Where were they? Adarios paced along the edge of the gloom that pooled beyond the reach of even the dim oil lamps at the doors of the sad little shacks at the furthest outskirts of town.

The trees were closer in the other direction, glowing a strange silver color under the rising moon. Perhaps he had spent too much time in the center of town, but something about the way the moonlight struck the stone walls along the road and the grass and trees in the near distance put the hairs up on the back of his neck. There was a strange, cool, muddy smell coming from the forest too.

They should have been there by now.

He reached the edge of the road and turned again, crossed back to the other side. His coat flapped heavily against his shins, making him jump.

Oh, this was not good. This was not good at all.

He was nervous, he told himself. That was all. He hadn't expected that the energy he always felt when the gates were all in proper working order to make a difference, but with them gone, the world just felt wrong. That was what was making him nervous, yes.

Well, there was the fact that this was at best conspiracy to vandalism and possibly treason, and he would be in very deep trouble if anyone caught him out here waiting for the rest of his party.

But no, it was the strange shadows and the musty night air and the fact that the holes in the world he'd helped make had filled in that had him worked up so. In fact, in another quartermark, if none of them had turned up, he would go home, have a cup of something hot and go to bed, because it was far too late to be pursuing this sort of nonsense out on the edge of the cold woods.

Except he wouldn't get home and get his warm drink, because he'd be found out before he ever got there. Something had happened. They'd been found out. At least a few of the others would have been here by now elsewise.
He dug his hands deep into the pocket of his coat. The fine claret velvet was too dark in this strange light, a bloody red. And his fine new boots felt strange on the unpaved road; he could feel the stones in the road through the soles. He'd been meaning to go tomorrow and talk to the merchant he got them form, hadn't he? Because the amount he paid, he might as well have decent shoes. He rolled a bit of lint in the pocket of his coat between his long fingers and stood a moment staring back at the sparkling bulk of Levestina behind him. This far from the center of town, he couldn't see his house, but he found himself looking toward

'tava was going to kill him when she found out that he was responsible for this. Or, well. not really responsible. Partly responsible. Involved. When they'd first approached him about this, he'd had his misgivings about mentioning it to her, and now he rather wished he had. Tolerating her being snappish at him was still better than hanging.

Because that's what would happen if he ended up taking the blame for the gates going down, even if he explained that he hadn't really meant for it to happen that way. Or at least, he thought that was the way it would happen. Something cried in the woods or the woods between, a long, high, whiny yowl. He jumped, his head whipping toward the sound, It surprised his a little the way his heart pounded and he found himself a little short of breath. Maybe he should go back to town. There were worse deaths than hanging, after all.

He really should listen to his wife more often, he decided.

It occurred to him that he could just go somewhere else. That was one of the rahter nice things about being and opener, wasn't it? He ddn't have to use the gates. Of course, he couldn't hold up much of a gate without an engineer and some technicians, but even if it did leave him tired and sore he could probably manage to tear open enough of a... well, a bolt hole, really, barely even a passage--long enough to squeeze through to some other world.

And if he couldn't, well... at least he would have a definitive answer to the quesiton of what happened when one got stuck in the blue void between worlds. Just until things calmed down a little. No one could fault him for that, could they? It seemed rather wise, actually, to get someplace quiet and far away from here until he'd decided what he wanted to do. Maybe by then, something would have happened to get this all sorted out without his even having to answer any awkward questions.

Just then he heard footsteps behind him on the road, crunching in the gravel. Voices carried on the breeze. He knew he recognized one of them, but the other two he didn't know. They didn't seem to be the ones that he was expecting, but he had only talkied to them in town. Maybe they sounded different in the open land out here, or something about the night air made their voices strange.

He stepped off the road, dew spattering on the leather of his new boots as he crossed the narrow strip of grass to lean against the wall. The cold of the stone soaked through even his coat and overshirt to settle against the small of his back like he hadn't three layers of cloth between the stone and his skin. If asked, he wasn't sure he could explain why it was important to him that his friends not see him bothered by the moonlight and the unseen things that rustled in it. But he still folded one of his long legs to rest the sole of his boot against the stone of the wall, resting his hand on the rough conrete between two of the big stones that topped it, right on the clammy, numbing cold, and rested his weight on it.

He turned to watch the two men walk toward him from the city. One of them reminded Adarios oddly of Serevanno, with his cousin's wavy blond hair--strange, shiny silver in this light-- pulled back from his shoulders, and the same general size and shape. Adarios didn't recognize the other one, the slender, dark-haired man. They both looked to be wearing rather plain suits of the same dark grey. Adarios found himself relaxing just to see someone else on the road. He hadn't been expecting quite this, but even if these two were playing some other game from his, he was glad to see them. He had to fight the urge to walk out into the road to greet them. Instead he looked away when he thought he had been staring too long, turning his gaze toward the woods behind him now. The breeze still blew from the west, strong enough to sweep the red hair that had fallen in his face again back from his forehead. He glanced toward the road toward the city again, examined the nails of one hand.

"Who's there?" someone called when they were still just far enough away for him to not make out faces.

Adarios suddenly felt as if he was trying to swallow his own innards. He knew that voice very well. Either someone was a very good mimic with a poor sense of what was funny, or that was Serevanno.

Adarios hesitated a moment. If this was who Adarios expected, the man had told him to wait there for him. The fool ought to know well enough who this was waiting for them. And if it was Serevanno--and really, he was only lying to himself if he insisted that it wasn't--then Adarios had no excuse for being out here alone. He tipped his head to the side, shrugged a little as if he couldn't be bothered to rush an answer. "Who are you?" he called back.

The silence of the countryside returned for a moment, broken only by the whisper of the wind in the trees or the grasses, and the muffled sounds of the distant city.

"Adarios?" Serevanno asked after a moment. He sounded as if he'd suddenly found his cousin trying on his sister's underthings instead of standing here in the moonlight and the clammy air.

Adarios did not answer. He tensed, his fingers curling around the stone under his hand.

Serevanno stood only a few yards away now. Adarios could see the detail of the brocade at the edges of his uniform coat, the way the ranking bar at his breast shone in the moonlight. And he could see the wary, concern in Serevanno's eyes and the set of his deep jaw.

"Adarios, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Thinking," Adarios said tenatively.

Serevanno exchanged a glance with the officer behind him. "Ah," he said, in the same slow tones as if Adarios had told him he was waiting for a good breeze to help in his efforts to fly. "Are you thinking on anything in particular?"

Adarios shook his head. "Not especially," he said, which was a lie. He was thinking more and more the last few moments that he had the wall at his back and Serevanno and his partner between him and the road back to town, but there wasn't anything blocking his way the other way. It would mean a night sleeping in the wilds and a truly awkward conversation when he went home--if he could go home after this--but if he turned and ran right now, he might get away.

"You find it difficult to think at home?" Serevanno asked. They approached more slowly now.

Adarios straightened up, spreading his hands and holding them out from his sides. One didn't have an inspector of the watch for a favorite cousin without learning a few things along the way.

"Oh yes," he said. "It's 'tava, you know." He paused, waited for Serevanno to give him that look he always did when he wanted something explained further, the furrowed brow and slight part to his lips.

"As she says," Adarios continued, "She does the thinking for both of us. If I do it around her, she gets jealous."

He had him there, he almost had him. Serevanno snorted, and he just a second there was a flash of a smile on his face. That was all Adarios needed, just the one joke to make him look like he was just being his fool self again and now they could go home and in the morning have forgotten all about this silly adventure.

But then Serevanno sighed, and he rested his fore head in his hand, eyes closed, for a moment. When he looked up again, his expression was weary. Not again," said the look in his bright blue eyes.

"Adarios, if you're in some kind of trouble, you need to tell me now. I'll help you. We can work this out."

Adarios licked his lips, trying not to look too nervous. He glanced at the officers behind Serevanno, back at his cousin.

"I'm not," he said, though he was sure that he did not sound entirely convincing. "Why do you ask?"

Serevanno made an exasperated sound. He walked toward Adarios. Adarios had the urge to back away, but he stood his ground until they stood face to face. By that point Serevanno had grasped his shoulders, looking up at him. "Ado, you're smarter than this." He gave Adarios a small shake. "Whatever's wrong, we'll find a way to fix it. But if you won't help me, then..." Serevanno released him and held up his hands, shaking his head again. "There's nothing I can do for you. And believe me, it'll go worse for you."

Maybe Serevanno was right. In the past he had never led Adarios wrong. Adarios hesitated a long moment, glancing at the city behind them again. Namarro did not look like he shared Serevanno's willingness to go easy on him. But at the same time, neither of them had accused him of anything yet, so maybe they didn't know anything about what he had gotten himself into. "There's nothing wrong," he insisted.

Serevanno looked disgusted for a brief moment. He turned his face away, and when he looked back, his face was calm and expressionless. Or at least he seemed to be, but Adarios knew the man well enough to see the anger simmering beneath the cool mask, in the lines around his eyes and mouth.

"If that's the way you would rather we do this..." Serevanno began. His voice did not reflect the [other word for calm] on his face. He gestured to Namarro, who moved toward them. "Sir," he said, "I need you to come with us."

Adarios felt his heart beating faster, his breath coming a little bit harder to catch. He was sure that he looked alarmed now, and that would give it all away. Just stay calm, he told himself. Breathe, and stay calm. "Why?" he asked, and winced internally at the quaver he heard in his voice.

Serevanno suddenly grabbed his forearm and turned back toward the road. "You're not asking questions now."

Adarios dug in his heels, did not move any more than he could avoid. "I deserve to know if I'm accused of anything." He thought that he did an admirable job of letting the surprised outrage in his voice overpower the nervousness he'd heard there.

"I think you already know, or you wouldn't be doing this," Serevanno said.

"Tell me anyway," Adarios said.

Serevanno stopped, turned toward him. He really was angry now, to judge by the frown on his face. He opened his mouth, seemingly about to say something. Then he shut it again, exhaled heavily. "Someone's told us that we'd find something interesting if we came out this way about now. And here I find you out here thinking. I think that, unless you are thinking far deeper thoughts than those that you're normally known for, that wasn't what they had in mind."

Oh, shit. Adarios blinked. He tried a few times to say something, but nothing occurred to him to be said. He had suspected, but hadn't wanted really wanted to believe that things had gone this badly. He felt a cold, sick sensation in the pit of his stomach, and found himself breathing very quickly now. He wondered if it was the night air that made him feel as if he had broken out in a cold sweat, or if it was something else. Perhaps he had a fever. Maybe that was how his brain got so addled.

"Right now we only want to ask you questions, because you seem to know something--"

"I don't!" Adarios interjected, fighting the panic rising from the cold in his gut.

Serevanno twisted his arm behind him at an angle that strained his elbow and shoulder, used his grip to steer Adarios onto the road. "You really are a terrible liar, do you know that?" he asked in a strangely conversational tone. "And so you can tell me now, or you can tell me back at headquarters," Serevanno said. What do you know about the gates?"

Adarios tried to pull his arm away, but Serevanno held him fast. "I... nothing much. They collapsed, didn't they?" he asked a bit lamely.

"Not exactly, they didn't," Serevanno said. "I think you know more than that."

The angle at which he had Adarios's arm was seriously beginning to make his shoulder ache. He tried again to squirm out of his grip.

"Be still or I'll put you into restraints," Serevanno said sharply. "I already ought to have."

"Am I under arrest?" Adarios asked. He did not have to fake the alarm in his tone.

"Do you have reason to expect you would be?" Serevanno asked, quietly and very close to his ear.

"No, but... " How had this happened? He needed to clear his head, he needed some space to think. That did not seem terrily likely to happne once he'd been marched downtown. Had there been a spy? The notion seemed ridiculous, but... there it was. They'd been careful about who they spoke to and about where they met, but... there it was.

"But?" Serevanno prompted.

Adarios tried to turn to look over his shoulder at the man. "I..."

Serevanno arched his eyebrows, said nothing.

Adarios dropped his head, his shoulders slumping. "It was only meant to be a joke," he said quietly.

"A joke? Ado, you--" Serevanno paused. When he continued, it was in a deeper, calmer voice. "Will you answer me honestly this time if I inquire as to exactly what you did?" he asked slowly.

"Probably not," Adarios said.

Serevanno released a breath between his clenched teeth. "Adarios."

Adarios stumbled on some stone in the road. Serevanno adjusted his grip on Adarios's arm so that he was less holding the man than supporting him. Then, despite the pain in his back at the angle he'd bent it in trying to regain his balance and keep ahead of Serevanno it was suddenly in Adarios's head: he could get away. It would be a very, very stupid thing to try, but it just might work.

"Well, see," he said. He licked his lips and took a deep breath. This just might work, or it could go very badly. He glanced over his shoulder at Serevanno again. "A moment, please. Let me get my feet."

Serevanno nodded once and stepped back a little, loosened his grip a little so that Adarios could move more freely.

Adarios spun, crouching low, and shoved Serevanno hard with his free hand. He did not stop at his cousin's surprised shout, did not even look back. He ran as hard as he could down the road away from town, putting everything from his head except the hope that maybe, maybe he would get to a gap in the wall and just maybe he might make it to the woods. The cold, wet night air still burned in his throat.

Behind him he heard Serevanno shouting for him to stop. He ignored it and concentrated on the road, on his long legs, tried to picture himself running harder and faster, loping along and barely touching the ground. Probably he wasn't going to make it, but it wouldn't be for lack of trying.

A sharp crack split the night air. They were shooting. at him. His own cousin was letting someone shoot at him. Or shooting at him himself. It made him feel profoundly foolish, but he hadn't thought it might come to this.

He wasn't sure how he would manage now.

Then, without entirely meaning to, he reached out with his hands and with whatever it was in him that felt the energy of the worlds and the gates. His mind was still on the page where they were shooting at him, and a vague horror that he might be shot. It would hurt, and he might die. But more than that, he would not be able to get away. They would shoot him down on the road and catch up to him, and Serevanno probably would be kind enough--well, might be kind enough, now that Adarios had gone and made him angry--to see that he wasn't treated roughly, but they would take him off to the jails, where probably he would be hurt more before they decided to kill him. The damnedest part was that he had no idea of what became of his friends, if it had been bad luck or treason if they had been found out and caught else where or--a part of him wondered madly, even though this couldn't be true--he had been meant to take the blame for it all himself--and he probably wouldn't ever find out if he stayed here.

He grabbed at a handful of world, grabbed it and ripped. He had no idea of where he intended to go. Somewhere safe, that was all. Somewhere that no one would find him. He didn't care much where, as long as no one there wanted to kill him. Behind him he heard startled exclamations as the gap in the world flared blue. He paused, looked back.

They weren't nearly as far behind him as he'd hoped. If he only stood here, they would be on him in a mark or two.

"Don't you dare!" Serevanno shouted. Ha, so there wasn't any hope of working it out, it didn't seem like.

The hole was barely big enough for him. Surely it wouldn't last long enough for either of them to follow him, even if they were fool enough to plunge blindly into a gate without knowing what lay on the other side.

Adarios took a deep breath and plunged through into the deep blue between the worlds.