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it wasn’t so funny to be mistaken for a boy. She scrambled to
her feet. “Who the heck are you? How’d you get into my shop?”
    “Shop?” The man’s body tensed. He swept a trembling hand across
his brow.
    A wave of sympathy made her soften her voice. “Yes,” Gwen
said, “my shop. How’d you get in here? Who are you?”
    “I crossed the ice fields?” It was a question.
    Gwen sighed. He was going to act out the part for which he’d
dressed. He was definitely into Tolemac Wars. She’d met all kinds. From
the small—she perused the war gamer from his black leather boots to his matted
hair—to the tall. “Yes. Yes,” she said, playing along. “You’ve crossed the ice
fields. You’re in Ocean City, now.”
    “Ocean…? The place of legend with sea creatures three times
the size of dragons?”
    She pressed her lips together to remain as serious as he
was. “Yes, that’s the one. Now, who are you?”
    He straightened to his full height and stared down his
perfect nose at her. “Vad.”
    Of course. If she looked so much like the Tolemac warrior,
she’d call herself Vad, too. “Okay, Vad. How’d you get in here?”
    A look of real consternation settled on his face. “I do not
remember.” He staggered. His hand shot out to the game platform.
    “No. Don’t touch that!” Gwen lunged for his hand. She
grabbed his arm and jerked him away. He’d come dangerously close to leaning on
the game controls. “I don’t need any accidents. Do you understand?”
    “Uh, Gwen?” Neil spoke from the entrance to the game booth.
“Your back door’s unlocked, but Mrs. Hill and some friends are lined up out
front.”
    “Gwen?” The man said her name very distinctly. In fact, he
sounded as though he belonged on the public television station, maybe in one of
those British mysteries she watched on Thursday nights.
    “Come on.” She tugged at the man’s arm. “Let’s get you out
of here. If the women outside see you, they’ll strip you naked in a minute.”
    A look of sheer terror crossed the man’s face. Gwen grinned.
“Yep. Less than a minute. Maybe in ten seconds.” He scooped up his fur parka.
She wrinkled her nose. “You’d better get your coat to the cleaners, pronto.”
    He swayed. His hand settled heavily on her shoulder. Slowly
he removed it and forced himself upright. “Forgive me. Perhaps you might take
me to your master.”
    Gwen opened her mouth to make a sarcastic remark, then
realized he was just staying in character. “Sure. Right after I rescue you from
Mrs. Hill.”
    He jerked his arm from her hand. “I do not need a
pathetically small female to rescue me.”
    Gwen settled her hands on her hips. “Look, Vad. You’re on
thin ice here. You broke into my shop. Play all the games you like, but keep
your insults to yourself.”
    She did not wait for him to follow her. She hurried from the
game booth. If he wanted to be attacked by Tolemac fans, that was up to him.
    Behind her, Vad slowly straightened.
    He felt as weak as a spring lamb. He took a cautious step.
Then another. At the chamber doorway he staggered. Lights and sounds and smells
assaulted him. Drums pulsed and beat in his head. Pain shot from one side of
his skull to the other. Bright colors burned his eyes. He bumped into a table.
A slither and clatter of glittering objects made him jump. A man grabbed him.
He pulled away.
    The man, garbed in all black, had no arm rings or visible
weapons, but this was the land beyond the ice fields. Vad did not know what
laws applied here, nor what enemies he might encounter. Legends told of strange
people, strange customs, and stranger weapons to be found if one could but
cross the ice fields.
    He went on guard. His burning eyes swept the long chamber
he’d entered. Colors warred with light bouncing off glossy surfaces. Nothing
looked familiar. Glass windows, impossibly large and clear, ran with rain. In
sharp contrast to the room, the world outside looked strangely washed of color.
He