The three of them then took the stones and began to role play. Liselle volunteered to be blind. Brin and Sam both took diamonds, leaving Liselle with an emerald. None of them could say with confidence what they held. Brin knew that Sam held a diamond and Liselle an emerald, but he could have held either. The same applied to Sam. Liselle, obviously, did not know what either of the other two held, so none of them could see how she would ever be able to know what was in her pocket. Despite this, they persevered. Sam swapped her diamond for an emerald. This did not help her at all and, as there were three emeralds, Brin could still have held either as far as he was concerned. Liselle swapped her emerald for a diamond and this time Sam said she knew what she had. There were only two diamonds and she could see both of them so she had to hold an emerald. One combination was crossed off the list.
They had now covered every possible combination where Brin held a diamond so he swapped it for an emerald. Both he and Sam could still see one of each stone so Liselle swapped her diamond for an emerald. This did not help. Sam swapped her emerald for a diamond. Again no joy and they only had one combination left to try. Liselle swapped her emerald for a diamond and it was Brin’s turn to announce what he held. This time it was he who could see both diamonds so knew he had an emerald. This, too, was crossed off the list.
Of the seven possible combinations, they were down to five and had come to a dead end. They retraced their steps, but could not reduce the number. They went through it again and again, but could not find any way for the blind man to know what jewel was in his possession.
“I have a suggestion to make,” Liselle said unexpectedly.
“What’s that?’ Sam asked cautiously.
“There are only two possible answers. I can always guess. If I get it wrong, you two will then know the right answer and will be free to continue onwards.”
“No,” Sam and Brin both shouted.
“You will be killed,” Sam continued.
“I know,” Liselle said softly. “But I no longer have anything to live for. At least I will die helping the only friends I have left.”
“No,” Brin insisted. “We will solve this.”
The hours ticked by and the conversation turned to Liselle and how she could fix her relationship with Torrick.
“He thinks I used him and that I do not genuinely love him.”
“You cannot know what he thinks,” Brin pointed out.
“That’s it,” Sam said, snapping her fingers. The other two gave her a puzzled look. “The puzzle,” she explained. “We have gone through every scenario based on what each person knows, but we need to take into account what they are thinking or, more importantly, what they think the others are thinking.”
“You must have an emerald,” Brin informed Liselle a few minutes later.
“How do you work that out?” she asked.
“Simple, we are only left with one combination where you can be in possession of a diamond and that is where both Sam and I have emeralds. If either of us also had an emerald, the other one would be able to see both and know they must have a diamond. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” Sam and Liselle said together.
“So if Liselle has a diamond and I have a diamond, then Sam will be able to see both diamonds and therefore know she has an emerald. Therefore I would know that I do not have a diamond, which means we can cross that one off the list.”
“Which leaves only the four combinations where Liselle has an emerald,” Sam exclaimed. “You are a genius.”
“But what jewels do the both of you have?” Liselle asked, confused.
“It doesn’t matter,” Sam explained. “All that matters is that you, and therefore the blind man, must have an emerald. That is all we have been asked to state.”
“Are we really sure about this?” Liselle asked doubtfully. As their lives depended on getting the answer right, they mentally worked their way through the logic again and all agreed that they had to have the right answer.
“I will try it first,” Liselle volunteered.
“No,” Sam said. “We all go together or not at all.” Brin nodded his agreement, so he and Liselle packed up their possessions while Sam spoke to the horses, reminding them that they had to follow them through the barrier before it closed. When everyone was ready, they approached the barrier.
“Wait,” Sam called before Brin could speak. She quickly dropped her backpack onto the ground and scrabbled inside it. When she had been provided with the backpack by Allias he had told her that it already contained some of the essentials. These turned out to include a bottle of ink, quill and writing paper, which she now withdrew. After writing down each question they had received, in order, as well as the answer to each, she added a ‘P.S’ at the end, letting the reader know that the note was written before the final answer was tested. She placed the note next to the plaque and laid a large stone in each corner to keep it in place. “I hope Tor’s brothers see it,” she mumbled to herself before rejoining Brin and Liselle by the barrier.
Brin spoke the answer and Sam slipped her hand into his, while Liselle held her breath. The barrier began to rise and they almost ran forward.
“Two down, three to go” Sam muttered.
“We hope,” Brin added solemnly.
A significant amount of time had passed since Tor had travelled past the barrier, so they set a fast walking pace, hoping to catch up to them before they arrived at the next obstacle. They knew everyone would stop for a while before attempting to pass, but could not be certain how long they would wait, especially as the three of them were, technically, the outsiders of the group.
They were pleasantly surprised when, less than an hour later, they found Modo, Grimmel and River sitting by a fountain.
“What took you so long?” the dwarf asked gruffly.
“We had a particularly difficult question,” Sam said before going on to provide full details. River then explained why she and the others were waiting for them to arrive.
When Tor and his five companions stopped at the fountain they again used a horse as a guinea pig. The water had been declared safe, so they had replenished all of the water containers they had with them. The only exception was Cirren, who was still asleep. They waited there for the next trio to arrive, then continued onwards, leaving the newcomers to quench their thirst and inform the next arrivals that the water could be drunk, before heading after Tor.
“You are lucky we are still here,” Modo said as Brin, Liselle and Sam drank. “We got fed up waiting and were about to leave you a note. I hope the next rest stop is not too far away, it will be dark soon.”
As soon as their horses had been watered, they headed off. Now that water was no longer a problem, food became the biggest worry. They had shortened the rations, but would have to cut them again in the morning if they were to survive more than one more day.
They travelled at the same walking pace that Brin had set when they first got through the barrier, hoping to catch up to Ban, Bellak and Samson. It was pleasant to have more company and Sam spent the time quietly talking with River, trying to get her to stop being hostile towards Liselle. She knew if she could win River over, the water sprite would work on Grimmel. Eventually River agreed that Liselle had not actually done anyone any harm. True, she had helped Cirren with his quest, but that had not adversely affected Tor so far and, under the circumstances, most women would have done the same thing. However, Liselle had deeply hurt Torrick and all of Tor’s companions considered him a good friend, so River said she would leave the decision to him. She would speak with Grimmel and Oak and was confident that they would agree that if, and it was a big if, Torrick could forgive her deceit, then so would they. Sam thanked her. Four down, quite a few more to go.
A surprisingly short time later, they turned a corner and almost bumped into Bellak. He was sitting in the middle of the path, one shoe off, rubbing his foot.
“I am too old for this much exercise,” he grumbled when he saw them. Samson, who was sitting be
side him, raised his muzzle into the air and Sam was sure she heard him tut. She asked him where Ban was, and the wolf told her he had gone on ahead, tired of listening to Bellak complaining.
As the food supply was so low, the horses were not over-encumbered. The bundles strapped to one of them were distributed between the other mounts and Bellak was allowed to ride; not that this made him happy. Instead of talking about his feet hurting, it was his legs and how every movement the horse made jarred his already aching muscles. The horse whinnied and Sam laughed.
“She said that if you do not stop your moaning your behind will end up sitting on the floor instead of her back.”
Bellak continued to grumble, but at a much reduced volume. The horse looked at Sam and rolled her eyes, making Sam laugh again. When Bellak eventually fell silent, they realised that they could hear voices nearby and called out. Ria’s answering voice came from the other side of the thicket. Hearts were lifted to hear her friendly tone so near. They dropped again when Ria informed them how long they had been walking in a straight line without turning any corners. This meant they would have to walk for twice the distance to get to the same spot the other side of the hedge. It was frustrating knowing that they would have to walk away from their friends in order to get closer. Everyone wished they could just walk through the damned hedgerow. Everyone except Liselle; she knew Torrick was with Ria and did not feel ready to face him. The two groups said their goodbyes and continued walking in opposite directions.
Exhaustion was beginning to take its toll when they finally rounded a corner to start heading in the same direction as Ria. They soon came to another clearing and everyone voted to rest for a few hours. They ate half of their remaining rations, but were still hungry. It was going to be a long uncomfortable night. Opting not to post a guard, they settled down as comfortably as they could for a few hours of well earned sleep.
Sam almost thumped Brin when he woke her up and told her it was time to start moving again. It was the early hours of the morning, but the moon was emitting enough light for them to travel by.
“It will be a full moon soon,” River observed, causing Bellak to grunt in reply and Samson to whine. “I hate full moons,” she continued. “Ever since I was a child I have not felt quite right when the moon is at its fullest. I feel on edge, almost as if something evil is stalking the night.”
“I know what you mean,” Grimmel responded. Murmurs of affirmation showed that everyone except Sam had experienced an uncomfortable feeling on a full moon.
“Must be something to do with this world then,” Sam said. They continued the discussion as they travelled. Bellak refused to join in the conversation and urged his horse to quicken its pace, Samson walking at the animal’s heels. “What is he sulking about now?” Sam asked, but nobody knew nor cared.
Eventually they caught up with Ria, Ban, Torrick and Patrick, who were less than impressed to see Bellak riding. The first thing Ria did was walk up to Liselle and hug her, apologising for her previous hostility. Liselle murmured her thanks, but her attention was on Torrick. At first he refused to look at her, but when he eventually raised his head and his eyes fell on her, they were filled with pain. She wanted to speak to him, to explain her actions, to let him know how much she loved him, but words failed her. Then her chance was gone. Patrick stormed over to her, his face red with anger.
“So you made it through alive,” Patrick sneered. “Pity.”
“That’s not fair,” Sam interjected. “She is still the same person she has always been. Besides, she volunteered to sacrifice herself to aid Brin and myself.”
“Only because she knew you would say no. We would be better off without her.” He walked over to one of the horses, withdrew a sword that had been carefully attached to one of the bundles it carried, then returned to stand in front of a cowering Liselle, the sword held menacingly. Just as Sam decided that he was just putting on an act to frighten Liselle, he brought the sword down, aiming it at her exposed neck. Torrick acted quickly, throwing himself forward, hoping to get between Liselle and the sword, but Bellak was quicker. He had quietly begun incanting a spell when he saw Patrick arm himself and threw up his hands as soon as the sword started to fall. The sword suddenly stopped as though it had hit something solid, a mere centimetre from Liselle’s pale skin. The spell had formed a shield, temporarily protecting her from danger.
“Who made you judge, jury and executioner,” Ria shouted, walking up to Patrick and slapping him round the face.
Patrick looked at her, bemused. “But she betrayed us.”
“Yes, she did, but if put in the same situation, I am not sure I would not have done the same.”
“You have got to be joking,” he said incredulously. “You do not actually believe she was a sex slave do you?”
“Cirren said that most of her story was true.” She stared at him as she quietly added, “And I have seen the scars on her back.”
Patrick was not swayed from his determination to be rid of Liselle. “She and Cirren are both traitors. If I am not permitted to execute them as they deserve, then they should be abandoned as soon as we are out of this god forsaken maze.”
“Thankfully that is not your decision to make.” It was Torrick who had spoken. Ignoring the surprised stares, he grabbed Liselle roughly by the elbow and forced her to her feet. “We need to talk,” he told her in an unfriendly tone of voice and started to drag her away from the others, hoping a little distance would give them some privacy.
“Wait,” Sam called after them. “She loves you. Please give her a chance to explain.” She began to go after them, but Brin stopped her.
Torrick turned to look at her. “This is none of your business,” he snapped before turning his back on her and walking away.
“We should continue onwards,” Ban suggested. “They can catch up when they have finished their discussion.”
“If they are both still alive,” Patrick added, an evil grin spreading across his face. Ignoring him, Sam instructed the horses that Torrick and Liselle usually rode to wait behind for the two humans and checked that each carried a supply of water.
“She will be okay won’t she?” she asked Brin as he took her hand in his and encouraged her to start walking.
“I hope so,” was the only reply he could give.
Once they were alone, Torrick released his grip on Liselle, who was shaking. “I am going to ask you a few questions and you are going to answer them truthfully. Understand?” She nodded her head, afraid to speak.
He took a deep breath. “Firstly, what exactly did the spell you put on me do and are the effects permanent?” His voice was grim, containing none of the warmth that was usually present when he spoke to her. But at least he was speaking to her and she clung on to the hope that she would be able to make some progress with him. She told him everything she knew about the spell, that it had wiped out the attack and the death of his lover, replaced her image with Liselle’s in all of his memories, invented them arriving at his family farm, getting married and having children and that, to the best of her knowledge, his memory was permanently altered. He listened carefully as she spoke, his eyes never leaving her face, his demeanour unchanging, betraying nothing of how he was reacting to what he was hearing. “So I will never know what she really looked like?”
Liselle shook her head, unable to verbalise the answer. Tears rolled down her face as she saw how much her answer was hurting him. “But you will also never have to remember seeing her die,” she eventually managed to say.
Torrick still did not react. “Are we married? Do I have any children?”
“No,” she replied sadly. “The wedding and the children are totally fictitious. They were my suggestion. If you were going to be given fake memories, I wanted them to be happy ones.”
“What other spells have you put on me?”
“None, I swear,” she replied without hesitation, earnestly hoping he would hear the honesty of her answer.
He still did not react. “You a
re a good actress,” he eventually said.
“No, I am not,” she replied resignedly. “I know you have no reason to believe me, but I really did fall in love with you. To begin with, pretending was easy. You are, after all, a very attractive man. After a few weeks I realised I was no longer faking anything, that the words I was whispering into your ear were genuine. That is the reason I continued to betray you and everyone else. I started to see you as my husband and the others quickly became true friends. I was terrified of losing it all. I knew that if I stopped informing Cirren of our progress, he would eventually find me and tell you all the truth. I could not let that happen.” She had been staring at the ground as she spoke. Now she raised her head. “I do not expect you to forgive me. I just hope you can understand why I did what I did and that I never meant to hurt you.”
Torrick stared at her. When he eventually spoke, it was in a strained voice. “The only memories I have of the woman I love are of you.” He reached out his hand and gently stroked her face. “Although I know that some of them are a lie, the majority are real. I cannot turn my back on that.” He smiled thinly. “I do love you Liselle. I know it will not be easy, but I think we should try to make things work.”
Tears fell from Liselle’s eyes once more, but this time they were of joy, not sadness. Torrick took her hand and they headed off after the others. Content to be alone for a while, they set a slow pace, knowing they would catch up eventually.
It was nearly nightfall by the time Sam and her companions found the rest of their party. They were sitting in another resting area, happily drinking and eating. The weary travellers collapsed onto the floor beside them while Dal and Seth attended to the horses. There was another fountain in the clearing and Dal made sure they each drank their fill before Seth fed them from a bowl he was carrying.
Cirren was not only awake, but looked well. In fact, the tiredness appeared to have left all of them. Tor explained while Ellen refilled a couple of jugs they had found beside the fountain with water. She emptied the contents into cups and passed them around to the newcomers, then handed them bowls filled with berries. The clearing they were currently in contained a number of drupacea bushes, whose berries were not only delicious, but very nutritious. A human could survive for weeks eating only a handful a day. They provided the body with everything it needed to survive in the short term and increased energy levels. The juice had been known to cure various illnesses ranging from headaches to barrenness, or so the stories went. The only downside was they did not cure hunger. While the body no longer needed sustenance, the stomach was still relatively empty and wanted to be filled. Sam decided it was something she could live with if it meant not dying of starvation.
The Maze Page 14
