Chapter sixThe chirrupy babble of many light voices woke me. For an instant I lay still, relishing the warm air and the marvelous scents that wafted over me. The voices chattered on, mixed with nervous giggling. I opened my eyes and sat up. The young voices turned into screaming and shrieking and a pack of children burst away from me like pollen being shed from a bloom. The children halted in a nervous ring about ten paces off and their huge eyes regarded me as though I’d fallen from one of Kregen’s moons. What, I wondered, had they seen of my arrival? A quick scrutiny of my surroundings showed that I’d landed in a garden packed tightly with all manner of the most gorgeous flowers. Yet, whilst the flowers indicated the garden status of this place, its size tended toward that of a farm. I