Beyond the Wall of Time (67 page)

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Lenares and Arathé had kept up a constant whisper in his ear, alerting him as to the build-up of power and the intentions
of those in the room. Then Lenares had hissed on an indrawn breath. “Umu is attacking Stella,” she said.

As he lunged for the grotesque body in which, against all reason, Lenares claimed Umu was housed, he realised that he was
likely wasting his last chance at revenge. The huanu stone absorbed magic, but at a cost to itself: each use rendered part
of the stone inert, the size of the blemish proportional to the power absorbed. Striking at Umu now would probably use the
stone up, robbing him of any chance of retribution against the Undying Man. Nevertheless, he struck.

He was halfway across the room, hand raised high, when Stella stumbled into his path. Stumbled deliberately. He tried to avoid
her, but she snared his leg and pulled him down to the floor with her. Trapping the huanu stone between them.

Knowing the thing would drain her magic, he grabbed at it, trying to pull it away. But her hand held his arm motionless. He
was a strong man, his muscles developed from years of hauling boats and nets, but he could not move the slim woman’s hand
even by a fraction of a finger-width.

“Don’t be alarmed,” she said. “This is right. This is what the stone is for.” As she spoke, blood began to flow from her nose,
her ears and her eyes.

In that moment Noetos knew no right or wrong, was shown no clear path, had no one to ask for help. Had no wisdom to fall back
on. Knew only that he was hurting a woman he’d come to respect; was stripping her of her immortality, maybe even killing her.

He turned his head to his left, afraid to look any longer into the tortured face beneath his own. The Undying Man had made
it to his feet and was launching himself at the figure on the seat by the window. With every fibre of his being Noetos wanted
to leap up and chase the selfish bastard who had done for his daughter and who had brought this vulnerable woman to this place.

But he did not. He could do nothing but trust Stella. For her sake, because she asked him to, he held the huanu stone to her
chest and prayed most fervently that she knew what she was doing.

Lenares had no power of her own. She could do nothing but watch as the trap was set and sprung. She had seen it develop and
knew it for what it was, which made her smarter than Umu. She derived a great deal of satisfaction from that.

Even as their power faded, Stella and the Most High held fast to Umu, containing her increasingly frantic attempts to withdraw
from Stella’s body.

“Lenares!” Torve cried. “What is happening?”

To the non-magical onlookers this climactic moment must appear odd, a simple skirmish on the floor not even involving any
of their enemies. So it seemed.

“No time to explain,” Lenares said, as Stella started to convulse in Noetos’s arms.

He tried to pull away then; she could see the effort he applied to lifting himself free of her embrace.

“It’s all right,” she said lamely to the others.
Despite appearances.

We will plug the hole ourselves, Stella
, the Most High said to her.
After we allow Umu to pass through.

Is there no other way?
she asked wistfully.

Yes
, he said, always scrupulous with the truth.
I could let you trickle back into your body. Sadly, your mind has been damaged beyond repair by Umu’s intrusion. I hoped she
would be more careful, but she has never known the meaning of restraint. You would live the rest of your life—ten years perhaps,
or more—in a madhouse. They would feed you with a spoon and wipe you when you messed yourself. You would be much honoured,
but you would never know it. In the meantime, I would try to hold the gap alone, and most likely fail.

But if I want
, she said,
you’d let me back?

I cannot stop you
, he replied.
Nor would I want to. As always, this is your choice, freely made.

I would have the last seventy years over again
, she said.

He smiled.
What if I could offer you better?

She formed a question in her mind, but he answered before she could ask it.

I have in mind a tutor’s appointment for you. A couple of youngsters need training into a new position of responsibility.

I thought I was to be employed plugging a hole?

That will heal itself over in time, after which you can devote yourself to your pupils.

I don’t mind what task you have for me
, she said,
as long as I have something useful to do.

He smiled.
I think this is a task you will enjoy.

Together they continued to hold steady, sharing the searing pain with the stoicism of veterans as the increasingly attenuated
spirit of the former Daughter spun away towards the void. After a time the stream of black throne-magic died away, along with
the shrieks, curses and pleading, and silence descended upon them.

A peace such as Stella had never known, had never imagined could exist, stole over her. She sighed.

Don’t get used to it
, said the Most High.
It won’t last long. Remember, I have new tasks for you soon.

I wish I could bid my friends farewell
, she said.
They have been so brave.

You are blessed that they are all here, gathered around you, to give you their goodbyes. You may linger a while longer, but
already the majority of your strength I have woven into the Wall of Time. I, too, will remain for a moment.

Stella died in his arms.

The horror of her death, of his killing her, overwhelmed Noetos. He realised that now she was dead, he had no one to speak
up for him. He knew how this must have looked to the observers and feared the anger about to descend upon him.

He eased himself off the corpse of the Falthan queen, picked up the now inert stone and looked around wearily. The only movement
in the room was over by the window, where the Undying Man hacked at the body of Husk with a sword. Thud, thud, thud went the
blade, spattering gore on the walls and floor.

The Lord of Bhrudwo looked up from his work, his face bleak. “Is she dead?”

“Yes.”

Noetos prepared himself for an outburst. A bolt of magic perhaps, or a blow with the sword. He knew he had nothing with which
to protect himself from the former, and doubted his ability to defend himself against a blade. Not with his limbs shaking
so fiercely.

The Undying Man sighed, and said, “There were other ways of doing this.”

Noetos could not answer him. His family, friends and travelling companions stared at him in shock.

Finally someone dared to break the silence.

“What in the Most High’s name have you done, fisherman?” Sauxa bellowed. “You’ve killed her! You killed my queen!”

“Yes,” he responded, hardly trusting himself to speak even that monosyllable. “I killed her.”

“She’ll come back to life again, won’t she?” Moralye said, but Noetos could hear the hope against reason in the scholar’s
voice.

“No, the stone has burned the magic out of her,” he said in a monotone. “And because her immortality was magical, she lost
her life as well as her power.”

“Why, my friend?” Sauxa asked. “Why kill her? What had she done to you?”

Sautea spread his arms. “Isn’t the immediate question still what we do to defeat the Daughter? Isn’t she holed up in that…
body?”

“You’re diverting attention away from the fisherman because you are his friend!” Sauxa challenged, his voice a roar.

Lenares pushed her way to Noetos’s shoulder. “Please! Stop, everyone. Listen to me. Umu is gone, driven back beyond the hole
in the world, which is being repaired as I speak. I will explain what you didn’t see.”

Noetos nodded to her. Say what you wished about her, the girl had a presence that gained people’s attention. He was safe at
least until she finished her explanation.

“The Most High set a trap for Umu,” Lenares explained. “He seemed to abandon Stella during the confrontation, and Umu decided
to leave Husk and jump to Stella. She most likely thought the Most High’s presence had moved to the Undying Man, so she set
a spike in Stella’s mind and made the leap. Stella and the Most High trapped her there.”

“We saw none of this,” Sauxa said mulishly. “How do we know it is true?”

“You don’t,” snapped Lenares. “All you can do is judge the source. Do I often get it wrong? If not, you might want to consider
believing what I say. Anyway, I told Noetos that Umu was about to attack Stella. He acted rather precipitately and sought
to assault Umu in Husk’s body with the huanu stone. I can tell from his numbers that he attacked Husk hoping to destroy Husk
and Umu both. Noetos wanted to use the huanu stone on Husk because he was angry at how the magician had spiked and abused
his daughter. But his primary target was the Undying Man. Am I right?”

She smiled at him, her head cocked, waiting for a reply.

Noetos nodded his head slowly.

“It wouldn’t have worked,” she said cheerfully. “Had you tried to drain Umu’s magic, she would have fled to the nearest person
she had a connection with—probably your son or daughter. Once there she could have used them as a hostage, demanding you lay
down the huanu stone or throw it out of the window.”

Noetos’s grim expression sobered further. He had not thought of the implications.

“Stella pulled me down on top of her,” he said, hoping his voice sounded more confident than he felt. “She didn’t say why,
but she held the huanu stone to herself until it had… ”—he choked—“until it had burned out every bit of magic from within
her.”

“And from the two other gods within her,” Lenares added.

“Two?” Sauxa said, clearly struggling to follow the explanation. “But I thought Keppia had already been banished?”

“Not Keppia,” Lenares said, demonstrating uncharacteristic patience. “The Most High.”

Noetos groaned. The ends of his fingers tingled with the shock. “I killed the Most High?”

The Undying Man came and knelt by the dead woman, his hand resting on her cheek.

“Not the way I’d planned it,” he said to the room at large in a voice laden with despair. “Not that my plans mattered in the
end. I was the dupe all along, it seems. How long have you been planning this?”

And so, amid the turmoil and doubt, the gift of revenge came to Noetos late and completely unexpected, a drop of blessing
amidst darkness. He had denied himself his revenge and would never get another chance. Had to take this one.

“Ever since we learned who you were,” said the fisherman. “It was Stella’s idea really, to pretend to be attracted to you.”
He shook his head, hoping he wasn’t overdoing it. “She suffered dreadfully. Often cried about how horrifying she found it
all.”

“Misdirection,” breathed the Undying Man in wonder. His frame seemed to shrink as he absorbed the news. “I recently told her
I’d seen through her ploy when she falsely accused Deorc those many years ago. And all the while… ”

“… she was deceiving you,” Noetos finished.

Behind him, Lenares was about ready to explode, Noetos could feel it. The others might understand what he was doing, or at
least not interfere, but Lenares would demand the truth be spoken.
Keep quiet, girl
, he willed.

The door opened. Everyone’s head swung in its direction. Cylene came in, her eyes wide. Immediately Lenares went to her. The
fisherman breathed out in relief. This mattered. It mattered very much. He would comfort Cylene in a moment. For now, he had
a revenge to complete.

“Most of us were in on it,” he continued, waggling the fingers of his right hand behind his back, indicating for the others
to hold their peace. “Save a few we couldn’t trust to keep quiet,” he added. “Our apologies, Sauxa. The Undying Man was to
be our lightning rod, drawing the attention of the great powers.”

The Lord of Bhrudwo looked sick. “You convinced the Most High to go along with this?”

Oh.
Noetos had forgotten about the Most High. He searched desperately for further invention: he’d never been quick on his feet…

“I needed no persuasion,” came a voice from everywhere and nowhere, accompanied by an increase in the pressure in the room,
as though the spaces between them were now overfilled. “I called you, Kannwar, to serve me. Two thousand years ago you turned
me down, as was your right. This time… I had a different role for you. A lesser role.”

“You’re bitter?” the Undying Man said, incredulity written on his face. “You used me as a dupe in some sort of revenge on
me?” His face turned red.

“Not at all,” the voice said smoothly. “But you assumed you were the centrepiece of my plan. I made no such assurance. A vital
part, indisputably, but not at the heart. That place,” he said, his words freighted with emotion, “went to my beloved Stella.”

At the mention of her name, everyone fell silent.

The Undying Man, a very much reduced figure, shed tears as he straightened the red dress he had given Stella to wear, reaffixed
a button that had come undone, and wiped the blood from her face. Something inside him seemed to have broken, or at least
was in the process of breaking; no one thought to correct his misapprehension or to shore him up.

One by one the travellers came and bowed over her hands, now clasped between her breasts, covering the spot where the huanu
stone had burned her.

There were no words, so none were said.

The dying embers of Deorc’s soul try and fail to reconnect with the burnt-out remnant of his mind. If he can find even one
place to attach himself he can begin the long healing process all over again. Seventy years isn’t a long time to wait. He’d
wait double that time, more, to live again. Ten times as long to have another chance at revenge.

The Undying Man took to his body with a sword, but the attack was irrelevant, the action of a frustrated man, and the fool
must have known it. Deorc’s magic-infused body can’t be killed that way. He severed the eye-stalks, though, and Deorc—better
call himself Husk, given the circumstances—can see nothing. Has to try to read air vibrations through his skin, and given
the condition of that skin, cut to shreds by the Undying Man’s blade, he is unable to hear a great deal.