groundling thief,” he had said. “That’s almost as bad as trusting the solitary.”
Jade just ignored his objections, and Moon didn’t have an argument either. The only basis they had for trusting Esom was that he would be a fool to betray them to Ardan.
Then Floret climbed down the wall, followed by Flower. Jade hissed, startled and angry. “What are you doing here? Who’s watching the solitary?”
“Root and Song and the groundling woman,” Floret said, her flattened spines conveying guilt and chagrin.
“The groundling woman?” Jade repeated incredulously. “Are you—”
“I made her bring me,” Flower interrupted, sounding brisk. She shifted to groundling and shook out her dress. “It smells foul here. Where’s this barrier you’re all babbling about?”
Silence fell. Moon scratched under the frills behind his ear and kept his mouth shut. After a moment, Jade said through gritted teeth, “Floret, get back to the tower.”
Floret fled.
Jade made an effort to drop her ruffled spines. She said, “You should be resting. You’ve been ill since we reached the coast, whether you’ll admit it or not.”
“I can rest later.” Flower crossed the terrace to the threshold of the doorway, and Stone shone the light on it for her. She nodded and glanced at Chime thoughtfully. “Something’s there, all right. It smells of groundling magic.”
Chime shrugged uneasily. “I don’t know. Maybe it was just a good guess.”
Stone snorted, but didn’t otherwise comment.
Esom edged forward and frowned at the barrier. Moon switched to Kedaic, asking him, “Can you see it?”
“No, but I can feel it.” He held out a hand, carefully not reaching past the doorway. “It’s similar to the barrier around Ardan’s tower.”
“Can you get us past it?” Jade said, her voice tight with impatience.
“I can try.” Esom looked around at them all, his expression grim. “I was never able to get outside Ardan’s tower to try with that barrier. Tampering with this one could alert Ardan.”
River hissed angrily, as if they hadn’t all thought of that earlier. “If it does—”
“If it does,” Moon cut him off, and finished to Esom, “Then you’ll know, for when you go back to his tower to get your friends.”
Esom glanced nervously at River, but said, “That’s a good point.” He stepped forward, hands out, and eased across the threshold, right up to the line of debris that marked the barrier. He crouched down and slid his hands along the pavement.
Moon stepped to the side to see his face. Esom’s eyes were shut in concentration, and sweat beaded on his forehead despite the cool air. Flower cocked her head, as if listening to something the rest of them couldn’t hear. Chime watched intently, obviously straining his senses to feel what Esom and Flower felt.
Esom turned his head, and said in a hoarse whisper, “Be ready. I won’t be able to keep it open very long.”
Jade turned to the others. “Vine and Drift will stay here on watch. The rest of you will come with us.”
Vine, hanging upside down from the edge of the terrace roof, said worriedly, “Be careful.”
Moon happened to look at Balm in time to see an expression of relief cross her face. She had been afraid Jade would leave her behind.
Then Esom slowly eased to his feet and held his arms out as if lifting an invisible curtain. As Esom stood, Moon felt a breath of cooler air, tinged with decay and incense and mold. It was a draft that had been held back by the barrier, now flowing from the doorway. It was more confirmation that Esom was performing as promised.
Esom stepped in, pushed the barrier above his head. He gasped, “Now!”
Moon lunged forward, halted at the threshold as Jade beat him there and slipped past Esom. He followed her, Chime and Flower behind him. River and Balm ducked past Esom, then Stone. Esom stumbled suddenly, staggered forward as if something heavy had fallen on him. Breathing hard, he moved further down the ramp, away from the barrier. “I think… I think it’s all right. Hopefully Ardan didn’t sense that.”
Jade said, “You didn’t have to come in here. You could have waited outside with Vine.”
Esom leaned against the wall, still catching his breath. He made a helpless gesture. “I meant to, but it got a little much for me. It was easier to go forward than back.”
“You can say that about a lot of things,” Flower said in an aside to Chime.
“Then you’d better come with us,” Jade told Esom. She took the lightrock away from Stone and started down the ramp.