“A reward?” Lirael laughed, but with bitterness. “A horrible death and eternal servitude? That’s the ‘reward’ for anyone living who goes near Hedge. But tell me – what is your ‘experiment’ all about?”
“Will you let me go if I tell you?” asked Nick. “Not that it’s terribly secret. After all, you won’t be publishing in Ancelstierran scientific journals, will you?”
Lirael didn’t answer either question. She just looked at him, waiting for him to talk. He met her gaze at first, then faltered and looked away. There was something unnerving about her eyes. A toughness he had never seen in the young women he knew from the debutante parties in Corvere. It was partly this that made him talk, and partly a desire to impress her with his knowledge and intelligence.
“The hemispheres are a previously unknown metal that I postulate has an almost infinite capacity to absorb electrical energy for later discharge,” he said, arching his fingers together. “They also create some sort of ionised field that attracts the thunderstorms, which in turn create lightning that is drawn down by the metal. Unfortunately, that ionised field also prevents working of the metal, as steel or iron tools cannot be brought close.
“It is my intention to connect the hemispheres to a Lightning Farm, which a trusted associate of mine is building in Ancelstierre even as we speak. The Lightning Farm will be composed of a thousand connected lightning rods that will draw down the full electrical force of an entire storm – rather than just a number of strikes – and feed it into the hemispheres. This power will... ah... repolarise... or demagnetise... the two hemispheres so they can be brought together as one. This is the ultimate goal. They must be brought together, you see. It is absolutely essential!”
He collapsed back with the last word, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
“How do you know?” asked Lirael. To her it sounded like the sort of waffle used by false seers and charlatan mages, as much to convince themselves as anything.
“I just know,” whispered Nick. “I am a scientist. When the hemispheres are in Ancelstierre, I will be able to prove my theories, with proper instruments and proper help.”
“Why do the hemispheres have to be brought together?” asked Lirael. That seemed to be the weakest point of his belief, and the most dangerous, for bringing the hemispheres together would make whatever was trapped inside them whole. It was only as she asked it that she realised there was a more important question.
“They have to be,” replied Nick, puzzlement showing clearly on his face. Obviously he couldn’t think clearly about it at all. “That should be obvious.”
“Yes, of course,” said Lirael, soothingly. “But I’m curious about how you will get the hemispheres to Ancelstierre. And where exactly is your Lightning Farm? It must be hard to set something like that up. I mean, it would take an awful lot of space.”
“Oh, it’s not as difficult as you might think,” said Nick. He seemed relieved to be moving away from the subject of bringing the hemispheres together. “We’ll take the metal down to the sea in barges and then follow the coast south. Apparently the waters are too disturbed and the weather too foggy as a rule to go all the way by sea. We’ll take them ashore just north of the Wall, drag them over that, and then it’s only a matter of ten or twelve miles to Forwin Mill, where my Lightning Farm is being built. It should be just about completed by the time we arrive, all being well.”
“But...” Lirael said, “how will you get them over the Wall? It is a barrier to the Dead and all such things. You won’t be able to get the hemispheres across the Wall.”
“Rubbish!” exclaimed Nick. “You’re as bad as Hedge. Except that he at least is prepared to try, provided I let him do some mumbo jumbo first.”
“Oh,” said Lirael. Obviously Hedge – or more likely his ultimate Master – had found a way to get the hemispheres across the Wall. It had been a vain hope anyway, because Lirael knew Hedge had crossed more than once, and Kerrigor and his army had crossed years ago. She’d just hoped the hemispheres would be prevented.
“Won’t... ah... won’t you have difficulties with the authorities in Ancelstierre?” Lirael asked hopefully. Sam had told her about the Perimeter the Ancelstierrans had built to stop anything from entering their country from the north. She had no idea what she could do if the hemispheres were taken out of the Old Kingdom.
“No,” said Nick. “Hedge says there won’t be any trouble he can’t handle, but I think he was a bit of a smuggler in the past, and he does have rather unconventional ways. I prefer to work within the law, so I got all the usual customs permits and approvals and so on. Though I admit that they’re not for things from the Old Kingdom, because officially there is no Old Kingdom, so there are no forms. I also have a letter from my uncle, granting approval for me to bring across whatever I need for my experiment.”
“Your uncle?”
“He’s the Chief Minister,” Nick replied proudly. “Seventeen years as CM this year – with a three-year break in the middle when the Moderate Reform lot got it. The most successful CM the country has ever had, though of course he’s having trouble now, with the continental wars and all the Southerling refugees pouring in. Still, I don’t think Corolini and his ragtag bunch will get the numbers to unseat him. He’s my mother’s oldest brother, and a damn good chap. Always happy to help a deserving nephew.”
“Those papers would have burnt in your tent,” suggested Lirael, clutching at another hope.
“No,” said Nick. “Thanks to Hedge again. He suggested I leave them with the fellow who’s meeting us over the Wall. Said they’d rot, which in hindsight is absolutely true. Now – are you going to let me go?”
“No,” said Lirael. “You’re being rescued, whether you like it or not.”
“In that case I shan’t tell you any more,” Nick proclaimed petulantly. He laid himself back down again, rustling against the rushes.
Lirael watched him, thoughts churning in her head. She hoped Ellimere had received Sam’s message, and at this moment there might be a strong force of Guards riding to the rescue. Sabriel and Touchstone might also be rushing north from Corvere. They could even be about to cross the Wall.
But all of them would be heading for Edge, while the hemispheres that held the bound thing slipped away – into Ancelstierre, where the ancient spirit of destruction could gain its freedom, free from interference by the only people who understood the danger.
Nick was watching her, too, she realised, as those thoughts clamoured in her mind. But not with puzzlement or enmity. He was just looking, tilting his head on the side, with one eye partly closed.
“Pardon me,” he said. “I was wondering how you knew Sam. Are you a... um... a princess? Only, if you’re his fiancée or something, I thought I should know. To... ah... offer my congratulations, as it were. And I don’t even know your name.”
“Lirael,” Lirael replied shortly. “I’m Sam’s aunt. I’m the Ab— Well, let’s say I sort of work with Sam’s mother, and I also... was... a Second Assistant Librarian and a Daughter of the Clayr, though I don’t expect you know what those titles mean. I’m not at all sure myself at the moment.”
“His aunt!” exclaimed Nick, a flush of embarrassment rather than fever colouring his face. “How can you be – I mean, I had no idea. I apologise, ma’am.”
“And I’m... I’m much older than I look,” Lirael added. “In case you were going to ask.”
She was a little embarrassed herself, though she couldn’t think why. She still didn’t know how to talk about her mother. In some ways it was more painful thinking about her now that she knew about her father and how she had come to be conceived. One day, she thought, she would find out exactly what had happened to Arielle and why she had chosen to go away.