Simple or not, it had taken her a long time to get this far. Ending could only advise, never help her directly—the labyrinthine was a creature of magic, not a Reader, so for all her vast knowledge she could not see the scraps of magic and lines of meaning in books as Alice did. She could only explain things in general terms, leaving Alice to puzzle out the exact methods by herself through laborious guess-and-check.

If Geryon would teach me, things would be so much easier. Of course, if Geryon had been willing to teach her Writing, things might have been very different.

Ending said the creation of new books was one of the old Readers’ most closely guarded secrets, the source of their power, and that learning it would help Alice undermine her master. But Alice’s patience was fraying. The hot spark of anger in her chest wanted action, the sooner the better.

And now Ending wants to test the wards. A long series of tests, no doubt, and revisions to the spell, and then more tests and more revision. It made her want to scream.

“You should be proud,” Ending said, as if sensing her mood. “You have come a long way in a very short time, without the instruction of a Reader to show you the path.”

“It still doesn’t help.” Alice waved dismissively at the wards. “Geryon’s not going to fall for a trap like this, is he? How does this get us any closer to what we want?”

“One step at a time,” Ending said. “Geryon will not teach you Writing because he knows with that knowledge you might threaten him. By learning what he does not wish you to know, you will see the limits of his power. One day—”

“One day,” Alice said, and groaned. “You don’t know what it’s like. He calls me into his office, and I have to do what he says and act like I don’t know anything. And all I can think about is what I’ll do when I get my hands on him . . .”

“I understand,” Ending said, voice low and dangerous. “Believe me, Alice, I understand. But I am a great deal older than you, and I have learned the virtues of patience. We will have our opportunity, sooner or later.”

Alice had heard it all before. Privately, she thought that someone as paranoid as Geryon was not likely to grant them a perfect opportunity to take advantage of him. If they wanted a chance, they would have to make one. No percentage in hanging about. Her father’s phrase made something in her chest twinge weakly, and she gritted her teeth.

“All right,” she said. “How do we test the wards?”

“Later, I’m afraid,” Ending said. “For now you had best return to your duties. I can sense that Mr. Wurms has begun to fret about your absence. We can experiment with your creation tomorrow.”