Fred had been
ringing the Bell for six hours continuously; no-one had been able to prise his
hands from the rope. Hardacre was getting concerned.
‘Master Healer’ he asked, ‘is it safe to ring the Bell for so long?’
Rem watched at Fred carefully, as he swung on the bell and hummed
happily to himself.
‘Is it safe to be drunk for six hours?’
‘Probably not’ mused Hardacre, ‘let’s give him another half-an-hour and
then we really must stop him’
Rem nodded and returned to his potions and powders. He had been
sniffing them and inspecting them for a long time, but didn’t seem to have come
to any conclusion. They all knew what he was pondering.
While he worked the others had developed a plan. Viola and Potentilla
had gone out to clear a way back to the Quiena Vault so that Kath could return
to the Autelephas. After that they had undertaken a cautious patrol of the
perimeter of the city. By this time no enemies remained inside what was left of
the city walls, but there were still pockets of kinaam and humans camped a few
hundred yards away, waiting. They showed no signs of moving any closer but also
no signs of slinking away. After a long whispered discussion Viola was able to
persuade Potentilla that a sneak commando attack was inadvisable. Potentilla
was very disappointed, but she soon perked up.
After the patrol, Viola returned to the Tower and Potentilla went down
to guard the Vault, where Kath was concentrating just as hard as Rem but on a
very different task. Potentilla settled down in front of the doorway, bow in
hand, ready to shut it behind her if necessary and fight any and all enemies
who appeared. Kath just sighed and hoped fervently, but rather forlornly, that
no-one would come.
***
An hour or
so later Fred had finally been relieved of bell duty and was sitting in a
corner muttering grumpily to himself. Viola was ringing the Bell again, which
worried Hardacre, but there was no-one else available. She rang it with great determination and
enthusiasm. Neither Hardacre nor Rem had rung it yet and neither of them wanted
to.
Hardacre watched Viola with one eye and Rem with the other. By now Rem
had pulled out a series of ragged edged pieces of paper and had begun to make
extensive notes in a mixture of his own language and Ethian. Hardacre wondered
what they said.
‘Master Healer’ he said, ‘what conclusions have you reached?’
Rem looked up from his work, his eyes screwed up with the
concentration.
‘The curse cast by Whitecloak on the Tlaxacans is strong magic, very
strong, and it will take strong magic to break’
‘Can it be broken?’
Rem frowned, and huge creases formed on his forehead.
‘Yes – but probably not by Rem; Rem weak and lack ingredients. I need
plants that don’t grow here. Eventually it might be done though’
Hardacre considered this. He too had been wondering about Whitecloak’s
curse. He voiced his thoughts aloud.
‘The Bell acts through the curse controlling the Tlaxacans, doesn’t it?
Quiena found a way to destroy the Tlaxacans using the curse as a trigger,
didn’t she?’
Rem’s face darkened.
‘I think it so’ he said, ‘Kath say dwarven magic work well against
evil, and curse is pure evil. It needed magic as strong and as destructive to
undo, sadly’
Hardacre walked over to the edge and forced himself to look down once
again on the newly sown bodies.
‘Yes, Quiena was ingenious…’ he said, slowly and with an almost
imperceptible tremor, ‘and so powerful’
Rem glared at him. He did not get up from the floor.
‘Yes, she was powerful and relentless and hard. Good role model for all
elves’
‘She was trying to save her civilisation’
‘What civilisation?’ Rem growled.
‘I value it Master Healer’ said Hardacre carefully, looking up at the
perfectly wrought bell, ‘even if you do not’
Rem, in turn, stared out over the blasted city, but said no more. Then,
he settled back down with his medicines and his scattered notes, but he still
faced Hardacre and at no point had they raised their voices.
They sat in silence for a while. Then Hardacre forced himself to look
up at Viola, who was dangling on the bell rope as if she were on a child’s improvised
swing. He knew that he shouldn’t let her carry on for much longer. He sighed
and approached her.
‘Captain Viola’ he whispered, ‘I’ll take over now’
Viola shook her head vigorously and Fred looked up from where he was
sitting.
‘I don’t mind doing it’ he said eagerly, ‘I mean, if no other bugger
will…’
His voice trailed off.
Hardacre was tempted for a second, but only for a second, to escape the
task.
‘No, Dr Eccles’ he said, ‘I’m afraid it’s my turn’
***
Kath began
to examine every inch of the Autelephas, armed with the knowledge that she and
Hardacre had obtained from the Dwarven documents. She knew in principle how it should
work but until the thing could be made to move she wouldn’t be able to estimate
how much repair work it would need. The whole thing seemed a bit pointless, but
she continued with her work, as she had no other way to contribute.
Potentilla sat in front of the doorway. She seemed to be making little
sounds, but Kath couldn’t make out what they were. It began to irritate her –
was Potentilla distracting her on purpose?
Eventually, Kath got tired of the noises and jumped down from the
Autelephas. She was irked and wanted to go over to Potentilla to tell her to
shut up. Her annoyance died on her lips, however. The noises were little sobs: Potentilla
was weeping. Kath could hardly believe her eyes.
‘Tillie, what on earth is the matter?’ she asked sitting down next to
her and taking her hand.
The elf looked up at her with a tear-streaked face. She shook her head
as if to deny that anything was wrong, but she was still sniffing.
‘I have a handkerchief’ said Kath. Potentilla took the cloth and blew
her nose loudly.
‘I’m sorry about this’ she said, miserably, ‘I’m not usually like this
at all’
‘Really?’ thought Kath, but didn’t say anything. She waited for
Potentilla to tell her what was wrong.
‘It’s Al-Ham’ she said, ‘that silly boy’
Kath was slightly confused.
‘The Algharian who died helping you?’ }
‘Yes’ said Potentilla, beginning to sob quietly again, ‘he and I were
friends’
Kath wondered what she meant for a second.
‘You mean very close friends?’
‘Lovers, yes’ confirmed Potentilla, ‘we were doing it’
‘Oh no,’ said Kath, shocked by the vision that this conjured up, ‘I’m
so sorry’
‘He was a lovely boy and I think I was a bit horrible to him’
Kath hugged Potentilla to comfort her. She’d never imagined for a
second that she’d ever have to do that.
‘Horrible?’ murmured Kath, ‘I’m sure that you weren’t’
‘No, Fred said that I was messing about with him – and I think that I
was. I didn’t think he actually loved me.
He didn’t seem to realise that elves and humans really can’t…’
‘Can’t what?’
‘Be together, properly’ explained Potentilla, ‘even if there’s no age
difference to start with, there soon is one. I thought he knew that it was just
a fling, I thought he would know that it had to be’
Kath had no idea what to say, so she just held Potentilla and rocked
her gently, until the weeping stopped.
Potentilla looked up at Kath.
‘He died saving the rod you know’ she said miserably, ‘and I couldn’t
stop him doing it’
Kath untangled herself from Potentilla gently. They both sat in front of
the giant mechanical elephant, thinking of consequences. Kath realised that
although Potentilla felt guilty about just Al-Ham, she now had a whole string
of people whose lives she had disrupted: Lucius, Potentilla, Rem, Hardacre,
Marthian, Viola, and Fred; even unmourned Flavia. She wondered after all
whether any of it would be worthwhile, or whether she was doomed to take all of
them over the edge with her.
***
Kath and
Potentilla were still sitting glumly at the bottom of the vault stairs when the
human materialised at the doorway in front of them. He was well dressed, but
thin and gaunt, and unsteady on his feet. Kath sprang up open mouthed to face
him. Potentilla, even though she had been expecting an attack from down the
stairs, scrambled up and shot straight at him, reflexively, but at point blank
range.
The arrow would have hit John in the side of the head if he hadn’t
brushed it aside with a curt ‘osgoi’
and a wave of his hand. There was a flash of green light and the arrow bounced
harmlessly away. For a second he seemed confused, but then he focused on the
elf that had just fired at him.
‘I’m a friend!’ he shouted, ‘I’m looking for Laurence Hardacre’
Potentilla seemed equally dazed and was still waving her bow around
worryingly. Kath forcibly gestured to her to put her weapon down. She obeyed,
but rather reluctantly.
Kath took five steps towards the man and shot her hand. He tentatively
shook it.
‘Councillor Ismay…’ she said, ‘…you can’t imagine how pleased we are to
see you!’
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