"Well, that settles it," he laughs, as he lets her help him to his feet. "I can't disappoint Drinian. And just you wait; sailing on a ship like the Treader is nothing like sailing on the Hope. And you really must see Lantern Waste, one day."

To one side of them, he can hear the laughter and music and revelry in the vale. To the other – looking East –

– well, perhaps that door standing in the meadows has always been there.