The cutter was a member of the
abbey, and retreated at Jassid's command. Mirra wailed in despair
and collapsed sobbing on the bed. The argument continued to rage
unabated around her, until she jumped up and ran out. Tallis dashed
after her, the arguing women following more slowly. Mirra vanished
into a room down the passage, slamming the door. As Tallis reached
it, the bolt slid into place with a clunk. She pounded on the wood,
filled with an inexplicable dread.
"Mirra! Open the door!"
Mirra's reply came faintly from
within. "Go away! I will do it myself!"
"No!" Tallis turned as Ellese
strode up. "She is going to cut herself."
Jassid scowled. "She cannot. The
pain will stop her."
Ellese looked furious. "She can.
She has power from the healing; she will feel no pain. You should
not have interfered, Jassid. She is my healer, not yours."
"For a girl so young to lose an
arm is unforgivable. This decision was rushed, ill considered.
Given time -"
"Given time it will probably
drive her mad."
Jassid shook her head. "A few
more days would make no difference to her mental state, but may
give the healing a chance to work. I will have all my healers work
on this -"
"You do not know what a few more
days will do to her mental state. I have touched that arm, and I
say that healing will not work. She knows it too, and she is the
most powerful healer in the land. Or have you forgotten?"
A crash and tinkle came from
within the room, and Ellese turned to pound on the door. "Mirra!
Wait! I will sort this out!"
Tallis pushed through the
healers who had gathered outside the door and ran down the
corridor, lifting her skirt so that it did not impede her, her bare
feet slapping on the floor.
Bane swung around when she burst
into his room, a frown furrowing his brow. He was alone, and in the
process of dressing, his shirt undone.
Tallis gasped, "Come quickly, we
need your help!"
His frown deepened. "What
now?"
"It is Mirra!"
Bane crossed the room so fast it
seemed as if he had Moved, reappearing beside her. "What is wrong
with her?"
"Hurry!" She grabbed his arm and
tugged him after her, heading back down the corridor. Bane trotted
beside her, his occasional stumbles reminding her that he was still
weak.
"I could get there faster if you
just told me where to go, girl," he said.
Tallis pointed down the
corridor. "Down there!"
He snorted. "That is a big
help."
They rounded the last corner,
and Bane stopped as he encountered the shouting match going on
outside the room in which Mirra had shut herself. Ellese pounded on
the door, demanding to be let in. Jassid shouted at some of
Ellese's healers, who accused her of endangering Mirra's life.
Jassid's healers defended her vociferously, and the two groups
seemed on the verge of coming to blows.
That, Tallis knew, would never
happen. Even a dispute such as this was unheard of amongst healers.
Bane strode up to them, and they fell silent at the sight of him,
moving out of his path. The air crackled with the tension of his
presence, and anger radiated from him in palpable waves. Ellese
turned at the sudden silence behind her, and a pin dropping would
have sounded like a thunderclap.
Bane frowned at Ellese. "What is
going on here?"
She shot Jassid a hard look.
"Mirra has locked herself in there. She will not let me in, and I
am afraid she is going to do something foolish. I have to stop
her." She addressed one of her healers. "Go and fetch Martal, tell
him to bring enough men to break down a door. Hurry!"
Bane walked up to the door, and
Ellese put out a hand to stop him, then snatched it back with a
yelp as he vanished with a surge of dark power that made the
healers recoil.
The Demon Lord reappeared just
inside the door, and his gaze settled upon the girl who stood on
the far side of the room, clutching a kitchen knife. Mirra stepped
back and hid her swaddled arm behind her.
"Go away."
"No."
Bane pulled back the bolt and
opened the door. Ellese swept in and headed for Mirra, her hands
spread in a placating gesture.
"It is all right, child. We will
do as you wish."
Mirra's eyes remained fixed on
Bane. "Get him out of here."
Ellese turned to him. "Please go
now. You have done all you can."
"No."
Mirra shouted, "Get him out of
here!"
Ellese tried to push Bane out of
the door, but he refused to budge. "Bane, please go," she
begged.
He frowned at Mirra. "Tell me
what is wrong."
"No!" She began to weep, turning
away as if she could not bear the sight of him.
Ellese thumped his chest. "Bane,
get out!"
"No."
Brushing her
aside, he walked towards Mirra, who shrank into the corner and
raised the knife. Bane eyed the weapon, then his eyes flicked to
her face. He knew she would not harm him; her threat was utterly
against her nature. He stopped before her and gestured. The knife
vanished, and Mirra stared at her empty hand. Her weeping
redoubled, and she turned her face to the wall. Bane touched her
shoulder and jumped back with a hiss of surprise. For an instant
he
was frozen with shock,
then he stepped forward and gripped the front of her robe, dragging
her away from the wall. He turned her to face him, ignoring her
struggles, and ripped the swaddling from her arm.
"That bastard!"
Mirra wailed
and sank down in a heap, trying to hide her shame in the folds of
her robe. Bane lowered himself to one knee beside her, his
heart thudding with fury.
"Damn him. If he was not already
dead I would kill him."
She bowed her head, her voice
dead and hopeless. "Go away, please, Bane."
"It is all right." He hesitated,
then smiled. "I can help you."
Ellese raised a hand to her
mouth, her eyes shimmering with tears, and glanced at Tallis, who
had elbowed her way to the front of the gawping throng in the
doorway.
"Goddess, have I been so wrong?"
Ellese murmured, and gestured to the healers who filled the portal.
"Get out, all of you. Tallis, you may stay."
Mirra raised her head, her eyes
seeking Bane's with a desperate hope shining in their depths. "Can
you?"
He nodded. "Whatever the Black
Lord can do, I can undo."
"Goddess!" Ellese smacked a hand
on her brow. "I am an idiot."
Tallis grinned, her eyes
bright.
Bane held out his hand. "Give me
your hand." Mirra put her good hand in his, and he smiled. "No, the
other one."
Mirra lifted
it as if unsure that it would obey her, shuddering as the scales
rasped and the talons clicked together. Bane grasped it and closed
his eyes. Four of the runes on his chest glowed with dull red light
as he started a Gather, drawing the dark power from her flesh. It
poured into him, a staggering amount for her to have contended with
for so long, enough to transform ten people instantly to monsters.
He dispersed some of it, filling the room with
chil
l shadows that made the
healers pale and gulp. The transformation wavered, the scales
shimmering, then it flicked across onto his arm. He released her
hand and raised the scaly limb, which flickered and wavered on his
arm, studying it.
"This is the last harm he will
ever do to you."
Bane gestured with the clawed
hand, and the monstrous limb vanished, leaving his arm unscathed.
Mirra looked down at her arm, which was restored to its former size
and shape, save for some mottled red marks that melted away as her
power healed them. She looked up at Bane, her eyes overflowing with
joy and relief, then flung her arms around his neck and hugged him
with all her strength. Bane rocked back on his heels in surprise,
his masterful composure washed away by sudden uncertainty and
confusion. The glowing runes died as he leashed the power, and his
hands rose hesitantly to hold her as she wept against his
chest.
Ellese gripped Tallis' shoulder
and pushed her to the door, opening it enough to let them slip out,
then closed it in the curious faces of the healers outside. She
confronted Jassid.
"Problem solved. No amputation
necessary."
"How?"
"Our resident god, how
else?"
Jassid's brows rose in surprise.
"The Demon Lord?"
"The one and only. I feel like a
complete fool."
The Lady stirred on her bed of
glowing cloud, her eyelids flickering as the blue welts on her arm
vanished. She sighed, a slight smile curving her lips. Her realm
brightened, the opalescent sky turning to mother-of-pearl, the
rocks igniting to diamond fire, the flowers shimmering like distant
stars. She began to wake.
Bane had never felt so awkward
in his life. He had absolutely no idea what to do. Mirra seemed
content to stay where she was forever, and he did not mind, but
found that he wanted to push her away simply because the situation
was so alien. He tried to rationalise it. She was grateful he had
helped her, and this must be how humans showed gratitude.
A part of him wanted to hold her
tighter, but he was afraid of hurting her, and a strange, pleasant
warmth suffused his chest. No one had ever hugged him before, and
the fact that she did not seem to care that he was filled with the
dark power made it all the more amazing. She had always shown a
remarkable lack of fear, until she had seen him kill the emperor in
the Old Kingdom. After that, he had not expected her to want to
come close to him again.
As if reading his mind, she
loosened her hold and leant back to look up at him. "I am not
afraid of you."
He lowered his gaze to the
floor. "That is... good... I suppose."
"Yes, it is." She glanced at her
arm. "I did not think anyone could help me, but I should have
realised that you could."
"So should the old woman. She is
supposed to be wise."
"Ellese? Yes, I suppose so. She
was going to have it amputated. That is what I wanted."
He frowned. "That would not have
helped. The power was bound to you. It would simply have shifted to
another part of you."
Mirra
looked sick. "I do not understand
why it did not transform me entirely. I watched him turning people
into monsters in the Old Kingdom. It was horrible."
"You had help."
"Whose?"
He glanced up. "Your goddess, I
think."
"How do you know that?"
"I do not, but it is the only
explanation that makes any sense. She had to protect you
because..."
She tilted her head. "Because of
what?"
"Nothing."
Bane leant
back, rest
ed on his arms and
untwisted his legs to stretch them out.
Mirra studied him, humbled to be
so close to him, able to touch him without fear as she had longed
to since she had first met him. Releasing one hand from his neck,
she ran her fingers down his cheek, then stroked the curving
feathers of hair that fell from the widow's peak. He closed his
eyes. Emboldened by his acceptance of her touch, she leant forward
and kissed him. He opened his eyes and stared at her in amazement,
and she blushed, embarrassed by her temerity.
"Thank you," she murmured.
"For what?"
She sat back and lifted her arm.
"For this."
"Oh, that." He regarded her in a
puzzled manner. "Why did you do that?"
"What? Kiss
you?" Her face
grew hot, but
he did not seem to notice.
"Yes. Do you do it with a lot of
people?"
"No."
"Why did you do it to me?"
Mirra giggled. "You did not like
it?"
"I did not say that."
She shrugged, trying to act
nonchalant. "I wanted to."
"Why?"
Her eyes filled with sadness,
and she leant closer to run her fingers down his cheek again. "You
are so beautiful. Who would not want to?"
His brows shot
up, and he pondered that, as if the concept of his appearance and
its
effect on other people
had never occurred to him before. Ellese had told her what had
happened with the mirror, and it amazed her that he had no idea
what he looked like. Considering the reaction of people to him
hitherto, he probably thought he was ugly.
She asked, "You had a
sweetheart, in the Underworld, did you not? Dorel? Did she not kiss
you?"
"No." He frowned. "She was not
my sweetheart."
"What happened to her?"
"I destroyed her."
"She has gone back to the Land
of the Dead?"
"No. She is obliterated. Gone
forever."
"Why?"
He uncoiled, rising to his feet
and staggering a little. "I do not want to talk about it."
Mirra jumped up. "Well at least
that is an improvement on 'do not question me, girl!'" She
giggled.
Bane's eyes slid away, and he
bowed his head. "I treated you badly, and I am -"
She clamped a hand over his
mouth, making him start in surprise. "No, do not. I forgave you
long ago. You have nothing to be sorry for. You saved my life more
than once, and you saved the Overworld, all of us." Removing her
hand, she gazed up into his eyes. "Will you do something else for
me?"
A vaguely suspicious look
flitted across his face, reminding her of the old, distrustful Bane
who had so frustrated her. Then he smiled. "If it is within my
power."
"It is. I want you to go to the
Old Kingdom and undo what the Black Lord did to those people."
"They are his worshippers."
"They did not deserve what he
did to them, and they certainly did not want it."