'Look, he's starting to twitchY said Sacharissa.
'And he can't sing, either,' said Gowdie. 'All right, all right, I'm going, I'm going
Sacharissa patted Otto's clammy hand.
'You can beat it!' she said urgently. 'We're all here for you! Aren't we, everyone? Ann't we? Under her baleful gaze the dwarfs responded with a chorus of half-hearted 'yesses', even though Boddony's expression suggested that he wasn't certain what Otto was here for.
Gowdie came back with a small package. Sacharissa snatched it out of his hand and held it out to Otto, who reared back.
'No, it's just rat!' said Sacharissa. 'Perfectly okay! You're allowed rat, right?'
Otto froze for a moment and then snatched up the packet.
He bit into it.
In the sudden silence Sacharissa wondered if she wasn't hearing a very faint sound, like the straw at the bottom of a milkshake.
After a few seconds Otto opened his eyes and then looked sidelong at the dwarfs. He dropped the packet.
'Oh, vot shame! Vhere can I put my face? Oh, vot must you think of me
Sacharissa clapped with desperate enthusiasm. 'No, no! We're all very impressed! Aren't we, everyone?' Out of Otto's sight, she waved one hand very deliberately at the dwarfs. There was another ragged chorus of agreement.
'I mean, I haf been going through "cold bat" now for more than three months,' muttered Otto. 'It is such a disgusting thing to break down now and--'
'Oh, raw meat's nothing,' said Sacharissa. That's allowed, isn't it?'
'Yes, but for a second there I nearly--'
'Yes, but you didn't,' said Sacharissa. 'That's what's important. You wanted to and didn't.' She turned to the dwarfs. 'You can all go back to what you were doing,' she said. 'Otto is perfectly all right now.'
'Are you sure--' Boddony began, and then nodded. He'd rather have argued with a wild vampire than Sacharissa at this moment. 'Right you are, miss.'
Otto sat down, wiping his forehead, as the dwarfs filed out.
Sacharissa patted his hand. 'Do you want a drink--'
'Oh!'
'--of water, Otto?' said Sacharissa.
'No, no, everythink is okay, I think. Uh. Oh dear. My goodness. I am so sorry. You think you are on top of it, and then suddenly it all comes back to you. Vot a day...'
'Otto?'
'Yes, miss?'
'What actually happened when I grabbed the eel, Otto?'
He winced. 'I think zis is maybe not the time--'
'Otto, I saw things. There were... flames. And people. And noise. Just for a moment. It was like watching a whole day go past in a second! What happened?'
'Veil,' Otto said reluctantly, 'you know how salamanders absorb light?'
'Yes, of course.'
'Veil, zer eels absorb dark light. Not darkness, exactly, but zer light vithin darkness. Dark light... you see, dark light... veil, it has not been properly studied. It is heavier than normal light, you see, so most of it is under zer sea or in zer really deep caves in Uberwald, but zer is always a little of it even in normal darkness. It really is very fascinating--'