Vond turned to stare at the tapestry. “If I tore this thing to shreds, would the people in there still be able to get out?”
“Yes, your Majesty – but no one else could get in. Please don’t do that. The spell was very expensive.”
“So anyone who gets into that pretty little world of yours can just reappear here in my home, whenever they want?”
“More or less, yes, your Majesty,” Hanner answered wearily.
“Is there any other way to get there, other than touching this hanging?”
Hanner blinked. “I…I don’t know, your Majesty. I don’t think so.”
“But you don’t know?”
“No, your Majesty. I suppose some wizard might have made another tapestry just like this one, that would go to the same place.”
“And if someone went through that tapestry, could they still come out here?”
“In this house? Yes, your Majesty.”
Vond shook his head. “That won’t do. People could just pop in here undetected?”
“Well, yes, I suppose so.”
“I can’t allow that,” Vond said. “That’s completely unacceptable. We need to get everyone out of there and seal it off somehow – destroy the tapestry, or get it out of the house.”
“If it troubles you to have it here, we could move it to my sister Nerra’s house, your Majesty,” Hanner said. “Or simply roll it up and put it away; it won’t work if it isn’t spread flat.”
“What would happen to the people inside, if we moved it or rolled it up?”
“Nothing, your Majesty.”
“Could they still come out in this house, even if the tapestry was somewhere else, or not working at all?”
Hanner hesitated. He was unsure exactly where this was going, but he was becoming more and more certain that he did not want Vond to understand how the tapestries really worked. “That would depend, your Majesty,” he said. “The magic involved is complicated.”
“Depend on what?” the warlock demanded.
“Well, there is a second part to the spell, your Majesty, in there,” Hanner said, pointing to the tapestry. “That determines where users return to our world.”
“So if someone changed that, people could use this to come out anywhere?”
Hanner blinked again. He had not really thought about this himself. If someone brought other tapestries into the village, then his refuge could have more exits, coming out anywhere the tapestries depicted. “Yes, I suppose so,” he said.
“That could be valuable,” Vond said. “You could send armies right inside an enemy’s walls. You could send spies into your enemy’s home. I wonder why no one’s done that? Or maybe they have, and we just don’t know about it.”
“I don’t know, your Majesty,” Hanner said.
“That could be useful,” Vond said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “But no, it’s too dangerous. Is there some way to ensure that no one can get into this house through that magical village?”
“I don’t know what wizardry can and can’t do, your Majesty,” Hanner said. “I’m not sure anyone does.” He hesitated, then said, “Perhaps you should move elsewhere, if this concerns you so.”
Vond waved the idea away. “No, no. This is Warlock House, and I am the last warlock. The symbolism is important. Besides, I mustn’t look weak. I am staying here, and that tapestry cannot be allowed to remain as it is. The spell as it is now, the way you bought it – can it be changed so that no one can emerge in this house?”
“I don’t know,” Hanner said, hoping that Vond would not notice any of the physical indications that this was his first outright lie. Up until now he had managed with misleading answers and half-truths, but he knew perfectly well that the return tapestry could easily be blocked or even destroyed.
“But right now, there are fifty or sixty people in there who could walk back out into this house at any moment?”
“Yes, your Majesty.”
“If we got them all out, and then rolled this tapestry of yours up, would there be any way anyone else could use this village as a path into my home?”
“Not with any magic I know, your Majesty,” Hanner said.
“Then I want you to get in there and get them all out, Hanner.”
“I’m sure that we -”
“Now.”
“What?”
Vond pointed at the tapestry. “I want you to go through that thing right now, and get all those people out of there. I will not tolerate having them in my house, in a place I cannot go.”
“But your Majesty, I don’t -”
“Now.”
“Of course, your Majesty,” Hanner said, taking a step toward the tapestry, “but you understand, it may take awhile. I don’t know how big that…that place is; I was only in there very briefly. They may have spread out. There may be hiding places.”
“Get in there and get them out!”
Hanner bowed. “Yes, your Majesty!” He turned, took a deep breath, and stepped through the tapestry.
Warlock House vanished, and he was standing on a grassy slope, looking down at the golden village. The air was sweet with the scent of flowers and the sea, and he heard happy voices somewhere in the distance.
Then someone exclaimed, “By all the gods and the stars! It’s Hanner!”
Hanner turned to look back the way he had just come, but instead of the tapestry and the dusty bedroom he saw half a dozen people sitting cross-legged in a circle on the grass, surrounded by half-finished baskets and crude tools. They were all wearing either worn nightclothes or warlock black, but most appeared to have washed out the worst of the grime they had accumulated on the journey back from Aldagmor.
They were staring at him. He recognized them as people he had sent through the tapestry, but could not remember any of their names. He was not sure he had ever learned any.
“Hanner the Generous!” a woman said.
“Welcome to the Refuge, Hanner!”
“Go tell Rudhira.” The woman who said that nudged the girl next to her, who sprang up and dashed past Hanner, down the slope toward the village.
“Rudhira’s here?” Hanner asked, startled.
“She has been for hours,” said the young man who had welcomed him. He got to his feet, brushing bits of something from his tunic.
“Maybe days,” called the woman who had sent the girl running.
The young man grinned. “Maybe days,” he agreed. “We can’t tell time here.”
Hanner blinked, and looked up at the sky, and at the sun that hung there.
“It doesn’t move,” the woman said, following his gaze. “At all. It’s always exactly where it is now.”
“There’s no night,” an older man said.
“At least, there hasn’t been one yet,” the young man said. “How long have we been here?”
Hanner tried to think. So much had happened, and he had been so busy and gotten so little sleep…
“A day or two,” he said. “I think.”
The others exchanged glances. “That sounds about right,” the older man said.
“I thought it was more,” another man said.
“Time may not pass at the same rate here,” an older woman suggested.
“It doesn’t matter,” the young man said. “Hanner, why are you here? You don’t need somewhere to stay, do you?”
“Vond sent me,” Hanner said. “It wasn’t my idea. I just wanted to get some sleep.”
A woman laughed. “Well, you can sleep here,” she said.
Hanner started to protest, to say that he couldn’t spare the time, that Vond was in a hurry, but then he stopped. Why should he care what Vond wanted? He was in the one place he knew of where Vond was absolutely powerless to harm him, and he could stay here as long as he chose. He had told Vond it might take awhile to evict his guests; why should he rush?
“That sounds wonderful,” he said. “Where should I go?”