that?’
‘Xervish Flydd told me. And I’ve talked to Irisis about it, too.’
‘What of it?’ she said mulishly.
‘I just thought you might be able to use that talent again …’
‘Can’t!’
‘Why not?’
‘Lost my lattice.’
‘When did that happen?’
Ullii turned away, looking down at the floor.
‘If you don’t tell me, Ullii, how can I help you?’
‘No one can help me.’
She said it with a remote edge of despair that tore at his heart. It was almost as if it didn’t matter any more. He couldn’t imagine what was going on in her mind.
‘Then please, please help
me
, Ullii. No one else can. Do you want all the good people up there to die at the hands of Ghorr?’
‘No one can save them.’
‘And Scrutator T’Lisp, who murdered Yllii?’
‘Our son,’ she said dreamily. ‘
Our
son, Nish. How could anyone do such a wicked thing?’
He couldn’t think of anything to say, but he put his good arm around her and held her close. It didn’t help him but it might help her.
Ullii shuddered, a wrenching spasm that shook her from head to foot, then turned his way, staring at Nish with wide, colourless eyes, shiny with tears. The light was hurting her but she would not put on her mask.
‘And she’ll murder other little babies if
you
don’t stop her,’ he said brutally.
Nish was acting on a hunch that Ullii hadn’t lost the lattice permanently. In the past her talent had come and gone, but it had always been available when she’d really needed it. Could he draw it out of her now? Or if not, could he get her into a situation where she had to use it to survive?
Nish was aware that he was manipulating her again, but there was little he wouldn’t do to save his friends. Time was running out and he’d worry about the consequences later.
The tower shook and pieces of heat-scarred rock crumbled off the walls. ‘Try your talent again, Ullii. Can you see anything in your lattice now?’
She strained, rather obviously. ‘No.’ The word was just a breath. ‘Can’t see past it.’
‘Past what?’
She looked down at the floor. ‘Blocking me.’
Nish scratched his head. ‘Do you mean there’s something down there below us that’s stopping you seeing the lattice?’
‘Don’t know where it is. Could be anywhere.’
He sighed. ‘Perhaps you’d better give me the rope.’
After much trouble – for he had to swing back and forth along the rough stone of the tower and was worried that it would rasp through the rope – Nish caught the edge of an embrasure below the bend in the tower. The stone was warm to the touch. He pulled himself onto the ledge and peered in. He could see the ash-littered stairs and, if he craned his neck up to the left, the point where they were blocked with a glassy slag of melted rock.
They climbed in. Ullii cut off the remainder of the rope and coiled it over her shoulder.
‘We have to get up onto the outer wall without anyone seeing us,’ he said. ‘Though I don’t see how –’
Ullii pushed past him and trotted down to the ground floor, where she crept through the empty halls of Fiz Gorgo.
‘Are you sure you know where you’re going?’ he said after they’d been wandering for a good ten minutes, apparently aimlessly.
Ullii didn’t deign to answer. Nish followed, more despairing with every step. Irisis’s time could already have run out. Now they were going up again, along a dark and narrow stair that Nish hadn’t known existed. Yggur hadn’t encouraged exploration of Fiz Gorgo. After several turns they entered an open chamber topped with a cupola made of copper crusted with verdigris. Ullii peered out and up. Nish joined her.
They were not far from the outer wall of Fiz Gorgo, a section bordered by swamp forest. Some ten spans to his right, one of the huge rope cables, thicker than Nish’s upper arm, anchored the amphitheatre to the wall. Forty or fifty spans to his left was another, and so they went all the way around the fortress.
‘Xervish Flydd told me. And I’ve talked to Irisis about it, too.’
‘What of it?’ she said mulishly.
‘I just thought you might be able to use that talent again …’
‘Can’t!’
‘Why not?’
‘Lost my lattice.’
‘When did that happen?’
Ullii turned away, looking down at the floor.
‘If you don’t tell me, Ullii, how can I help you?’
‘No one can help me.’
She said it with a remote edge of despair that tore at his heart. It was almost as if it didn’t matter any more. He couldn’t imagine what was going on in her mind.
‘Then please, please help
me
, Ullii. No one else can. Do you want all the good people up there to die at the hands of Ghorr?’
‘No one can save them.’
‘And Scrutator T’Lisp, who murdered Yllii?’
‘Our son,’ she said dreamily. ‘
Our
son, Nish. How could anyone do such a wicked thing?’
He couldn’t think of anything to say, but he put his good arm around her and held her close. It didn’t help him but it might help her.
Ullii shuddered, a wrenching spasm that shook her from head to foot, then turned his way, staring at Nish with wide, colourless eyes, shiny with tears. The light was hurting her but she would not put on her mask.
‘And she’ll murder other little babies if
you
don’t stop her,’ he said brutally.
Nish was acting on a hunch that Ullii hadn’t lost the lattice permanently. In the past her talent had come and gone, but it had always been available when she’d really needed it. Could he draw it out of her now? Or if not, could he get her into a situation where she had to use it to survive?
Nish was aware that he was manipulating her again, but there was little he wouldn’t do to save his friends. Time was running out and he’d worry about the consequences later.
The tower shook and pieces of heat-scarred rock crumbled off the walls. ‘Try your talent again, Ullii. Can you see anything in your lattice now?’
She strained, rather obviously. ‘No.’ The word was just a breath. ‘Can’t see past it.’
‘Past what?’
She looked down at the floor. ‘Blocking me.’
Nish scratched his head. ‘Do you mean there’s something down there below us that’s stopping you seeing the lattice?’
‘Don’t know where it is. Could be anywhere.’
He sighed. ‘Perhaps you’d better give me the rope.’
After much trouble – for he had to swing back and forth along the rough stone of the tower and was worried that it would rasp through the rope – Nish caught the edge of an embrasure below the bend in the tower. The stone was warm to the touch. He pulled himself onto the ledge and peered in. He could see the ash-littered stairs and, if he craned his neck up to the left, the point where they were blocked with a glassy slag of melted rock.
They climbed in. Ullii cut off the remainder of the rope and coiled it over her shoulder.
‘We have to get up onto the outer wall without anyone seeing us,’ he said. ‘Though I don’t see how –’
Ullii pushed past him and trotted down to the ground floor, where she crept through the empty halls of Fiz Gorgo.
‘Are you sure you know where you’re going?’ he said after they’d been wandering for a good ten minutes, apparently aimlessly.
Ullii didn’t deign to answer. Nish followed, more despairing with every step. Irisis’s time could already have run out. Now they were going up again, along a dark and narrow stair that Nish hadn’t known existed. Yggur hadn’t encouraged exploration of Fiz Gorgo. After several turns they entered an open chamber topped with a cupola made of copper crusted with verdigris. Ullii peered out and up. Nish joined her.
They were not far from the outer wall of Fiz Gorgo, a section bordered by swamp forest. Some ten spans to his right, one of the huge rope cables, thicker than Nish’s upper arm, anchored the amphitheatre to the wall. Forty or fifty spans to his left was another, and so they went all the way around the fortress.
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