But what about the stellatite? She had told him that it had been effective in countering the blue stone's powers.
For a moment, he had the wild hope that she was foxing, pretending to be mesmerized to lull Keren into a false sense of s ecurity.
His gaze darted around the room and he saw a tiny, glittering black stone on the floor by the table – the stellatite. His momentary hope faded, and he knew she was entrapped. He turned back to Keren.
"It's over, Keren," he said."You've lost. That rabble of yours won't stand up to thirty-odd Skandians."
Keren shrugged. "I'm afraid you're right," he said. "But where on earth did you find Skandians to help you?"
"Ask your friend Buttle. In a way, he's the one who brought them here. Now, why don't you just surrender and make things easy for all of us?"
Keren laughed. "Believe it or not, I'm not interested in making things easy for you! I think I'd rather just walk away."
"You're not walking anywhere. You have two choices: You can surrender now, or I can put this arrow through you. Frankly, I don't care which way we do it."
"Surrender? And then what?"
Will shrugged. "I can't promise anything other than a fair trial."
"After which I'll be hanged," Keren said.
Will felt another worm of doubt. Keren was more relaxed than he ought to be. Or he was an expert actor.
"You know," the renegade continued, in a chatty tone, "there's an interesting thing about that blue stone and its effect. When Alyss comes out of the trance, she won't remember anything that was said or done while she was in it."
" That won't be any consolation to you if you're dead," Will replied.
Keren held up an admonishing finger. "Aaah, you see, that's the thing. I'm not sure if my death would break the trance… or make it permanent."
Will smiled, trying to look more confident than he felt. "I think it's a safe bet to say the trance would be broken."
"Perhaps." Keren paused, looking thoughtful. "But assuming you're right, how would she react to the thought that she had murdered her best friend?"
Will frowned. "What are you talking about, Keren?"
The knight shrugged. "Well, she'd know she'd done it. She'd be standing over you with her sword covered with blood and you dead at her feet. I wonder how she'd cope with that?"
"All right, this has gone far enough. You have five seconds to surrender. Or five seconds to die. You choose."
The bow came up. The arrow slid back to full draw, and Will centered his aiming picture on Keren's chest. At this range, with the bow's full draw weight behind it, the arrow would slice through his chain mail like butter.
"Alyss?" said Keren.
" Yes, Keren?" she replied.
"Kill the Ranger," Keren told her.
37
Alyss looked away from the blue stone for a second, gazing steadily at Keren as she considered his command.
"Of course," she said simply. Her tone was so matter of fact, so unconcerned, that Will's heart missed a beat. Quickly, she reversed her grip on the sword, spinning it in a half circle so that the blade was uppermost and she held the hilt in a two-handed grip. In that position, the blue stone was still well within her field of view, although she was focused on Will. There was no sign of recognition in her eyes, nothing but a casual acceptance of Keren's command. She took a pace toward Will, the sword rising higher for a more powerful downward stroke at him.
Will brought the bow up, the arrow coming back to full draw almost instantly, aiming at Alyss's heart. He saw a slight frown cross her face as she recognized the threat.
" That's far enough, Alyss," he said. Even mesmerized as she was, she wouldn't blindly obey a command that would lead to her own death. Would she?
She stopped, looked to Keren for advice. He smiled encouragingly at her.
"He's bluffing," the renegade said. "He would never hurt you. Go ahead and kill him."
And Will realized that Keren was speaking the truth. He couldn't harm her. He thought for a moment that he could shoot to disable her, to put an arrow through her wrist or her arm and force her to drop the sword. But he pictured the cruel broadhead slicing through her flesh, tearing tendons and muscles, perhaps leaving her permanently crippled, and he knew that he couldn't bring himself to cause her that sort of pain. Not Alyss, of all people. He just couldn't.
"Alyss… please," he said, hoping that he might reach her somehow.
"Go on," Keren prompted her. "I told you he wouldn't harm you."
"Yes. So you did," Alyss replied. Will was appalled by the fact that her behavior continued to seem so normal. She didn't appear to be in a trance of any kind. She wasn't speaking slowly or in a monotone. She actually smiled at Keren as she spoke. She seemed interested in the fact that Will would threaten her but then refuse to carry through the threat. But it was a detached interest, rather as she might comment on an unexpected change in the weather. She started toward him once more.
But there was a threat that Will was more than willing to carry through. He swung the arrow back to Keren, this time centering his aiming picture on the renegade's throat above the chain mail, just to make sure it would be a killing shot.
"If she takes one more step, Keren, you're a dead man. Tell her."
There was a momentary flash of concern in Keren's eyes. Then it disappeared as he assessed the threat posed by the gleaming arrowhead.
"Just wait a moment there, Alyss," he said.
She stopped again. She looked at Keren, expecting more instructions, her eyebrows raised in a question.
Will couldn't help a grim smile twisting his lips.
"We seem to have an impasse," he said."Now snap her out of this, and you can go."
He'd made the decision as he spoke. He could always hunt Keren down later, if necessary, and, besides, the way out of the castle was probably well and truly blocked by Horace and the Skandians. But the longer this dangerous situation was maintained, the greater the chance that something would go terribly wrong. He saw Keren's shoulders slump fractionally as he realized Will had won.
"Go?" the renegade asked him. "Go where?"
Will shrugged. "Anywhere you choose. I'm giving you a chance."
"And you're also planning to come after me," Keren said. It wasn't a question. Will felt he didn't need to answer.
"Keren?" Alyss said. "I'm getting a little tired here." She still had the sword raised above her head. Keren smiled at her.
"It won't be long now, Alyss." Then he turned back to Will. "You know, as I said, the interesting thing here is that when Alyss comes out of the trance, she won't remember anything that she has said, or heard, or done. It will all be a blank to her."
"Fascinating," said Will, his voice a little tighter than he wanted it to be. "Now bring her out of it."
"Yes, perhaps I should do something," Keren agreed. "Alyss?"
"Yes, Keren?"
"You know you must do anything I say, don't you?" "Well, of course I know that, Keren." She turned to face him. "Good. Then listen to me carefully. If the Ranger harms me in any way, kill him."
Alyss nodded, then turned back to Will. She could see the arrow was now aimed at Keren, and she knew that if the slightly built figure released that arrow, she would still have to go ahead and kill him. Yet it seemed a pity. He looked like a nice enough young man, the kind of person she could really like.
She hesitated, a small frown creasing her forehead. Somewhere, deep within her mind, a memory was stirring. Just the very ghost of a memory. A faint consciousness that perhaps she knew this person. Yet if she knew him, why would Keren want her to kill him? It was tempting to let go of the thought and just sink back into the oblivion that the blue stone would provide. But years of training and discipline asserted themselves. Alyss had always prided herself on her ability to solve problems, and here was one to be solved.