that was obvious. Apart from the Ramen, however, there was no one who could aid her except Esmer and the ur- viles; and she had no idea how to ask them.
Slowly she nodded to Mahrtiir. “If you’re willing to face the risk. If your people don’t need you here.”
Surely there were Cords in his care? What would happen to them? She could not lead people as young as Pahni and Char, girls and boys,
But Mahrtiir’s gaze lit up as if she had set a match to tinder; and Hami and Dohn said nothing to dissuade him.
Instead the older Manethrall asked a question for the first time. “How will you return?”
Unprepared to reveal what she had in mind, Linden blinked at him dumbly.
Dohn did not meet her stare. He had resumed watching the mountains, apparently looking for unmotivated storms and violence; for signs of Esmer.
“You will enter a Fall,” he explained quietly, “a flaw in Time, and turn it to the past. There you will seek the Staff of Law. Very well. When you have found it” – his tone held an implicit
“At the best, your search will require hours. It may well consume days. The Fall will move on. Perhaps it will cease to exist altogether. You will remain in the past, as unable then to regain your son as you are now.
“How will you return?”
Unwittingly he asked Linden to put her worst fear into words. Ever since she had realised the truth, during her vigil over Stave the previous night, she had avoided thinking about it; admitting it to herself. Yet the Ramen deserved an answer. Certainly Liand did.
Her pulse laboured in her temples as she said, “If I can’t use the first one, I’ll have to make a new
During her translation to the Land, she had seen herself rouse the Worm of the World’s End with white fire. Perhaps Lord Foul had already accomplished his aim. By kidnapping Jeremiah, he may have ensured the Land’s destruction. If she misjudged her power, or herself, or the stability of the Arch, she might bring Time to an end.
More because she needed some mundane activity to calm her than because she was still hungry, she resumed her seat in order to drink more water and finish the contents of her bowl. If she meant to risk the ruin of the Earth, she would at least do so on a full stomach.
Thinking sour thoughts, she ate fruit and cheese without tasting them; drank water without washing down the extremity which clogged her throat. Throughout her experience of the Land, she had only followed others: Covenant, Sunder and Hollian; the Giants. Liand had led her away from Mithil Stonedown: the Ramen had brought her to the Verge of Wandering. Until now, she had seldom tried to impose her will on events. For Jeremiah’s sake, she needed to be able to trust her own judgment, but she found that increasingly difficult to do.
Soon the Manethralls left the clearing. Perhaps they had responsibilities which they could not ignore. Or perhaps they simply recognised that she wanted to be alone. For reasons of his own, Bhapa trailed after Mahrtiir.
Liand had seated himself beside Linden, but he did not disturb her with questions. Instead he maintained a companionable silence, offering her the simple balm of his presence.
Nevertheless she could not relax with him. His naive acceptance of hazards which he could not possibly understand seemed to undermine her decisions.
She could justify taking Anele anywhere: he had nowhere else to go; and his broken mind might find mending with her. Moreover she needed him-and not only because he knew the location of the Staff. Lord Foul had spoken through him. If he became sane, he might be able to tell her where the Despiser had hidden her son.
As for the Ranyhyn, their choices were irrefragable; beyond her comprehension. And Mahrtiir clearly needed some outlet for his native intensity.
In her eyes, however, Liand belonged among his people in Mithil Stonedown. If for no other reason than because the Masters had deprived the Land of its history and lore, he seemed painfully ill-equipped to confront the dangers ahead of him.
And she was not sure that she could bear to see him killed in her cause.
When she had finished her self-imposed meal, and had spent a little while studying the high peaks for insights which their bluffs and ice disdained, she turned to the Stonedownor at last.
“What about you, Liand?” Incapable of grace, she tried to cover her stiffness by speaking softly. “Why are you still here?
“I know we’ve had this conversation before. You said you want to help defend the Land. Believe me, I understand that. And you’ve already done a lot.” More than she could have expected from him. “But Stave isn’t wrong. What I’m planning terrifies me. So many things could go wrong-
“This might be your last chance to see your home again.”
Liand faced her soberly; but his voice held a note of affection or amusement as he replied, “Linden, you baffle me. You are wise and valorous, yet you appear as uncomprehending as the Masters. However, your concern is well meant, and I will not take it amiss.”
He thought for a moment, then said, “I might respond once more that the folk of Mithil Stonedown have given you no cause to doubt that they are steadfast. Or I might remark that I have beheld great wonders in your company, and would not willingly forego more. Or I might avow that the loveliness of the Land has only grown more precious to me as my senses have been opened. I have tasted with my eyes and hands and tongue the true glory of the world. To turn homeward now would be to pass from treasure-berries to dust.”
Linden wanted to protest, That’s beside the point. We aren’t talking about
Instead she urged, “Then stay here. With the Ramen. You don’t have to waste your life in a Fall.”
The young man shook his head. “You cannot ask it of me. For answer I will remind you of your own words.
“You said that at one time you encountered a man in need. Perhaps he sought to dissuade you from aiding him, as you now seek to dissuade me. If so, you refused. Yet you acknowledged that you could not have imagined what would follow. If you had indeed grasped the nature of your peril, you doubt that you would have been able to endure it. Because of your refusal to abandon him, however, you have become the Linden Avery who now wishes to spare me a similar peril.”
Gently he placed his hand on her shoulder; permitted himself to offer her that much of an embrace. “Do you not know that you are admirable in my sight? Can you not conceive that I have no desire to turn aside from your example? Your intent is not to destroy the Earth, but to redeem it, as you seek also to redeem your son. I will abide the outcome with you.”
Linden wept too easily. She always had. Touched by Liand’s willingness, she blinked against the burn of tears in the corners of her eyes. Precisely because she hungered for hugs, however, she shrugged his hand away: his touch was not the one she craved. With her palms, she rubbed the moist salt from her cheeks. Then she did her best to match his trust.
“If that’s the way you feel, I hope you’ll watch my back. I’ll have my hands full.” Mastering the flow of a
The warmth of his answering smile allowed her to hope that she had found a moment of grace after all.
Above her, daylight swelled into the dawn sky, and birds began to sprinkle the gloaming with calls and soaring. The scent of dew seemed to quicken the grass. Sunshine glided swiftly down the westward mountainsides, pouring illumination into the Verge of Wandering. Nevertheless direct sunlight was slow to reach the depths of the vale. The eastern peaks, jagged as teeth, bit high enough into the heavens to cover her with shadows still.
Linden thought that she would wait until the light touched her before she put her feet to the path she had
