Horrifyingly, I wonder if the best thing to do is to stay here. There are no servants, no one to bother me but Barata, and he is preoccupied. I doubt he would even notice my presence in this enormous and echoing house.
I mean to be practical, but it is very hard when it means fighting against instincts that tell me to run as far and as fast from Barata as I can. But I’ve exhausted myself already.
Having snuck through Hollow Hall enough times before, I know the way to the kitchens. I drink more water from the pump just beyond it, finding myself desperately thirsty. Then, I wend my way up the steps to where Hann once slept. The walls are as bare as I remember, the half-tester bed dominates the room with its carvings of dancing, bare-breasted cat girls.
He had books and papers—now gone—but
