‘That’s right.’
‘I have to admit, I’m not entirely clear what you’re asking,’ Dr Shirland said. ‘Anne gave me the impression that it was some issue of her mental fitness.’
‘Not exactly,’ I said. ‘When you were looking at Anne in October, did she tell you the whole story?’
‘I didn’t press her for details, but yes, much of it came out.’ Dr Shirland pressed her lips together. ‘Especially about those two “Light” mages, Zilean and Lightbringer.’
‘It’s what happened after that that I’m worried about. When those two confronted Anne, she picked up an item that triggered something. That was the last I saw or heard. When I got there a few minutes later, they were gone and Anne was unconscious. She says she doesn’t remember anything about what happened in between.’
‘I’m still not clear on what you’re asking,’ Dr Shirland said. ‘If you want to know whether she was telling the truth, then the answer is yes. Her memories go as far as taking the ring, but no further.’
‘I want to know whether we can expect anything else to happen,’ I said. It was a risk, telling all this to Dr Shirland – several of the events we were touching on would land us in serious trouble if she repeated them to the Council – but in the years since I’d met the mind mage, I’d never heard of her breaking her clients’ confidentiality. ‘The creature in that ring was a bound jinn. Now, I’ve had experience with exactly one creature like that before. It granted five wishes to anyone who picked it up, and when it was done it ate them. So what I’m asking is whether there’s a risk of anything like that happening to Anne. Is that thing still around somewhere? Is it hiding in her head? And if it is, what can I do about it?’
Dr Shirland nodded. ‘In that case, one of those questions I can answer definitely. There is no jinn, or any similar creature, hiding inside Anne’s head. I’ve touched her mind on several occasions since October, and such entities leave an extremely obvious psychic footprint. There is absolutely no way that a jinn, especially a powerful one, could be concealing itself within her mind. It’d be like trying to hide an elephant in your living room.’
‘Okay, so that’s good news. Then if that thing didn’t move into her head, what do you think did happen?’
‘Here, unfortunately, I don’t have any definite answers,’ Dr Shirland said. ‘While I’m familiar with possessing entities in general, I know very little about jinn. Very few mages do nowadays. The most I can do is make some educated guesses.’ She set her teacup down on the table and looked at me. ‘The memories that Anne does have are absolutely consistent with possession. When she took up that ring, she was desperate and emotionally vulnerable, and the jinn – if that’s what it was – was able to take control. She might even have been willing to cooperate, at least at first: her situation was certainly bad enough. For those few minutes, the jinn would have had complete control of her body and actions. It might even have had access to her magic as well as its own.’
‘But by the time I got there, Anne was unconscious on the floor,’ I said. ‘So what changed? I mean, that thing would have been trapped in there for God only knows how long. Why would it just pull back into its item and leave her alone?’
‘I suspect it didn’t have a choice,’ Dr Shirland said. ‘True possession is extremely difficult. To keep it up over the long term, the entity must confront and displace the host, and in that contest the host has a significant advantage. The entity is only likely to succeed if the disparity in mental strength is very great, such as an unusually strong entity pitted against a host who is unusually weak-willed. The longer the host allows the entity to remain, and the more use they make of its powers, the more vulnerable they become, but if they resist from the beginning, the odds are in their favour.’
‘What if they don’t resist from the beginning?’
‘Taking permanent control of a host is not a subtle process,’ Dr Shirland said. ‘Once she let the creature in, Anne would have quickly realised that it had no intention of leaving. I suspect there was a short, fierce struggle for control, which it lost. The psychic shock left Anne unconscious.’
‘So that’s it?’ I said. So far, this wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I’d feared. My guess had been that Anne had tried to make a wish to get rid of the Crusaders and backed out halfway through. ‘This thing’s gone?’
‘It could be that after possessing Anne, the creature was forced back into its prison. In that case, once the item was removed from physical contact with Anne, it would lose any ability to affect her. In which case she’s in no danger from it at all.’ Dr Shirland paused. ‘This is one possibility.’
Something about her tone of voice made me look up sharply. ‘What’s the other?’
‘Anne is certainly not weak-willed,’ Dr Shirland said. ‘I do not think a jinn, no matter how powerful, would be able to take control of her if she resisted. But there is a part of Anne that might not want to resist.’
‘I know,’ I said flatly. ‘I’ve met her. Do you think that was what happened?’
‘It would certainly have had an effect,’ Dr Shirland said. ‘How much of one is harder to say. That part of Anne’s mind is closed to me.’
‘So if that other Anne wanted to let the jinn in, could it?’
‘Now we’re entering the realm of guesswork. In theory, it should be impossible for an entity to exercise that kind of control without some sort of direct or sympathetic link. I assume the ring is no longer in her possession.’
‘Richard took it, as far as I know. So as long as she doesn’t pick it up again, she’s fine?’
‘In theory.’
I paused. ‘Could the other Anne make her do that?’
‘You’ve put your finger on the problem,’ Dr Shirland said. ‘It’s quite possible that Anne’s shadow self might maintain a contract with the jinn, regardless of her conscious desires. As long as that internal conflict remains unresolved, Anne will be vulnerable.’
‘Then how can we fix that?’
‘Now you’re starting to ask the really difficult questions,’ Dr Shirland said. ‘How much do you know about Anne’s shadow?’
‘It’s an alternate personality from when she was captured by Sagash,’ I said. I’d spoken to that other Anne just once, several years ago. Back then we’d been on the same side, but the experience had left me wary. ‘More ruthless, less empathic. She couldn’t do what she needed to survive, so she created someone who could.’
Dr Shirland looked at me, her head slightly tilted. ‘Is that how you see it? Anne created an alternate personality?’
‘Well …’ I said. ‘Yes.’
‘Then what do you think she created that personality from?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Imagine I ask you to create a personality that can do something you can’t,’ Dr Shirland said. ‘Composing an orchestral symphony, say. How would you do it?’
‘I’m not sure.’
‘Could you do it?’
‘Probably not.’
‘Of course you can’t,’ Dr Shirland said. ‘Because you don’t have the skills or knowledge. Changing your own personality won’t help.’
I looked at Dr Shirland. She looked back at me, her eyes mild and steady, and suddenly I felt uneasy. ‘What are you getting at?’
‘You can’t create a personality. You can only use what’s already there.’
‘But I’ve met that other person,’ I said. ‘What you call her shadow. She’s completely different from the real Anne.’
‘In what ways?’
‘Anne’s a nice person,’ I said. ‘She’s gentle and she’s kind. That other Anne … I only met her once, but I got a pretty definite sense of her personality. I wouldn’t say she was outright cruel, but she’s more self-centred than the real Anne and a lot more aggressive. Plus her goals are different. Anne just wants a peaceful life. The other one wants power.’