Zero

by Claire Stevens

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  ‘Ro! RO! Wake up. Oh fuck! Ro! You have to wake up. Come on, wake up, Ro.’

  The lights were burning brightly. Too brightly, I thought, as I squinted and rubbed my sleepy eyes. Then I realised that what I’d thought was the lamps, was actually a vast shimmering thing. Easily as big as a double doorway, it dwarfed the small infirmary room, shining whitely, like a mirror reflecting the sun.

  I propped myself up in bed too quickly and felt the tug of the scar on my side as I ducked to avoid a water glass soaring past my ear. It flew through a floating swarm of clothes and smashed into the wall while the books Oriel had left on the bedside table jiggled up and down as if impatient to start flying around themselves. ‘Ro, come on, wake up.’ Oriel was sitting up next to me, his arm round my shoulders clutching me to his side, and patting my face with his other hand, trying to get me to come round.

  ‘What? What’s happening?’ I was still sleep-muzzy, despite the carnage around us. I ran my hand through my tangled hair.

  ‘Ro, you have to calm down. Just relax. Try to clear your mind.’ Still confused and starting to panic a little, I did as he said.

  For a minute, the portal seemed to dim and shrink, but then there was a brief groan as the window bowed inwards and shattered, showering the bed with glass. Oriel didn’t even speak; he scooped me up into his arms and ran. We flew down the stairs and out of the side door and into an ornamental garden.

  Once outside, Oriel set me down and we stared up at the shattered window, the jagged glass around the frame giving it the appearance of a ghoulish mouth. The room was dark now; the portal had either burned itself out, or faded now I was no longer nearby. ‘What was that?’ I whimpered.

  Oriel didn’t answer me immediately. After a minute he turned to face me but didn’t meet my eye. Instead, he gently started to wipe blood from my nose with his sleeve and sat me down on a bench. It wasn’t cold outside, but the shock of being woken up had left me shivering uncontrollably. Oriel put an arm round me and started rubbing my hands between his.

  ‘I was sitting up reading and you started talking in your sleep. I tried to shake you awake so that you could re-settle yourself, but you pushed me away.

  ‘Then a light started flaring across the room. I thought one of the lamps was on the blink, but then I realised what it was. You opened a portal while you were sleeping.’

  I went cold. How had I managed to open a portal in my sleep? And such a malevolent-looking one. I’d only seen portals a couple of times, but they’d been fairly benign, like wobbly mirrors. They certainly didn’t start sucking ornaments and books through the air.

  Oriel stared up at the blackened window. ‘We’ll go and see Vincent,’ he said almost to himself. ‘He’ll be able to help us.’ He pulled me to my feet and we set off out of the tiny garden and through the streets of the Citadel.

  The night air was warm, which was lucky because the infirmary pyjamas I was wearing didn’t offer much in the way of protection against the elements. Similarly, my hospital-slippers weren’t cut out for running across cobbled streets, and even though Oriel was holding my hand, I had to watch my footing to avoid tripping.

  We hurried through the twisting lanes, past grey stone terraces of tall houses crammed in together with shops and the occasional tavern. Oil lamps on the sides of buildings cast pale globes of light and the demon nets reflected the pale white moonlight. The air smelled of the sea and the beery residue of a thousand good nights out.

  If Vincent was surprised to receive visitors in the middle of the night, he didn’t show it. Dressed in sharp black clothes that made him resemble a tall spider and with his hair scraped back off his face in a long widow’s peak, he answered the door within a couple of seconds of Oriel’s hurried knock as if he had been waiting for us. He tilted his head and looked at us out of the side of his eyes before extending his arm to invite us inside.

  He led us into the shadowy depths of the hallway to his sitting room. I took a seat on a creaking leather chair while Oriel propped himself next to me against the fireplace.

  The small room was crammed with mismatched furniture and the walls were hung with more clocks than anyone could ever realistically need. Cogs and springs were grouped in small piles over every available surface. A large map of Devon and Cornwall hung over the fireplace, complete with handwritten annotations next to some of the place names.

  Overshadowing everything else was a tall glass cabinet. Inside was what at first glance appeared to be rubbish - a baked bean tin, a broken hub cap, a couple of fashion magazines, the pages crinkled and faded with damp and age, and some plastic objects that I couldn’t even identify.

  As if following my gaze, Vincent moved towards the cabinet. The proud expression on his face told me that this wasn’t rubbish at all; it was treasure. Sanctuary treasure that he’d found or scrounged or traded that allowed him a tantalising glimpse of another world. I suddenly understood why he had agreed to train me.

  Vincent ran the cuff of his shirt softly along the side of his cabinet, as if my merely looking at it had left a mark. His voice was quiet, almost bland. ‘Why are you here?’ he asked.

  Oriel cleared his throat. ‘Vincent, this is Roanne Harper. If you recall, you agreed to train her.’

  Vincent turned as if he’d forgotten Oriel was there. ‘Of course I remember,’ he frowned. ‘What I want to know is why you are here in the middle of the night. This is not an auspicious time to start training.’

  I looked helplessly at Oriel and he plugged gamely on. ‘I realise it’s late Vincent, but something’s happened.’

  Vincent, apparently trusting me not to accidentally destroy his treasure cabinet, moved over to another studded leather armchair and perched on the edge while Oriel filled him in on what had happened over the last few days and then in the infirmary. ‘What do we do now?’ I asked.

  Vincent’s bright gaze snapped from Oriel to me. ‘We need to work out why you were attempting to open a portal, of course.’

  ‘But I have no idea. I was doing it in my sleep. I mean, we don’t even know where the portal was going to.’

  ‘On the contrary. It is obvious where the portal was leading to.’ He gazed passively at Oriel and me until he realised it wasn’t at all obvious to either of us. He sighed softly and went on. ‘Even for someone as powerful as yourself,’ he inclined his head slightly towards me, ‘it is impossible to open a portal to a dimension you are unaware exists. So far, you have only seen three worlds. You are already here in the Jeopardy; your business in Lord Baeroth’s jail is concluded, which just leaves-’

  ‘Home,’ I whispered. ‘I was trying to go home.’

  Vincent inclined his head slightly.

  I shook my head to clear it. ‘So, what do I need to do? This will be the first thing you train me on, right? How I can stop doing this?’ But even as the words were coming out of my mouth, I knew that the answer would be a lot more complicated.

  Oriel and Vincent exchanged a look. ‘It’s not as simple as that, Roanne Harper,’ Vincent began. ‘You tried to open a portal while you were asleep. Your conscious mind may accept that you need to stay in Gileath, but it would appear that your subconscious does not. There is something pulling you back to the Sanctuary and it is unlikely your mind will rest until your business there is concluded.’

  I looked between the two of them, unable to see where this was going. Vincent stared at me like a teacher willing a child to understand a very simple concept while Oriel stood by the fireplace, his face a mask of quiet devastation. And then it hit me. ‘Do you mean I have to go home? But I’m supposed to be starting my training!’ Images of my tombstone danced before my eyes and I sank my head into my hands.

  ‘That can wait, for the time being at least.’ Vincent shook his head like he was flicking away a fly. ‘I would recommend that you go home to the Sanctuary. Tie up any loose ends that you left and then you should be safe to come back and commence your training.’

  �
��But I don’t understand,’ I said, confused. ‘What loose ends? What do I need to do?’

  Oriel looked at me helplessly. ‘Maybe university? You were dead set on going before all this. Whatever it is you’re most missing from home, it will be that that’s pulling you back.’

  University? For three years? If Coralin’s vision was correct, I’d barely make it past Freshers’ Week. ‘Right. Right,’ I said through numb lips. ‘So I’ll need to go...when?’ Oriel sat down next to me on the arm of the chair and rubbed my hand between his. ‘Now?’ I squeaked.

  ‘We’ll get a carriage set up and we’ll go straight back to Saltmarsh.’

  I nodded dazedly and allowed Oriel to pull me to my feet. More inter-dimensional travel. Great.

  Oriel and I stood facing the portal in the storage room at the Griffin. It shimmered quietly, like the surface of the lake.

  The journey from Saltmarsh to the Citadel had taken me nearly two weeks to complete. Going back the other way, along the main roads with horses, it took less than eight hours. We’d both been quiet as the carriage had sped along the roads. Neither of us had been able to find much to say.

  ‘We can keep the portal open for as long as we want. As long as you need,’ Oriel said eventually. ‘Ro,’ he began, and then seemed unsure how to go on. I turned to him, but he was still looking at the portal. ‘You know I’d never let them keep you here, don’t you? You know, Illvelios and the Protectorate. And the Senate. If you didn’t want to stay, that is.’

  His comment caught me off guard. I knew Illvelios would want me for the Protectorate, but I’d never considered how much a valuable commodity I’d be to the Senate and the king. Of course they were going to try and keep me here. But what choice did I have?

  ‘I’ll come back,’ I promised. Nerves were making my stomach jump. I crossed my hands over my chest and bumped his arm with my shoulder. ‘I mean, you’ll only get yourself killed or kidnapped or whatever if I don’t.’

  He laughed softly and when our eyes met I found I couldn’t look away. And then, because I couldn’t find the right words to say goodbye with, I threw my arms round his neck, clinging to him tightly. After an astonished beat, he pulled me close, hugging me round the waist. I leaned up and kissed his cheek. He smelled of fresh air and sunshine. ‘Thank you,’ I whispered, not trusting my normal voice. ‘Thank you for everything you’ve done.’

  Oriel nodded and rested his forehead against mine. The half-smile he gave me started as flippant but seemed to dissolve on his lips. ‘I’d do anything for you,’ he said huskily. ‘Just don’t forget me this time, though, eh?’

  ‘Never,’ I gasped. ‘I swear.’

  It was time to go. With the taste of unshed tears in my throat, I started edging backwards, pulling Oriel with me. The rubbery surface of the portal gave way and still I moved, wanting this contact to last for ever, wanting a way to bring him with me, just wanting, until I was back in the warehouse, on my own with the scent of his skin still with me and it wasn’t until then that I started crying.