The Final Redemption by Michael Manning (little red riding hood ebook free .txt) 📕

of my plan. I hoped that onceshe understood the full depth of it, she might rethink heropposition to it.

I talked for over an hour and evenwent so far as to illustrate my words with visible illusions, sothat she could see what I intended. When I had finished her furywas diminished, but she was still unhappy.

“Go ahead and talk,” I said, returningher power of speech.

“It is still wrong. You’ve done muchto alleviate the worst of it, but it still isn’t right,” she said.“Look at me now, bound and helpless. This alone isproof.”

“I didn’t intend to do that,” I saidhonestly, “but you started leaking aythar when you got angry. I’mnot sure if you realize how much power you were putting out alittle while ago. It was enough that I feared for the safety ofeveryone in the house.”

“I would never hurt your family. Thatwas unintentional,” she stopped, looking down before returning hergaze to me. “Do you think I am unstable now?”

Her question wasn’t rhetorical. Herexpression told me she truly worried about it. My magical clone,Brexus, had shown every sign of slowly coming apart mentally, andhe had barely been a year old. Moira Centyr, or rather the versionof her in my home, was over a thousand years old. She had told mebefore that her creator had had unparalleled talent in makingstable personalities, but the recently unmade Shining Gods wereproof enough that her skills weren’t perfect.

“No more than I am, Moira. You werejust angry.” I said, hoping to reassure her.

“Yet what you intend to do will onlycompound the risk that I represent,” she insisted.

“I believe it will work this way.They’ll remain stable.”

“You can’t know that,” sheresponded.

I walked closer, until we were almostnose to nose. “Moira, you trusted me enough to give me the care ofyour daughter. I lived a year as one of them, trapped within amonster that I thought was me, but wasn’t. I learned a lot, aboutboth myself and the true nature of the god-enchantment. This willwork, and if it doesn’t, I have the means to undo it, and so willthe generations that follow.”

“You’re so much like him,” she saidthen, and I knew she was referring to the first Mordecai, the oneshe had loved so long ago. “He was arrogant and self-confident, andhe turned out to be completely wrong.”

“I’ve learned from his mistakes,” Itold her. “I can remember it. This time will bedifferent.”

“It isn’t as though I have a choice,”she said bitterly.

She had finished transferring all buta small fraction of the power now, though she still held perhaps ahalf-Celior worth of aythar.

“You can stop now. Keep the power thatremains,” I commanded.

“Whatever power I have, it doesn’tmatter. I’m still your slave.”

“No,” I said then, “I give you yourfreedom. I only bound you to give you time to calm down. You can doas you wish now.”

“You can re-bind me with only a fewwords,” she challenged.

“I won’t,” I said again, “I justneeded a chance to explain. If you insist, I’ll drop this project.I leave it in your hands.”

“Do you really mean that?” she asked,stepping close to the first stasis box. “You’d let me destroy thisone?”

I was sweating now. She still had ahalf-Celior worth of power in her. There was no way I could preventher from doing what she wished, short of rebinding her. I wasbetting she would see my side of it, but I couldn’t be sure. “Ihope you won’t, but I’ll respect your wishes.”

She tensed for a moment, and then hershoulders sagged. “Fine, do as you will, but I want no part ofit.”

I didn’t need her help for any of it,just her permission, otherwise Gareth would have refused to finishhis portion of it. “I just wanted to ensure you wouldunderstand.”

“No,” she added, “That’s not what Imean. When I say I want no part in this, I mean I don’t want toknow.”

“What?”

“I’ve been through this before, and mycomplicity then still fills me with guilt. I want no part in this.If you insist on going forward, I don’t want to know. Take theknowledge from me, leave me innocent,” she explained.

Technically, if you agreenow, you’re still an accomplice, even ifyou don’t remember later, my sarcasticinner voice noted. I decided it wasn’t being helpful, so I keptthat thought to myself. “I don’t think I can create a spellspecific enough to clear just that knowledge from yourmind.”

“You don’t have to,” she saidcarefully, “you can order it, remember?”

I understood immediately. Theenchantment that bound her controlled her mind just as absolutelyas it did her body. Though I had never considered using it in sucha way, I knew she was right. “You’re sure?” I asked again, toclarify.

“I’ll give you the words. You justhave to repeat them and make it an order.”

After a short discussion I gave her apen and some parchment to be sure I got the order precisely as shewanted it. When she had finished writing I browsed it quicklybefore asking, “You really want this last part inthere?”

“Yes.”

“Very well,” I said. “Moira Centyr, bythe enchantment that binds you, I command you to forget what youhave seen and heard in this room today. You will not think to besuspicious of our time together later, nor will you question me oranyone else on it. When the truth emerges at some point in thefuture, you will assume that I was the only one involved. You willnever suspect Gareth’s involvement. If you become angry with me forit at that time, you will forgive me after a few days.”

I walked her out into the hall,watching her carefully for she seemed dazed.

“That’s odd,” she said. “I feeldifferent. What happened to the aythar?” She looked around inconfusion.

“I had you channel it into a storagevessel I had prepared,” I said, dancing around the truth. “You wenttoo quickly I think. You passed out at the end. Don’t youremember?”

“Not really,” she replied. “It’spossible the rapid loss of aythar could cause memory loss,” sheadded, supplying her own excuse.

“You may be right,” Iagreed. On the inside though I mourned, for it was as though a partof her had died, even if it was just an hour of her life gone. Morethan ever, that convinced