It was like the manor was occupied—like it was a place that had actual people, living their lives, instead of the manor I’d left, which, I realized, resembled nothing so much as the empty husk of what once had been or could someday be. I watched for another ten minutes to be sure, and yes, there were a lot more people in the place I was watching, and they were a lot busier than anyone in the place, or rather the time, I’d left.
I turned away from it and continued toward where the road should be, or would be someday.
The wind blew my cloak closed, which was nice of it; the day was a bit chilly.
I dodged a few boulders that seemed to grow at random among the brush, and reached a rise. I could see the road, just where it ought to be. I got a little closer, and there were people.
“Loiosh.”
“On it, Boss.”
He was back in a few minutes. “An ox-cart carrying two peasants and a load of supplies. Some boxes, some bushels of produce.”
“Apples?”
“Not that I saw.”
“Anyone else?”
“There’s a guard at the door. She looks bored.”
“And?”
“That’s all.”
Precipice Manor, it seemed, was a going concern after alclass="underline" guards where they were supposed to be, supplies delivered, everything a normal manor house ought to have. Except for the minor issue that the Verra-be-damned place didn’t even exist back at the time I was watching, everything was completely normal. No problem. Why should a little thing like that bother me?
I kept walking. By the time I reached the road, the wagon had rolled up to the doors, and the drivers were bowing and scraping to the bored guard. I wondered where she’d direct them, as I didn’t think the cart could make it down to the cave, and I didn’t see a path going the other way, and they certainly wouldn’t take deliveries at the front door.
I wanted to keep walking around until I could get a view of Kieron’s Watch to see if it was there, because that would tell me, I don’t know, something. But I wasn’t keen on running into anyone, or being seen by a guard. I stood there for a bit, trying to decide.
“We could explore, Boss.”
“You just said that because you know I was going to say it anyway.”
“Uh-huh. Anything special we’re looking for?”
“If you find anything that tells us when we are, that’d be good. Other than that, no, just check things out.”
He and Rocza took off from my shoulders again, Rocza flying northeast, Loiosh northwest. I turned in a slow circle, trying to pick out anything that didn’t seem to belong. The wind blew. My hair whipped, my cloak billowed, and I felt like an idiot.
I watched Loiosh until with no warning he vanished. Just, poof. I felt the panic start to kick in, but before it had a chance to take hold I heard wings behind me and spun, and Loiosh was there.
“Boss! What happened?”
“How did you get there?”
“That’s what I’m asking.”
Okay, so, it was like the cave, maybe? Go a certain distance and it loops you back?
“Did you see anything interesting?”
“No. It all seems normal.”
“Good. Or not good. I can’t decide.”
Rocza returned and landed on my other shoulder.
“I want to see what happens when I try it.”
I’m pretty sure she and Loiosh had some sort of conversation, then Loiosh said, “Okay, Boss. That way.”
I set off at an angle away from the road. After about five minutes it happened: I was back near the manor again, about forty yards from where I’d set off. I didn’t feel anything when it happened, and there was no border or barrier that I could see; just one step was there and the next was here. It was the same as when I’d been climbing up from the cliff, and on the roof, and in the hall by the barracks.
“Got any guesses, Boss? This is kind of weird.”
I struggled with the little I knew of necromancy, and finally said, “I think so. It’s like the room. It affected me because it was the nature of the room, not like a spell from outside.”
“Um,” he added helpfully.
“We aren’t being transported from one place to another. The world has been changed, so that’s just how those paths go now.”
“How?”
“Some big, complicated necromancy? I don’t know. And if it turns out that those mirrors aren’t part of it, I’ll stop making fun of Dragaeran cooking for a year.”
“I don’t think you could.”
“Okay, a week.”
“Witnessed, Boss.”
Just to be sure, I decided to try to reach the road again, even though I knew what was going to happen. I wasn’t wrong, either. About thirty yards from the door, between one step and another, I was elsewhere; this time, back in front of the door I’d first stepped out of. Maybe I could set off in other directions and see where I ended up, but what would that tell me? And I was hungry, and even if the food was as mediocre as the last meal, I still wanted it. And I wouldn’t be finding it out here. I put my hand on the doorknob, then stopped.
“Boss?”
“If I can’t figure out any of the big answers, I’ll take a small one.”
“Boss?”
I turned my back to the door and set out perpendicular to the manor. I went at a good pace until I came to a fairly large, flat rock, then I climbed on top of it.
“Champion of the Hill?”
“Shut up.”
I looked around, and spotted what I was looking for almost at once. I jumped down from the rock and walked another thirty paces or so, until I came to a neat double row of trees.
I smiled. Mystery solved.
“Boss?”
“Apple trees,” I said.
“So? Oh.”
“Yeah. For now, I’ll take solving a small mystery and call it a win.”
“How long do apple trees live, Boss?”
“Do I look like a gardener?”
“If you keep tromping around out here you will.”
“Why?”
“Boss, you were on the roof. Did you see an orchard?”