This is the ninth part of my fortnightly serial. If you missed Part 8, you can read it here.

Part 9: Meetings

Smith’s office was larger than Janet remembered it. It was the same room — there was the mahogany desk, with the scented candles and the dim lamps, and the carpet was the same shade of blood red. Instead of being a small close space, though, it was now large enough to fit everyone here. That included every staff member Janet had seen, bar Felicia, who had stayed at the receptionist desk fielding questions. Magic again. If she focused, she thought she could see the threads of magic that had changed the room’s dimensions. They gleamed silver-red. Was that what Paxton had meant when he said she’d be able to see the colours, or was it simply that they were reflecting the colour in the room?

Janet sank into a leather armchair. She didn’t want to be here. She would not have been here if it had not been for the press of people around the reception that had made her escape impossible. Smith had been the one to restore order, filing people away in a set of spare rooms that Janet had never seen before. Then he’d said, “Meeting, my office, now.” That could have been an order for anyone, really, only he’d added, “Come this way, Miss Ling.” Janet could not ignore that, so now she was here, trying very hard not to wonder if she had caused this somehow. She focused on picturing a wall in her mind, but she knew it might not work; Hela had said Smith had ways of drawing thoughts out, in this room.

“The portals closed earlier this evening,” Hela was saying. “At least, they started to. That’s why it didn’t come up on the sensors, because it happened so slowly. It started on the top floor and spread from there.”

“How did everyone end up in the lobby?”

Hela shrugged. “Not everyone. Just everyone whose rooms stopped existing, or moved to their proper places. Without access to the other worlds, our access to magic has become more limited. And it’s going to get worse.”

Smith said, “Miss Ling, I believe you went to the top floor earlier tonight?”

Janet stared. “I didn’t have anything to do with this!”

“But you knew something was wrong,” said Hela. “When you came back, you said something felt wrong in your mind.”

“I just had a headache.” She still had a headache, but it might be better not to mention that.

“I don’t think that’s true. Sir, I think Janet’s connection to the portals has been getting stronger without anyone noticing. If we show her how, she could be able to get them open again.”

Smith leaned forward. “If she wasn’t the one who closed them in the first place.”

“If she was the one who closed them, don’t you think she’d be a little more clumsy about it? This went undetected until the last moment. Something else is going on.”

Smith gave Janet a piercing look that seemed to go through to her very bones. “I am not convinced.”

“If I may be of assistance?” said a silky voice from the doorway. It was Telar. “I met Miss Ling coming down. There were no traces of magic upon her. I doubt she had anything to do with this.”

Janet glared. He had no reason to help her, unless doing so would help himself.

“Then how did it happen?” Smith asked.

“You should know that tensions between Durridel and Himmeria are high. Perhaps they decided to close the corridors between them.”

“No. Not without negotiating. That would break the treaty.”

“I cannot know for sure. But I know these people. They would have taken the easy route. No need to negotiate with people you will never see again. These Himmerians, these Durridels, they are all the same.”

Hela scowled. ”No doubt you think so, Exile, but the truth—”

Smith interrupted. “You think you can get them open again.”

“I am certain of it,” said Telar. “I simply need your permission to take control of the portals.”

“Impossible,” said Hela. “Sir, you cannot hand over control to an outsider.”

“I am a guest, not an outsider. And who else has the power, position, and understanding to help you with this?”

“Janet does.” Hela turned to Smith. “Sir, she’s established a connection with them already. You could let her try. I don’t see that any harm could come of it.”

“She could make things worse,” put in Telar.

“With oversight, sir, I think we could keep everything under control,” Hela said. 

Smith looked Janet up and down. “No.” He stood. “Come, Telar, I will show you the way the portals are laid out.” He strode out of the room.

Telar let him pass, smirked at Janet, and left. Slowly the other staff filed out of the room.

Janet remained sitting. ”Doesn’t he trust me?”

Hela had reached the door. Now she turned back and sighed. “I don’t know what he’s thinking. Trust you or not, you’d be easier to control than the Prince. I swear, I think sometimes he’s angling for a ruling position here.”

Janet decided not to remark on how easy she’d be to control. “But I thought he was just a guest here.”

“He is. But he’s not content to remain that way. A guest here, forever, no real place of his own? Forget it. He’s angling for something else.”

“For what? And how do you know?”

“I know because it’s obvious, or it should be.” Hela stood. “And if I knew what he’s angling for, I’d stop him.” She walked out, leaving Janet alone.

Janet took a few moments to get her breath back. Nobody actually told her to go anywhere or do anything, after all. She thought she could feel the walls closing in around her.

No, the walls were literally closing in around her. They brought the shadows in with them. Janet quickly fled the office. She supposed that since her shift was over, she could go home. But that didn’t feel right somehow. 

“Psst.”

The sound had come from around the corner. Janet approached with caution.

“Janet?” The voice came out of the air.

“Is that Paxton?” Janet fervently hoped it was.

“It’s us,” Robin came into view from behind. Janet turned and turned back and Paxton was there too. 

“Oh, thank god.” Janet leaned back against the wall. She wasn’t sure her legs could take her full weight. “Where have you been? I thought you were hurt or something.”

“We saw the elders meeting.” Robin wore the same suit, but it was now crumpled and stained. Paxton’s clothes also showed signs of wear. Had they not changed the entire time they were here? “Have they found out about us?”

“Not that I know of.”

“What’s happened then? You have to tell us.”

Janet considered, but after all, who would they tell? She described the situation in a few brief sentences. Robin and Paxton exchanged a guilt-filled look.

“What is it? What do you know?”

“When did it happen?” asked Robin. “When did the portals close?”

“I don’t know exactly when. Earlier tonight, I think.” Janet looked at their faces. “What? Did you do something?”

“We were trying to get into Himmeria, earlier tonight.”

“What? Why? Why tonight? What have you been doing all this time, anyway? I’ve been looking for you.”

Paxton shrugged. ”Finding our way about. It hasn’t been easy. The magic doesn’t show where the portals are, so you have to piece together the threads and find where the gaps are. It took a while. And they don’t show where the entrances come out, not precisely. We couldn’t risk returning through any Durridel portals. We were only able to find a portal to Himmeria tonight.”

“What happened?”

“It closed. Right before us. And I could feel everything shift.”

“Oh, great. So this is because of you?”

Paxton looked at the floor. Robin bit her lip. They didn’t need to answer.

“Listen,” said Janet. “I think the Exile Prince knows you’re here.”

“He couldn’t.”

“He dropped some hints earlier tonight. I don’t know what he plans to do, but he’s managed to convince Smith to let him fix the portals. I’m sure he’s going to use this to do something. Try and get himself in power or something.”

“But he couldn’t,” said Paxton, shocked. “He’s a guest here. An outsider, like us.”

“Well, I’m sure he’s up to something. There has to be a reason he hasn’t said anything. We’ve got to do something before he fixes things.” If he could fix it. 

“You are the anchor,” said Robin. “Can’t you fix this?”

“Smith won’t let me. I don’t know why.”

“Why do you need his permission?”

“Because he’s my manager.”

“You did not need his permission to let us stay.”

“And I’m sure I’m going to regret that just as soon as he finds out.”

“Never. You should never regret that. Please, Janet. You can help us. Help open the portals so we can leave. You have already done so much for us, but it could all come to naught.”

Janet ground her teeth together. “I would if I could. But I don’t know what to do. I don’t really have control over the portals. I’m still pretty new.” She sighed. “If only I could actually connect to the portals.”

“Surely you can, though.”

“If I did, they wouldn’t be closed.”

“But it has been many weeks, and you have acted as an anchor through all of that. Surely you have a connection to this place.”

Janet considered. “I did get a headache when the portals closed. Maybe. That could have been a coincidence.” Regardless of whether she could, she knew she had to try. This was her mess, after all. “Will you be safe in Himmeria?”

Robin looked at Paxton. “Safer than we would be in Durridel. Death isn’t a punishment there.”

“Imprisonment is,” said Paxton.

“But we’d be alive. They wouldn’t make us go back.”

”Okay,” said Janet, “then I’ll try and get you there. But I don’t have the first idea of how to go about it.”

“Surely you know where the portals are.”

“No, I don’t have a clue.” She’d tried looking for them on the map Hela had given her, but found nothing. Paxton had said the magic wouldn’t help, wouldn’t show… unless it could. “Paxton. Earlier tonight, I saw threads of magic that were gold, not silver. It was on the top floor, near a staircase that led up. I thought that might be a portal. Could it be?”

Paxton stared at her. “A staircase on the top floor. That’s where we were tonight. Where we tried to leave.” His eyes widened. “Of course. I cannot see the magic, but you would. This is your place.”

“So we could do this.”

Paxton opened his mouth to reply, but Robin grabbed him by the shoulder. They both looked around and then vanished before Janet’s eyes. Before she could react, she heard someone speak behind her.

“Miss Ling? Why are you still here?”

Janet turned. “Sorry, Mr. Smith, I was just looking for a way to be useful.”

“Your shift is over, is it not?” He looked, if possible, more forbidding than normal. 

“Yes, but I thought, considering what happened, maybe —”

“We do not need your help.”

“Look, I know I messed up when I first started. I know I haven’t exactly been your idea of the best anchor, or even the best employee. But I’ve been trying, I really have. Can’t you give me a chance? Or at least explain why you don’t want my help?”

“It is past time you left, Miss Ling.” 

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” said Janet, raising her voice a little in case Robin and Paxton were still around. “Back tomorrow and ready to help. Goodnight, sir.”

She walked down the corridor to the lobby, feeling Smith’s eyes on her back all the way.

Thanks for reading! Part 10 is here.