his head had said just before the red came out.

Eshrlee.

It had taken two days for Alec to find a portal in the palace again. As Thero had surmised, the things moved, coming and going like mirages and only Alec could see them. Like a stalking hound, he led Thero and Micum down one corridor after another for hours, returning frequently to the corridor where he’d first gone through to the other side.

They were there again as the sunlight was fading outside when a flicker of motion caught Alec’s eye as they passed the corridor where Mika had disappeared.

“There!” Alec said, pointing to the wavering image of grey grass and distant hills. “Can you see it?”

“All I see is corridor,” said Micum.

“Me, too,” Thero agreed. “Give me your hand and see if you can lead me through.”

They both shouldered the packs of food and water they’d brought, and Alec took the wizard’s hand and hurried toward the portal. Reaching it, he stepped through as easily as always, but suddenly he wasn’t holding Thero’s hand. Turning around, he saw nothing but rolling grassland. This time he was on the far side of the river, across from the town.

“Bilairy’s Balls,” he muttered in exasperation. Not only couldn’t Thero get in, Alec was on the wrong side of the river, there was no bridge in sight, and there wasn’t much daylight—if you could call it that here—left. With a sigh, he started walking upriver, hoping something would present itself before he ran out of daylight or food.