Free The Gate of Gods (Fall of the Ile-Rien) by Martha Wells Page B

had spoken. “I’m obviously the one to go.”
    “Why?” Ilias demanded, turning to glare at him. “I’ve done it more than you have.”
    Ander rounded on him impatiently. “You don’t understand the spell. You don’t have any idea what happens when—”
    Ilias snorted derisively. “And you do?” He flung an arm in the air. “Explain it to us, then.”
    Not sure which one of them she wanted to argue with, Tremaine pointed out, “Hey, I’ve done it more than both of you put together—”
    “Children, quiet,” Nicholas snapped. In the sudden startled silence he lifted a brow in ironic comment, and added, “Let’s listen to Gerard, shall we?”
    Gerard gazed at the ceiling as if asking it for patience. “I’m going because I’m the sorcerer and it would rather help to be able to return.”
    “But I could—” Florian began.
    “No.” Gerard told her, pausing to look at her over his spectacles. Florian could use a sphere to make a circle work, but her results hadn’t always been ideal. “I appreciate the offer, but no.”
    As Florian subsided reluctantly, Ander put in, “Of course, but you’ll need someone to—”
    Gerard interrupted, “And I accept Ilias’s offer to accompany me.”
    “And me,” Tremaine added, alarmed that she might actually be left out. It wasn’t fair. Going through strange circles was one of her few accomplishments.
    “No.” Gerard told her. “I want to keep the first expedition to a minimum.”
    First expedition? Now Gerard was being a rampant optimist, to assume there would be a second. “But I always go. It’s… lucky,” Tremaine finished self-consciously as everyone stared at her.
    “Not this time,” Gerard said firmly.
     
     
     
    N ow that the decision was made, Ilias was impatient to get it over with. “Shouldn’t you take some more time?” Florian asked, looking over to where Gerard stood near the circle. The wizard was still going through his papers but he had put on his coat, apparently the only precaution he was going to take. The other men were waiting with him, except for Giaren, who was still using the talking curse box to speak to Niles. Florian turned a little hopelessly to Ilias. “To make more preparations?”
    “Like what?” Ilias slung his baldric over his shoulder and checked the set of his sword in the scabbard. He knew from what Gerard had said, and his own past experience, that either all would go well and they would quickly return, or it would go badly immediately.
    Tremaine folded her arms, pacing impatiently. She had been running her hands through her hair, disordering it as if she had just gotten out of bed—which made him want to be in bed with her right now. “This is going to drive me crazy,” she said, sounding more angry than anything else.
    “Now you know how we felt when you made that first experiment with Gerard,” Florian told her sharply.
    Tremaine was unimpressed. “Yes, that’s why I always go. Then I don’t have to feel this way.”
    Giliead had been standing at Ilias’s elbow, radiating increasing impatience. Finally, he said, “I need to talk to you.”
    “I don’t— Hey!” Giliead seized his arm and hauled him into the cold hall, then through the first open door to one of the empty bedchambers. Ilias banged into the door and grabbed it, planting his feet to halt himself. “What?” he demanded, jerking his arm free.
    Giliead planted his hands on his hips, glaring at him. “You don’t know where this thing will take you. Think what happened last time—”
    “Either the sphere has a god in it or it doesn’t. And either we trust it or we don’t,” Ilias said, his voice flat with irritation. “If you’ve got another choice, I’d like to hear it.”
    Giliead grimaced. “Why are you doing this?”
    Ilias took a deep breath, trying to actually answer the question and ignore the peremptory tone. “If I don’t do something, I’ll go crazy. The only thing useful I’ve been able to do in days is