Page 74 of The Innocent Sleep

She vanished then, blinking out like an extinguished candle, but leaving no scent of smoke behind. April had been integrated into the computer to save her life after human developers felled her tree. Since then, she had found purpose in part by serving as a sort of message network for her mother’s demesne, making it easier for the residents of Tamed Lightning to communicate.

Or Dreamer’s Glass, I supposed. I couldn’t guess at why Titania would have chosen to do away with a relatively politically unimportant County as a part of her revisions, but apparently she had, as January and Li Qin were now based out of Duchess Riordan’s former holding, and not their usual home.

Li Qin had been standing regent of Dreamer’s Glass for some time, of course, but, to the best of my knowledge, had never chosen to live there.

April reappeared in front of me. “They are in the library, and would greatly welcome your attendance,” she said. “Do you know the way?”

“I’m afraid I’m not very familiar with the knowe,” I said, apologetically.

“No matter.” She waved a hand. “I can walk. Slow and inefficient as it is, I have learned to appreciate the conversation a walk makes possible.”

“That’s very generous of you,” I said, suppressing a smile.

“Is it?” April looked at me quizzically as she started walking. I followed. “I thought it was showing a willingness to forgive the limitations of others. If nothing else, people are more forgiving of my limitations when I have already forgiven their own.”

“That, too,” I agreed. “People like it when you try to meet them in the middle. Can you tell me what happened here?”

“Oh. Mother was concerned that October’s actions would have infuriated Titania, and requested I withdraw into my server, with a blood lock in place to prevent me from emerging unless she, or October, pressed the button. I agreed, as her concerns had an eighty percent chance of being justified, and it seems they were justified, as when October finally pushed the button, the whole world had been transformed—and not for the better, might I add. Our allies outside the afflicted area are furious and in a panic. Their emails are bouncing back, unable to reach us, which must be an unintended side effect, as I cannot imagine Titania thought to implement curse-based network security when she created this reality. If she did, she is more clever than I thought, and might be more interesting to talk to.”

“I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope you don’t get the chance to talk to her,” I said.

April shot me a look that was equal parts aggravated and amused. “She took my mother away from me. If I had the opportunity to talk with her, I fear I might make an error in judgement.”

“April, Titania would take you apart.”

“Hence it being an error, and not a correction to the local census.” She sounded utterly serene as she talked about assaulting one of the Three Pillars of Faerie. We had passed down several halls as we walked, and come to a wide, rectangular doorway. The room on the other side was filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. April motioned for me to go in.

I nodded to her, politely, and went.

Once I was inside, the door swung closed behind me, revealing itself as yet another bookshelf, and leaving the room with no visible exits. If I hadn’t known I was among friends, I would have been direly concerned. Instead, I looked around to get my bearings, and frowned when I saw no one else there. If Li Qin and January weren’t here, why did April bring me?

“Yoo-hoo!” January’s voice was as bright and irreverent as ever. I looked up. The room was taller than I had first assumed, with a whole second story above me. From what I could tell, the rooms combined to form an inverted L, and I was standing in the short arm.

January and Li Qin were at the rail, looking down from the second floor. January was waving wildly, like she thought my vision was somehow based on motion, and I wouldn’t be able to see her if she showed any restraint at all.

“What are you doing here?” she called down.

“Catching my breath and hopefully speaking to an ally who understands why it hurts to see October still wrapped in the skein of this spell,” I called back.

Li Qin grimaced, glancing away.

“What are you doing?” I continued.

“Looking for books on unmaking illusions,” said Li Qin. “We have a few, but I find that even though this is my library, parts of it are woefully unfamiliar to me. It doesn’t make sense, really.”

“You didn’t assemble much of this library on your own,” I said. “Duchess Riordan did, before she was lost to Annwn. It’s not surprising that it would be unfamiliar.”

Li Qin’s expression hardened. “Maybe not to you, but I’ve spent the whole day being told that things I remember never happened, and that things I don’t remember did. So I’m getting a little tired of it, all things considered.”

January patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. Li Qin bristled but didn’t pull away.

“Being the only person not in on a joke is a horrible feeling,” she said, looking at me rather than at January. “Everyone else knows what’s going on, and I get to be the one two steps behind the rest of the conversation, trying to pretend I’m keeping up.”

“A moment,” I said, and walked under the overhang where they were standing. January leaned out to watch me go, but didn’t yell after me. I think she understood what I was about to do.

Stepping into the shadows around the bookshelves, I took a few quick steps and emerged one level up, now standing some ten feet behind the pair. I cleared my throat. They turned, Li Qin throwing up her hands when she saw me there. “Does no one believe in linear distance anymore?” she demanded. “April bounces around like a photon, we just had that girl from Golden Shore stepping in and out of portals like doors don’t exist, and now you’re what, exactly?”

“Walking through shadows,” I said. “You have my apologies, Duchess Zhou, if you would prefer a more standard form of travel. This just seemed quicker than searching for the stairs, and as I will need to return to Golden Shore shortly, I didn’t want to waste the time.”