in sharply through her nose, producing a sudden hiss. She breathed out heavily, and followed the left wall along to where another single exit from the room, a dark wooden door, sat just beyond the end of the bookshelves.

She opened it, as Annyka came to stand beside her. Beyond lay a dim hallway that forked off to run both straight ahead and to the right. Ashidi entered, and at once the off-white carpet silenced her footsteps.

Two doors lay straight ahead, both of them closed; three doors lay to the right. The centre one apparently led outside, for glass panels set into its wooden frame allowed the foggy light of the town to spill into the hallway. Finally, the door immediately to their right stood ajar. Ashidi nudged it open, and stared solemnly inside.

“This was our room,&r...

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