Sharon Shinn - Gateway

“If ever you feel endangered, take the stone out of the bag and hold it in your bare hand for a moment,” Ombri said. “You will almost instantly be home-puzzled, confused, but essentially unchanged.”

Daiyu couldn’t resist rubbing the smooth quartz through the even smoother fabric. It did feel magical, charged with inexplicable energy, although that was probably just the power of suggestion. For a moment, she was horribly tempted to shake the rock into her hand and disappear. She didn’t want to go live with Xiang, an utter stranger; she was far from sure that she wanted to be the means of banishing Chenglei from this world. All she really wanted was to go home, to be with familiar people in a familiar place. To forget that Jia even existed.

If, in fact, it did. If, in fact, she was not still dreaming.

It wa sthe first time since breakfast that she had questioned the reality of her new situation. What was even more disturbing was that she had spent very little time all day thinking about her proper world. It seemed-less urgent, perhaps. Less vivid. She had been so content to wander the streets of Shenglang, her fingers interlaced with Kalen’s, that she hadn’t wasted much energy worrying about the city she had left behind.

What if she became so at ease here in Jia that she forgot there was another life awaiting her in the place where she belonged?

What if she became so comfortable with Aurora and Ombri that she stopped questioning their motives and their explanations?

What if she became so attached to Kalen that she wouldn’t want to part with him when it was time to go?

Shouldn’t she leave now, while her mind was still relatively clear, while her heart was still disengaged?

Her fingers closed more tightly over the bag. She stared at the golden drawstring.

I’m not ready to leave, she thought. Partly because she was curious. She would like to know if the stories she’d been told were true; how would she ever find out if she didn’t let the adventure run its course?

Partly because of Kalen.

Which was ridiculous. She had only known him a day. She wouldn’t even remember him once this wild adventure was over. It would be stupid to base any decision on her feelings for a cangbai boy.

“All right,”she said at last, hoping her voice showed none of her inner strain. “And what about the bracelet?”

Aurora picked it up and snapped it shut around her own arm. It was clear the bracelet was made for a man’s thicker wrist, for it was almost big enough to slide down over her gloved fist. “If you touch the silver for more than a second,” she said, “you will be sent to our world. You will be safe there, and the residents will recognize you as a sojourner who does not belong and who is probably afraid. But most of them will not know where you do belong or how to return you there.”

Daiyu was alarmed. “Couldn’t one of you come after me?”

“We would, of course, try,” Ombri said. “But there is a difficulty when you attempt to use a talisman that is not designed for you. It could fling you to a different time as well as a different world. We might not know which year, or even which century, you had gone to. It would take us some searching to find you and guide you back.”

Daiyu didn’t miss the revelation implicit in that remark: He and Aurora could travel backward and forward through time. So could she, apparently, but she didn’t have any control over where she might end up.

“Well.Okay.Iwon’ttouchthebracelet,”shesaid.“Butthen how am I going to put it on Chenglei? And why would he allow me to get close enough to do that?”

“At the Presentation Ball,” Aurora said, “you will be appropriately gowned. Your costume will include gloves. We will make sure your dress includes a hidden pocket where you will place the bracelet. Every young girl is invited to dance once with the primeminister. During your dance, you will take out the bracelet and place it on Chenglei’s wrist. It should be very simple.”

None of it sounded simple to Daiyu. “A formal dance? Like a waltz? The only formal dance I know is the Electric Slide.”

Aurora did not look discomposed. “I can teach you the basic steps of the tiaowu -the dance that continues throughout the ball-but you will have to confess to Xiang that you have not had much practice. I’m sure she will hire an instructor for you. There are certain times during the dance that you should have one hand free so that you can slip the bracelet from your pocket.”

“You would do well to practice beforehand,” Ombri observed.

“Yes, I imagine I would!” Daiyu exclaimed.

Kalen started laughing. “And then she would do well to practice what she’ll say when Chenglei disappears while she’s dancing with him.”

“Yes!” Daiyu responded. “I hadn’t even thought about that!”

“I believe your best course would be to simulate shock and hysteria,”Ombrisaid.“ There should be little reason to suspect that you had any hand in his abrupt departure. I cannot imagine anyone will be observing you closely enough to see you attach the bracelet to his arm.”

“And if anyone questions you, or menaces you, merely take out the quartz and send yourself home,” Aurora said.

Daiyu took a deep breath. “Okay. I suppose I can see how this would work. Except the part about practicing with the bracelet. If just touching it means spiraling off to a foreign galaxy-well-I don’t want to take too many chances.”

Aurora nodded. “I had the same thought. I’ve made a copy from ordinary materials to be found on Jia. You can rehearse with that one without risk.” Now she opened the small box to reveal a copper bracelet about the same size as the silver one. “It’s perfectly safe to touch this one with your bare hands.”

Stripping off her gloves, Daiyu fished the copper band out of the box and practiced snapping it around her left wrist a couple of times. It made a nice satisfying click every time the clasp engaged.

“The protocol of the dance requires you to leave your right handinyourpartner’s left hand while you promenade,” Aurora said. “That means we will sew the pocket in the left side of your dress-and you must learn to handle the bracelet with your left hand.”

“That’llbetrickier,”Daiyumuttered,andtriedtofastenthe bracelet around her right wrist. She was clumsy enough that the copper band clattered to the floor. “Can’t I just brush it against his skin?” she asked.

“We do not want him to sense danger and jerk away before he has been transported,” Aurora said. “It is best to take no risks. Plan to secure it around his arm.”

“As I said,” Ombri commented, “it will be wise to practice. And on someone other than yourself.”

Kalen immediately held out his own bare arm. Daiyu tried to snap the bracelet around his wrist, but she accidentally caught a little skin in the clasp. He smothered a yelp and pulled back.

“Sorry,” she said. “Seeming a little less easy all the time.”

Kalen laughed back at her. “Even less easy when you’re dancing,” he teased.

“Do you know how to perform the tiaowu ?” she retorted. “Because you’re the one I want to practice on.”

She expected him to say no, but he surprised her. “Yes,” he said. “ Aurora ’s been teaching me.”

“We have been focusing on this day for a very long time,” Aurora explained. “We thought Kalen might make a reasonable partner. Ombri will play music for us whenever you’re ready to learn.”

Daiyu rose to her feet and everyone else followed suit. “May as well start now,” Daiyu said. “The sooner I learn, the sooner I’ll be able to go back home.”

I tturned into a scene of hilarity. Ombri hauled out what looked like a xylophone and used soft mallets to coax music fromit. At first Daiyu just stood near the wall and watched Aurora and Kalen tread out the patterns of the tiaowu . The moves were very formal, a hand clasped here, a step taken there, a bow, a twirl, a promenade.