Books In English "City Of Illusions" Ursula K. Le Guin | Page 88

movement. He turned quickly and with a shock of fear saw something at
last vivid, distinct: a face, a seamed, savage, staring face set with two
inhuman yellow eyes.
"A Shing," he whispered in blank dread. The face mocked him, the
terrible lips mouthing soundlessly A Shing, and he saw that it was the
reflection of his own face.
He got up stiffly and went to the mirror and passed his hand over it to
make sure. It was a mirror, half concealed by a molded frame painted to
appear flatter than it actually was.
He turned from it at the sound of a voice. Across the room from him,
not too clear in the dim, even light from hidden sources, but solid enough,
a figure stood. There was no doorway visible, but a man had entered, and
stood looking at him: a very tall man, a white cape or cloak dropping from
wide shoulders, white hair, clear, dark, penetrating eyes. The man spoke;
his voice was deep and very gentle. "You are welcome here, Falk. We
have long awaited you, long guided and guarded you." The light was
growing brighter in the room, a clear, swelling radiance. The deep voice
held a note of exaltation. "Put away fear and be welcome among us, O
Messenger. The dark road is behind you and your feet are set upon the way
that leads you home!" The brilliance grew till it dazzled Falk's eyes; he had
to blink and blink again, and when he looked up, squinting, the man was
gone.
There came unbidden into his mind words spoken months ago by an
old man in the Forest: The awful darkness of the bright lights of Es Toch.
He would not be played with, drugged, deluded any longer. A fool he
had been to come here, and he would never get away alive; but he would
not be played with. He started forward to find the hidden doorway to
follow the man. A voice from the mirror said, "Wait a moment more, Falk.
Illusions are not always lies. You seek truth."
A seam in the wall split and opened into a door; two figures entered.
One, slight and small, strode in; he wore breeches fitted with an
ostentatious codpiece, a jerkin, a close-fitting cap. The second, taller, was
heavily robed and moved mincingly, posing like a dancer; long,
purplish-black hair streamed down to her waist—his waist, it must be for
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