Kenton and Shelby entered the room as the cauldron of bats swarmed past, continuing down the dark path. Their cries hurt his ears, but at least his unlikely companion seemed to be resistant to noise, as she broke another cardinal rule of Mappers, and moved to close the door.

  Most of the places in the Stable had no true doors. Storage rooms had sliding doors, stalls had stall doors, and the rare saloon had strange doors that swung open both ways and only blocked the middle of the doorway.

  Few rooms, however, actually had proper, locking doors. And when doors closed in the Stable, where rooms moved and the path was always changing, almost anything could happen.

  But the force of that being that caused the bats to flee was drawing closer.

  So Kenton joined in, shattering one of the most important Mappers' Rules: Don't close doors unless you really, really need to. The actual wisdom was set to rhyme, but in this moment, with thousands of bats so vicious that even a few were considered deadly, running from something even worse, Kenton didn't waste time and joined Shelby's efforts.

  Together, as the presence of the monster outside came nearer, Shelby and Kenton closed the door; an echo resounded throughout the Eastern Red Room.

  "Young'un, I thought you said running from danger doesn't work for you." Kenton chided, feeling his age. He'd worked in the Stable for over a hundred years, and his joints could tell him when the different rooms moved some days.

  "I didn't run away. You did. I just tagged along. Besides...that doesn't count." She laughed merrily, leaning against the door, as if to hold it shut against the approaching...thing. "Was that a Cold One?"

  Not surprised by her knowing of something few even dared spoke of, Kenton joined her by similarly leaning against the door. He laughed himself, a deep chuckle from his body. "No. It wasn't." the bitter taste in his mouth made him pause, "We'd be dead if that was a Cold One."

  "Noted."

  The feeling of danger beyond the door diminished, but whether it was from the absence of the bats, the unknown danger, or that the hall itself had moved.

  "Oh." Said the girl beside him. "Oh wow." She stood and took in the room.

  Kenton turned his face and looked at the Eastern Red Room. It had been many decades since he had actually taken the time to appreciate it.

  The Eastern Red Room was a massive, cavernous space. In the shadowy darkness of night, the floors were still a glossy maroon jasper. Kenton carefully did not touch the walls made of cinnabar and a red marble, fearing to dirty it. The lighting fixtures were amaranth red, and the light they gave off was just slightly rose tinted.

  There were furnishings too, that Kenton had equally been afraid to ever dirty. A room as regal as the Eastern Red Room clearly once had a very important purpose. And when dealing with the High Fae, it would not surprise Kenton if there were still those who valued the original purpose of this room, regardless of how long it was out of service. Fae that old were not known to be kind to the careless.

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  Shelby's gentle steps echoed as she lightly, carefully touching the different furniture pieces, all red but of different shades. If not for the Stablemaster's wife, Kenton wouldn't even know the names of all the materials used, least of all that the myriad hues of red that bore such fancy names such as vermilion, crimson, and scarlet.

  Shelby stepped carefully onto the glossy maroon jasper floor, frowning contemplatively as she went forward. She reached and touched one of the many pillars of red jade.

  "There are thirteen columns." she said. "That's an odd number to use to build a room like this."

  Kenton had never counted the pillars. He had rarely had much business with this part of the Stable.

  "Why are some pillars different from others?" She asked him.

  Kenton let his silence be his answer. He didn't know.

  Kenton considered opening the door and leaving. The closer to midnight, the more dangerous. By his watch, it was only 10:30, but it was still much closer to the dreaded turn of the day than he liked. There were few rooms it was safe to remain in the Stable overnight, and none unless for official stable business.

  "Why are some hot?" She asked him.

  This was a question ridiculous enough to move him to action. "What?"

  Shelby was touching the different pillars with her non-gloved hand. She then made an adjustment for her other hand, ticking forward a dial on her glove. Strange that she was carefully not touching things with it. He thought gloves were for...touching things one didn't want their skin to touch.

  Kenton, despite his good sense, joined her again and touched the pillar.

  It was slightly warm to the touch. Kenton went to another, and found it cold. He continued, now engaged in solving this mystery. The Eastern Red Room was shaped almost like a triangle. One door in the middle of the base, and one directly across from it to the triangle point. It was such a large room that he had never wondered about it. There were seemingly infinite mysteries in the Stable. Why chase one down?

  But it was the Stable that brought them here. Besides, this was much lesser daunting than his previous adventure. His back still hurt from all that jumping from platform to platform, not to mention when that brat Griffin had gripped him too tightly around his shoulder. Not that he wasn't grateful that she caught him, but since everything that happened was ultimately Cinnamon Girl's fault, he still felt she should bear some form of blame.

  "Nine are warm and four are cold." he said, at last finishing his quest.

  "Why?" She said again, thinking. Kenton finally realized she was not asking him, but just voicing her questions aloud. She went up to the door that would lead to the Owl room, except Kenton belatedly realized that that door was closed. And Kenton hadn't recalled that passageway even having a door.

  "Is this even where the Stable was leading us?" Kenton asked.

  She retreated from the door, and went to one of the very ornamental chairs. Kenton's hope that she would be respectful of the room and its furnishings was dashed as she started dragging it across the room. "One of these pillars is not like the others." She said, at last. "Do you see it?"

  "No."

  "That was a trick question anyway. All of these pillars are shaped different than the others. They aren't even completely round. Doesn't seem like it's to be fancy either. Do you know who made this place? What symbolism there might be? How long have you worked here, anyway?"

  Finally, a question he could answer. "I've worked here for over 137 years."

  She stopped moving the chair and stared at him. The sound of scrapping cut away suddenly, leaving the room in silence.

  "137 years?"

  He nodded. He was getting old for a lowling, but he wasn't ancient by any imagination.

  "How long is a year?" She asked him. "Can you tell me that in days?"