Time passed. Light faded, shadows grew. It all seemed very far away.
She hadn't wanted this.
She supposed she'd been crying. Her face felt cold and wet.
This wasn't fair.
She wanted to punch the walls and scream till her throat bled, or cry, or tear at her skin, anything to feel something other than this cold deadness, but there didn't seem to be much point.
She was further away from home than she'd ever believed possible, and there was no way back. Slowly but surely, she was killing her mother. She'd never see her sisters again.
Li leaned back and stared at the rectangle of moonlight on the opposite wall. Here the night was silver and black, not yellow and grey. The clip-clop of traffic had died away hours ago. Dully, she realised that if she looked out of the window, she would see every star and not recognise one.
How long had she been away? They wouldn't have slept. The police would be looking for her. It was almost funny.
Maybe the stars would be the same. Li got up, wincing at the cramp in her legs, and turned to look.
The moon was the only light. The garden was grey and black, and she could see the dark puddle of a forest in the distance. No streetlights, no headlights. It didn't feel natural.
The stars were completely different.
Li let her head thump against the window. What could she do? This wasn't a problem she could solve with a quick phone call home, and she'd never had to deal with anything worse than that.
There had to be something.
She opened her eyes. The garden blurred below her. For a long time, she didn't move.
It was too hot, anyway. Li opened the window and shivered as the cold air rushed in. She could hear an owl calling and the rustle of the trees. It was unbearably real.
It seemed like forever to the ground, but it couldn't be far. Lean forward, fold at the waist. That was all. That was something.
"Nice night for it."
Li screamed, spun around and lost her balance. The open window loomed behind her, but the young man's arms shot out and pinned her wrists to the frame. She stopped with a jolt.
"Bit melodramatic, though," the boy added. He was holding a knife. It pressed against her skin without quite breaking through.
"Why are you doing this to me?"
"That's a fine way to thank someone…"
"No, this!" Li shouted, almost in tears. "You just appear everywhere and you say all these things - and what happened to Scott? Where's Scott?"
"You'll see him soon enough."
"What have you done to him? If you've hurt him-" Li stopped as she realised how ridiculous a threat would sound.
"You'll what?" the boy smirked.
"I-"
"Listen, Li. You're alone. You're scared. You haven't got a handy Keeper or dimensional around this time, and on your own?" Slowly, he clenched the hand holding the knife. A thin trickle of blood ran down her arm. "You're useless."
She cringed away as he leaned closer. "So why don't you just give up and do as you're told?"
"Leave her alone!"
Keir was standing in the doorway. His hair was even more tousled than before, and he was wearing a dressing gown. All in all, he didn't look much of a knight in shining armour.
The boy glanced over his shoulder. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah, take a few steps backwards!"
"All these rescuers. Aren't you a popular girl?" the young man asked Li, and turned back. "If you're going to start playing hero, you'd do a lot better with a weapon in your hands."
Oh, for God's sake, Li thought.
Keir stepped forwards. Li's heart sank. He didn't even have his dragon. What was he going to do, beat the boy to death with his slippers?
"I'll give you a minute to get your sword, if you like," the young man smirked.
Keir didn't reply. Instead, he lifted his arm, holding it out in front of him. Li saw his lips moving. What the hell was he doing?
A flicker of light caught her eye, then another. As she stared, Li saw a fine mist begin to form, silvery in the moonlight. It drifted slowly, like smoke curling, then began to move faster and faster.
She looked from the droplets to Keir, who was still muttering under his breath. His eyes were narrowed in concentration. No. No, it couldn't be what she was thinking…
The mist had spun into a thin thread of water that twisted in the air. The boy stared at it, amused.
"Pretty," he said, "but what use - argh!"
He snatched his hands away. Li screamed and clutched at the edges of the window. Quickly, Keir yanked open a drawer and pulled out a knife.
The boy glared at him. "Put that down, lesser, you're just going to hurt yourself."
"I don't know who you think you are, but-"
"I know who I am," He waved a hand at Li. "Your friend there, she's the one who's confused."
"What?"
"Never mind," He tucked his own knife away. "You're lucky I've been ordered not to kill you, lesser, because you've earned it. Tell your uncle Kadju Kimaran thanks him for his hospitality," He glanced at Li. "One of these days you're going to have to deal with me on your own, halfbreed. See you then."
Kadju turned away, took a step forwards, and wasn't there.
Staring, Keir lowered the knife. Finally he shrugged and looked at Li, who was staring at her hands.
"Are you all right?"
"Uh?" Li looked up.
"Was he going to push you?" Keir nodded at the open window. "He was going to push you, wasn't he?"
Li looked at him. There was nothing sinister in his face, no secrets. He was just nice. It made her want to slap him.
"Yeah," she said.
"Gods…" Keir shook his head and tried to smile. "I don't know about you, but I need a drink."
Li nodded and looked back down at her hands.

In Falconer's study, Li looked around while Keir rummaged in a cabinet. She was used to clutter, but this was in a different league. Antique maps plastered the walls, books spilled from shelves and the strangest collection of objects she'd ever seen filled the gaps. A staff and a spade were leaning in the corner by the fire, glass bottles full of coloured liquids stood on the desk, and exotic-looking gourds and dried plants hung from the ceiling. She was too angry to ask why. Her head was aching, she didn't understand anything, and someone was going to suffer for it.
"What d'you want?" Keir called from the depths of the cabinet.
"What?"
"What do you want to drink?"
"Fairy mead," Li muttered, picking up a beautiful carved flute that was lying on one of the shelves.
"What?"
"Anything! Something strong."
"Brandy?"
"Ugh, no."
"There's some rosehip wine. That's pretty strong."
"Okay."
"What?"
"All right!" Li snapped.
Keir brought a bottle and two glasses out of the cabinet. "D'you want something for the headache as well?"
"Who says I have a headache?"
"I just thought-"
"Don't," Li said icily.
"Please yourself," Keir poured a few drops from one of the tiny bottles into his glass. He drank it, grimaced and poured the wine.
Li played a few notes on the flute, then slammed it back down on the shelf. "What was that you did? Back in the room?"
"That? Just a spell," Keir picked up the two glasses and held one out to her. "I used the water in the air-"
"Shut up."
"You just asked-"
"I didn't ask for - fairytales!" Li shouted. "I want to know what you really did!"
Keir shrugged helplessly. "What do you want me to say?"
"Just explain it to me! It has to be…condensation or something!"
"Listen, I told you, it was a spell. A bit more advanced than I should be doing, really, I'm going to have one hell of a headache tomorrow."
"A spell," Li said flatly.
"Yeah."
"So, what, you're a wizard?"
"I'm a mage," Keir was looking at her strangely. He started to put the second glass down. "Maybe you shouldn't-"
"Give me that," She snatched it out of his hand and took a big gulp.
Keir sighed and sat down. "That goes right to your head if you're not used to it."
"You know, I really don't care."
"What that man the one who attacked you?"
"Ten points," Li began to wander around the room, pausing by the bookshelf. "Are these spellbooks, then?"
"Yeah, some of them."
"A Study of Old Magic…The Origin of Elements…Dragon Anatomy…You like your dragons, don't you?"
"They're my uncle's books," Keir answered. "Listen, Li, he knows where you are, so he could come back. You need to talk to-"
"Firemagery for Beginners?" Li picked the book off the shelf and began to flick through the pages. "Why didn't you just chuck a fireball at him?"
"I'm a watermage," Keir said tiredly. "You'd know more about firemagery than me."
Li snapped the book shut. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know-"
"No I don't."
Keir frowned. "You must do. After my spell, you-"
"I didn't do anything!"
He held up his hands. "Fine, fine, you didn't."
"I know I didn't," Li finished her wine and started looking along the mantelpiece.
"Where are you from?" Keir tried again.
"A land far, far away."
"What, like Eirasi?"
"Where the hell's that?"
"West of Octa-" He saw her expression and shook his head. "Doesn't matter."
Li poured herself another glass of wine. "Where do you think I come from?"
"Dunno. You sound Terranese. South Terranese, I'd say."
"Well, I'm not."
Keir stared into his glass and wondered if she'd always been this obnoxious. "Li, what happened, exactly?"
"I told you!"
"Yeah, but there's something else, isn't there? The way you're afraid of things like dragons and magic…"
Li glared at him. "You say that like they're normal."
"They are!"
She chuckled and flopped into a chair. "Not to me."
"Why not?"
"You really want to know?" She lifted her head. "I'm acting like I don't know things because I don't. I think everything's strange because it is. I woke up in the wrong world, Keir. How the hell would you feel?"
Keir didn't answer for a moment. "Probably the same," he said finally.
Li took another mouthful of wine. "You don't believe me."
"I…it's not exactly…"
"You don't, and I really don't care," She got up, steadied herself and went over to look at one of the maps. "Well, since I'm here I might as well know where I am."
"Here," Keir got up. "That's where we are, in Terrane." He pointed to a huge country that took up most of the western continent.
"Well, that narrows it down."
"We're here," A tiny dot near a small range of mountains, apparently. "That's Olcott. And that's my village, Atlon."
"I thought you lived here?"
"Most of the time. I'm apprenticed to my uncle."
"Your uncle the mage."
"Yeah, only he's an earthmage. He's teaching me the basics, theory and control and history and things. Once I've got that I'll go to a watermage and start learning the real stuff."
"Oh."
"But I go home every few weeks. More often when it's harvest or lambing."
Li peered closer. "I don't suppose the name Watcher's Pass means anything to you?"
"Yeah, that's a valley in these mountains," Keir tapped the map.
"Is it close?"
"About four days."
"Four days?"
"Terrane's a big place."
"You don't say. Any more wine?"
Keir dutifully topped up her glass, and she went back to her chair. This time she pushed it right back against the wall before she sat down.
Yawning, Keir finished his drink. "Listen, I'm going to get some sleep."
"No!" Li exclaimed.
"Sorry?"
"Can't you - God, I hate asking this, but - well, can't you just stay here for a bit? I know it sounds stupid - I mean, I'd have said it sounded stupid before all this, but-"
"You're worried he'll come back."
"Tactful of you. I'm terrified he'll come back."
Keir smiled and sat down. "As long as you don't mind me sleeping. I'm knackered."
"Okay," Li mumbled.
He settled back in the chair. "Wake me up if you need me."
"Don't worry, I'll scream nice and loud."
She watched him out of the corner of her eye. Of course he'd be one of those sickening people who could fall asleep whenever they wanted. That as well as being unrealistically nice. He deserved everything he got.
She looked at the map, then at her hands, then back at the map.