Chapter sixteenMotionless and barely breathing I waited in the shadows cast by a giant ceramic pot, growing flick-flick plants, for the double rank of guards to march past. Apart from them the corridor lay empty, for Deb-Lu, whose phantom image had guided me here, had vanished.
This corridor in Trylon Schian’s luxurious villa was well enough lit, confound it. The guards were all from those who had been trapped down in the Realm of the Drums. They were smart enough to challenge a lone paktun. Once I’d got in and Deb-Lu had begun to guide me there’d been no place where I could shuck off the leather and appear as a slave. I waited for the guards to march past — and the double rank halted with a clash and just stood there.
There was absolutely no use my fuming with annoyance over this situat
