Books In English "City Of Illusions" Ursula K. Le Guin | Page 86

several men, the first he had seen on foot, loitering towards them,
watching them. That scared him, and with Estrel he entered the building,
passing through inner automatic portals that slid apart at their approach.
Just inside, possessed by a sense of misjudgment, having made a hideous
error, he stopped. "What is this place? Estrel—"
It was a high hall, full of a thick greenish light, dim as an underwater
cave; there were doorways and corridors, down which men approached,
hurrying towards him. Estrel had broken away from him. In panic he
turned to the doors behind him: they were shut now. They had no handles.
Dim figures of men broke into the hall, running at him and shouting. He
backed up against the shut doors and reached for his laser. It was gone. It
was in Estrel's hands. She stood behind the men as they surrounded Falk,
and as he tried to break through them and was seized, and fought and was
beaten, he heard for a moment a sound he had never heard before: her
laugh.
A disagreeable sound rang in Falk's ears; a metallic taste filled his
mouth. His head swam when he raised it, and his eyes would not focus,
and he could not seem to move freely. Presently he realized that he was
waking from unconsciousness, and thought he could not move because he
had been hurt or drugged. Then he made out that his wrists were shackled
together on a short chain, his ankles likewise. But the swimming in his
head grew worse. There was a great voice booming in his ears now,
repeating the same thing over and over: ramarren-ramarren-ramarren.
He struggled and cried out, trying to get away from the booming voice
which filled him with terror. Lights flashed in his eyes, and through the
sound roaring in his head he heard someone scream in his own voice, "I
am not—"
When he came to again everything was utterly still. His head ached,
and still he could not see very clearly; but there were no shackles on his
arms and legs now, if there ever had been any, and he knew he was being
protected, sheltered, looked after. They knew who he was and he was
welcome. His own people were coming for him, he was safe here,
cherished, beloved, and all he need do now was rest and sleep, rest and
sleep, while the soft, deep stillness murmured tenderly in his head,
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