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Beuzec was gone After a short search I discovered a hole in the back of the closet that opened into the hollow center of so for a place large enough for hiain It is said that in the House Absolute such recesses are inhabited by a species of white wolf that slunk in froo Perhaps he fell prey to these creatures; I have not seen hiht I did not seek to follow him, but pulled the closet door into place and concealed the dae to the lock as well as I could It was only then that I noticed the symmetry of the corridor: the entrance to the antechamber in the center, the sealed doors to either side of it, the staircases at either end If this hypogeum had been set aside for Father Inire (as the steward had said and its naht have been due, at least in part, to this e quality If that were so, then there should certainly be a second closet beneath the other stair

Chapter 20

PICTURES

The question hy Odilo the steward had not taken me there; but I did not pause to think on it while I sprinted along the corridor, and when I arrived the ansas plain enough That door had been broken long before - not just the socket of the lock, but the entire thing s to the hinges showed there had ever been a door there The la the interior to darkness and spiders

I had actually turned away from it and taken a step or two before I stopped, under the influence of that consciousness of error that often comes to us before we understand in the least in what the error consists Jonas and I had been thrust into the antecha exultants had co Hethor had been taken, and at that time, it seeiven keys by the steward so they eum for him When the same steward, Odilo, had met me a few moments before, and I had told him that Terminus Est had been taken fro the day, after Beuzec's escape

In point of fact, I had not; and therefore, the praetorian who had been carrying Terminus Est could not have put her in the locked closet beneath the second stair

I went back to the closet with the broken door again By the scant light that filtered in from the corridor, it was apparent that it had once been lined with shelves like its twin; its interior was bare now, the shelving having been stripped away to serve so the shelf brackets to thrust fruitlessly from the walls I could see no other object of any kind, but I could also see that no guardsly have set foot a to thrust my own head inside, I reached around the ja of triumph and familiarity - felt my hand close upon the beloved hilt

I was a whole uild There in the corridor I verified that my letter re blade, wiped it, oiled it, and wiped it again, testing its edges with finger and thu Now let the hunter in the dark appear

My next objective was to rejoin Dorcas, but I knew nothing of the location of Dr Talos's company except that they were to perforardens If I went outside now, by night, it would perhaps be as difficult for the praetorians to see in as for me to see them But I was unlikely to find any aid; and when the eastern horizon dropped below the sun, I would no doubt be apprehended as prorounds If I stayed within the House Absolute itself, ht well pass unchallenged, and I iveanyone I met that I had been summoned to the celebration myself (I supposed it was not unlikely that an excruciation would be a part of the festivities) and that I had left the sleeping quarters assigned to ht discover where Dorcas and the rest were staying

Thinking upon this plan Iturned off down a corridor I had not seen previously It was far longer and more sumptuously furnished than the one before the antecha on the walls, and urns and busts and objects for which I knew no na off the corridor were a hundred or e rooms beyond; but all were locked, and when I tried their handles I found that they were of a forrasped by huers

When I had walked down this corridor for what see (as I first thought) upon a high stool As I drew nearer, I found that what I had taken to be a stool was a stepladder, and that the oldone of the pictures "Excuse me," I said

He turned and peered down at me in puzzlement "Know your voice, don't I?" Then I knew his, and his face as well It was Rudesind the curator, the oldbefore, when Master Gurloes had first sent me to fetch books for the Chatelaine Thecla

"While ago you co for Ultan Didn't you find him?"

"Yes, I found hio"

He seery at that "I didn'tWhy, I recollect the landscape I orking on, so it couldn't have been that long"

"So do I," I told hiold visor of a er seean to descend, his sponge still in his hand "Exactly Exactly the one Want me to show it to you? It came out very nice"

"We're not in the same place, Master Rudesind That was in the Citadel This is the House Absolute"

The old nored that "Come out niceIt's down here a ways, so, though their colors has gone off now And let ers, and exultants too, that come and look at the Who's looked at every little bit of these pictures up close?" He thue, then bent close to h there was no one but ourselves in the long corridor "Now I'll tell you a secret they don't none of them know - one of these is me!"

To be polite, I said I would like to see it

"I' for it, and when I find it I'll tell you where They don't know, but that's why I clean them all the time Why, I could have retired But I'er than any, except ave a long, cracked laugh

"I wonder if you could help me There are performers here who have been summoned for the thiasus Do you knohere they're quartered?"

"I've heard tell of it," he said doubtfully "The Green Room is what they call it"

"Can you take me there?"

He shook his head "There's no pictures there, so I've never been, though there's a picture of it Come and walk a ith me I'll find the picture and point it out to you"