Page 52 (1/2)

ONE

THE TRAVELER

I

Kell wore a very peculiar coat

It had neither one side, which would be conventional, nor thich would be unexpected, but several, which was, of course, impossible

The first thing he did whenever he stepped out of one London and into another was take off the coat and turn it inside out once or twice (or even three times) until he found the side he needed Not all of them were fashionable, but they each served a purpose There were ones that blended in and ones that stood out, and one that served no purpose but of which he was just particularly fond

So when Kell passed through the palace wall and into the anteroo betorlds—and then shrugged out of his red, high-collared coat and turned it inside out froht to left so that it becaantly lined with silver thread and adorned with two glea columns of silver buttons Just because he adopted aneither to offend the local royalty nor to draw attention) didn’t mean he had to sacrifice style

Oh, kings, thought Kell as he fastened the buttons on the coat He was starting to think like Rhy

On the wall behind hihosted sye Like a footprint in sand, already fading

He’d never bothered to mark the door from this side, simply because he never went back this way Windsor’s distance fro the fact that, when traveling betorlds, Kell could only move between a place in one and the same exact place in another Which was a problem because there was no Windsor Castle a day’s journey froh the stone wall of a courtyard belonging to a wealthy gentleman in a town called Disan Disan was, on the whole, a very pleasant place

Windsor was not

Impressive, to be sure But not pleasant

A ainst the wall, and on it a basin of water waited for him, as it always did He rinsed his bloody hand, as well as the silver crown he’d used for passage, then slipped the cord it hung on over his head, and tucked the coin back beneath his collar In the hall beyond, he could hear the shuffle of feet, the low uards He’d chosen the anteroom specifically to avoid theent liked hi Kell wanted was an audience, a cluster of ears and eyes andthe details of his visit back to the throne

Above the counter and the basin hung a ilded frame, and Kell checked his reflection quickly—his hair, a reddish broept down across one eye, and he did not fix it, though he did take athrough a set of doors to meet his host

The rooly warm—the s latched despite what looked like a lovely October day—and a fire raged oppressively in the hearth

George III sat beside it, a robe dwarfing his withered frame and a tea tray untouched before his knees When Kell caes of his chair

“Who’s there?” he called out without turning “Robbers? Ghosts?”

“I don’t believe ghosts would answer, Your Majesty,” said Kell, announcing himself