He blinked, looked at the card again, and rubbed his eyes. With normal vision he could see nothing, but there had been something…. Gilla leaned forward to pour more water into his glass, and the movement of her arm triggered a sudden memory of a white arm pouring wine of Carronne from a crystal flagon into a goblet of gold-it had been the arm of Eshi, in the country of the gods.
“Lalo, what are you looking at?” Gilla asked.
“I’m not sure,” he said slowly. “But I think I know where I might find out….”
“You can’t go outside,” said Illyra in alarm. “Listen!” Even from the Street of the Red Lanterns they could hear the tumult in the city, and Lalo shuddered.
“I don’t mean to,” he said simply. “I’m going to go inward, through there-” He pointed at the archway in the card. Illyra stared at him, bewildered, but in
Gilla’s face understanding began to dawn, and with it fear.
“If you mean to go into trance then I’m going with you to make sure you remember to come back again!” she said tartly. “I don’t have the means to compel you the way I did before.”
Lalo had no idea what she meant by that, but there was no time to question her now. “If you can, surely you have the right to,” he told her, “if either of us can get there that way,” he went on, doubting his own intuition suddenly. He propped the card up against the flagon so that they could, both see it, and pointed at the other chair.
It creaked as Gilla eased into it. She settled herself, her hands clasped firmly in her lap, then looked at Illyra. “If this works, don’t let anyone disturb us, and in the name of your own Lillis, watch over my child!”