She dared not delay too long, lest someone in Jaxar’s household, perhaps Jaxar himself, realize she was gone. For all she knew, the Qr priest and his fellows, aided by the Elite Guard, were still searching for her. Once again, she was able to lose herself in the celebration. Merrymaking continued throughout the city at an even higher pitch of frenzy than before. From the greater size of the gatherings, she concluded these people meant to carouse until dawn. By the time she reached the foot of Bathar Hill, every nerve in her body quivered with strain. Every few moments, she glanced behind her or peered into the shadows at the edge of the light cast by bonfire and torch, or searched the crowds for hooded figures. The drunken caresses of strangers held no terror for her now. By comparison to her pursuers, the revelers seemed benign, clumsy but not malicious. Tsorreh found the compound gate as she had left it, closed and unbarred. The house was dark and quiet. She was able to slip inside and up to the laboratory without notice.
