Worlds Without End Read Online Free PDF Page B

talking about?” I asked.
    “Haven’t you heard?” she asked. “Mary is dying and Elizabeth is to be crowned queen. Don’t you think Henry is turning over in his grave? Killing off that poor girl’s mother because she couldn’t give him sons. Brutal bastard.”
    “What has that to do with you?”
    “Why, my dear, haven’t you guessed yet?”
    I stared at her for a moment, then, through the dullness of my mind, comprehension.
    “Are you mad?” I asked.
    “What do you mean?” she said coyly.
    I was staggered. She’d been interfering for years in things that weren’t our business—but this—this was too much.
    “How do you propose to achieve this miracle?” I asked. “Don’t you think people will see the difference between you?”
    “Ah, I have been planning this for years.” she said. “It has taken an immense amount of time and energy. Do you think that I just popped up yesterday? Oh no, I have been Elizabeth for quite some time.”
    “But her servants, teachers, surely someone . . .”
    “A simple enough matter to arrange. A spell here, a spell there . . . and patience. Such patience as you have never known. And now, at last, I’m in a position where I can do something.”
    I could only stare at her. It was madness—sheer and utter madness. How she could possibly think she could maintain such a farce was beyond me.
    “Aina,” she said, “you have always been so shortsighted. We can control what happens over the next thousand years. Make the world over in our image. Think of it—the power will come back again. Not this trickle, but a deluge of energy to rip loose the moorings of the world—unless we make certain of the proper order of things. Humans are sheep. We will always rule them.
    “The legends and tales you strew about aren’t enough. We must have more. We must control them. This is our destiny.”
    Even had I wanted to stand, I didn’t think my legs would hold me. What she was proposing was monstrous. It went against everything I believed about our place. Our purpose. We had a duty to perform.
    We were to keep the world safe so that the knowledge would survive from age to age.
    She knew what I did—how could she discard it all for so clumsy a form of power? But then, power had always entranced her. And so much of her mind would never be known to me. She was far older than I.
    And I have lived so long that Sisyphus’s chore looked like a blessing to me.
    “You pervert what we are.” I said.
    “This pious attitude is quite boring, Aina.” she said. “I think I liked you better before you lost your faithful companion. He certainly would never have tolerated such an attitude. And he could goad you into so many things.”
    I felt the blood draining from my face and blessed my dark skin. Cruelty was her hallmark. How could I have let my guard down for even a second? The energy drained from me then. I didn’t have the strength now to battle with her.
    “What has all this to do with me?” I asked.
    She walked closer to me. The wide span of her skirts just touched the ragged hem of my cloak.
    “I want your assurance that you won’t interfere with my plans.” she said. “I know you could make things difficult for me and I won’t have it. There has been too much time and energy devoted to this for you to create problems.”
    “How did you know I was in England?” I asked.
    “That was a happy accident.” she said. “For the last few years I’ve made it my business to keep abreast of any rumors of witchcraft. When I heard about a dark-skinned woman with white hair who’d been arrested for sorcery, well, I assumed it must be you.”
    “Have you known all along that I’ve been here?” I asked.
    “Of course.” she said. “I just couldn’t take any action on it for a while. Besides, I wanted you out of the way until I decided what to do with you.”
    I closed my eyes. Knowing Alachia, she could keep me here for decades before letting me go. By that time I might well have