Beck was escorted back to his suite by his uncle. The spectral copy of himself was still splayed on the bed, an obvious sign of them still being in his dream.

“Wait in the library when you come to,” his uncle commanded before he swiftly left the room.

Patch dropped from Beck’s shoulders with a snort and climbed into the small armchair he usually sat in. Beck crawled into his own outline on the bed, feeling himself growing drowsy. How could he even fall asleep if this was a —

He was back in the waking world. His limbs were sore from the awkward position he’d collapsed in; he supposed it would be better to already be lying down when applying the serum next time.

Beck quickly climbed out of the bed, passing Patch who was once again lifeless in its chair. He crossed the hall to the library to find he was the first one there. It wasn’t long before the others arrived. Amelia entered first, wordlessly moving to the desk and clearing a space for herself amongst the papers. Beck heard the rest before they arrived; Fielding, Nora and his uncle were arguing, bringing their feud with them into the room.

“I’ll have you know the manor isn’t going to run itself for much longer if you keep pulling me away to these clandestine meetings,” the housekeeper huffed.

Fielding rubbed his head. “Patience Nora, I’m sure this will just take a minute. Now what is this about, Rowan?”

His uncle seemed the only one at ease, but Beck found it hard to read the man in the best of circumstances. “Since we’re all gathered we can finally get to that.” He nodded towards his nephew. “Beckham here told me that he was visited by the Stranger.”

Nora clicked her tongue in annoyance, meanwhile Fielding regarded Beck with wide eyes. “Are you certain? What did they look like?” The man asked.

“As I told my uncle, they had the appearance of the outline of a man in a hat and coat. They were just a shadow, like something out of a nightmare,” Beck said. He wasn’t as shaken as when his uncle questioned him before, but still his teacher’s apparent fear put him on edge.

“Did they do anything to you?” Fielding continued.

“Of course not,” Nora cut in. “We wouldn’t be having this conversation if —”

“Did they do anything to you?” Fielding repeated with more force.

Beck vigorously shook his head. “No, they tried to grab me but there was some sort of invisible barrier in the way. I couldn’t move though, I was paralyzed by — something, I don’t know what. There wasn’t any sound, no white noise, nothing.” He swallowed, for the first time realizing that if that horrifying encounter had taken place in the Reverie, then he had narrowly avoided something terrible. “I don’t understand, if Patch wasn’t there what was stopping this intruder from getting to me?”

“That would be the wards we have in place throughout the premises,” Nora replied. “Every suite has one in case anyone is stupid enough to sleep without their velour. Did you not explain any of this, Rowan?”

“Good lord woman, my nephew just awakened last night!” His uncle frowned in annoyance. “We haven’t been able to cover prototypes, let alone who the Stranger is. What’s important is to agree on how to proceed now that they’re in the picture. I’m sure you already know my stance on this and I won’t —”

“This situation is different,” Fielding interjected. “Beck is the one in the most danger right now, not you nor me. This shouldn’t have happened, by the way, if it was clearly communicated how important Patch was from the start —”

At this Nora joined in the chorus of loud voices until they were all in the midst of a quarrel again. Beck backed off, not wanting to find himself in the middle of it. While the three were caught in their own whirlwind, Amelia continued to attend quietly to the papers before her.

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He went over to see what she was doing. Scrawls of conversation were being recorded next to each of their names. “Is a transcript really necessary?” Beck asked.

“Do you really think Rowan will remember any of what we’re discussing come tomorrow?” She said, not looking up.

Given his uncle’s restlessness, she made a good point. With a murmur he let Amelia continue her work. When he shifted his attention back to the argument he heard Fielding call out, “It would be best if he returned to his home!”

“Hold on, I’m not backing out of this!” He was surprised he’d just said that. So was everyone else; the shouting ground to a halt as they all turned to him. His mouth went dry at their stares, but he soldiered on. “Now that you’ve shown me these things, how could I go back and forget that the Reverie exists just beyond my reach?”

Rowan gestured to Beck; he figured that he’d proven some sort of point his uncle had been trying to make.

Fielding looked at him with concern. “I know firsthand the draw that other world has, but now that the Stranger knows you’re awakening, things are more precarious than they already were.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Are you implying that by default there is inherent danger to the Reverie? I ought to have known that before you dragged me into this!”

“There is only risk in not knowing. If you do not know how to properly drive an automobile you’d also be in danger trying to do so. Traversing the Reverie is similar. There are other obstacles like the unmapped area we found, but they can be avoided with experience,” his uncle explained.

“Which is not the case for the Stranger,” Fielding pointed out.

Rowan sighed. “What you’re suggesting isn’t an acceptable alternative.”

“If I go back to Great Britain, would my world in the Reverie even change?” Beck asked.

Fielding shook his head. “No, that’s not why —”

“Once you’ve entered the Reverie, there isn’t a way to leave it behind.” A hush fell over everyone at his uncle’s words. “Any time you dream, it will be there. The only way to permanently cut it off is to erase your memories of it.”

The information struck him in the gut. This was nowhere near the level of seriousness Beck was expecting when he traveled here. He felt exploited, coerced into doing something that he could not take back. Like pulling the trigger of a gun while his uncle reassured him it was perfectly safe.

Before Beck could voice his anger, Nora spoke up. “There are natural solutions to that, Rowan. We still have the concoction that induces a dreamless sleep. I can give Whit the recipe.”

“And when he inevitably misses taking it one night?” his uncle said. “That would be a stopgap at best.”

“I am not going anywhere,” Beck said adamantly. His emotions ran circles around each other, but his mind was made up. “This happened because Patch wasn’t in my room when I slept, right? So as long as I have them with me this Stranger you keep mentioning shouldn’t be an issue?”

“Having Patch with you will be sufficient protection,” his uncle affirmed. “Velours have natural defenses that make them excellent guardians.”

“Then if the other dangers only arise due to ignorance, teach me. Teach me how to navigate this Reverie, if indeed it is a fixture of my life now.”

Fielding and Nora didn’t look happy about the proposal. To be fair, Beck hadn’t seen Nora be anything but. “If you can’t be convinced otherwise, then I suggest Rowan and I bring you up to speed as quickly as possible. After you’re aware of the risks you’ll be able to reevaluate your decision,” Fielding said.

“I’m on board with this,” Rowan added. “Beckham, that means during the day your traditional lectures will still continue, but focusing on more relevant topics. Your sleep will be highly regulated, and most of that time will be spent getting acquainted with the Reverie.”

Beck was already regretting this course of action, but replied, “I understand.”

His uncle clasped his hands. “That covers that, then. I’ll let Ho-Sook know about the unfolding situation.” Beck cocked his head at the unfamiliar name, but his uncle pressed on. “Fielding, prepare the first lesson for later today. Nora, you can go back to whatever it was that was so important.”

With that they left the room, some with grumbling and others quiet, as though they had just had an ordinary discussion. Beck remained behind, letting his head slow down from the whirlwind of a talk they just had. Amelia got up from the desk, glancing over at him before she too walked off. He might have been reading too far into it, but Beck thought he saw a piteous glimmer in the look she gave.