Because the action was taking place on Earth, the format was like that of a television program, in that there was a short snatch of music, followed by a voiceover telling the viewer what was happening. Berric, not an easy creature to unnerve, nonetheless shuddered at the flat, dead voice. Someone really shouldn’t have allowed the Lady in Grey to volunteer.

"... And welcome to the amphitheatre, here in a secret location. We have representatives from all the major factions. Sir Milton and his entourage, who have a vested interest in the object, rumoured to be hiding under the cloth in the centre of the circular stage. We see Dame Adwen, Sir Whelm, and Dame Brenna just beside him. Note the ceremonial function of the chainmail.

The Unity have - has?- sent a single operative, known as Stephanie Watson, of course only one is needed. Gestalt entities do leave you with some grammatical problems, don’t you think? The Independents have sent... Lord Kirm! This arch-seducer claims some kind of tie to the earliest settlers of the dimension, but it’s never been- and here are the Cáirneach, or five of its members. No names have been given, except the taller female is probably called Estelle. Another two are ariving, these appear to be carrying some kind of framed item, and placing it in the space the Sisters would have sat in, and isn’t it heartening to see at least one of their predictions coming true? Not a Sister to be seen. The frame is now being unwrapped to reveal- can it be? The mother-goddess of the Sisterhood of Time, the being known as Mater. Legend has it she was once a mortal who fell into the primeval substances of Time itself, and now exists in past present and future simultaneously... And there’s no appearance from the MC for tonight, the human woman known as Silver, and there appears to be some kind of problem..."

Jake took her arm. "Come on. It’s your big chance."

"Yeah. My big chance to commit suicide! Do you realise what the Harlequins are going to do to me?"

"Nothing. You’ve got the stone, remember?"

"Yeah." Silver tossed it from hand to hand, as though wishing it would shatter. "Will you go out there with me? I mean, just to the entrance."

Jake smiled. "Sure. Than if anything goes wrong, I’ll take over. It’s going to be okay."

Silver looked at the floor for a moment. "Thousands of years since Sophocles and friends wrote words to be performed on here, and still nobody’s invented a pill for stage fright."

"Did you know that the plays were written in different dialects? Like, for Oedipus Rex the characters’ dialogue was written in one dialect, and the Chorus was written in another. See, the Greeks didn’t have the same attitude to dialects that, say, the English have-"

"Nice try, Jake." Silver closed her eyes. Somewhere, long ago, a knife went in. "Come on, our public awaits."

"Hello, everyone." She projected her voice, and the amphitheatre picked it up. Of course, no microphones when this was built. "You’re probably wondering what this is about. Well, I’ll tell you a story. Long ago and far away there was a world named Du Cray. We’re all familiar with it’s knights, of course-"

"Stop this." Silver didn’t flinch at the voices. Nobody had ever seen so many Harlequins in one place. Nobody had ever heard them speak. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. Silver simply held the stone over the covered object, and smiled sweetly.

"May I? Thank you. But of course, where there are knights, there’s the whole feudal caboodle. Kings, damsels in distress, and clowns. Jesters. Who were mocked, and who hated their masters, and controlled by means of a bell and crystal. So the clowns and the knights went to war. All the nobility, leaving the castle deserted, save one little girl, who was told to guard the crystals and beware the clowns. Since nobody knows what happened to those lords and ladies, it’s reasonable to assume they lost. So the clowns were no longer slaves, and rejoiced. They were powerful now, nobility themselves. And if your knowledge of Earth culture is sufficiently dubious, you might conclude that the nobility among clowns is generally the white-faced clown, the Harlequin.

Time went by, and these usurpers realised the hated bell still existed, so they used their new position of power in the dimension to destroy it once and for all. They had to look above suspicion, so they had a quick look around. The Unity would want to know why it was destroying Du Cray, after all, knowledge is the Unity’s big advantage. It gets very jealous if someone learns faster than it. It couldn’t be the Cáirneach, because, let’s face it, the Cáirneach are just too damn nice. So the Sisters, with no known provocation, moved Du Cray around, destroying it in the process, except for that little girl, now grown old and mad with loneliness.

This was accomplished, and all was well, until the Harlequins were struck a double blow. The Unity had discovered or deduced their nasty little secret, and the bell had fallen into the hands of the Cáirneach. So, they took advantage of the mutual jealousy and hatred, and told each faction the other was a threat. That the Cáirneach were more knowledgeable than the Unity, and that the Unity was going to destroy the Earth." Silver paused for breath. "And just to make things authentic, you sent me along on a wild goose chase. Everyone knew I wanted a shot at the Unity, everyone knew I was half-crazed with grief and good for nothing. Or, if I did get it together, I would either destroy the Unity or the Cáirneach, and you win either way. You didn’t expect me to actually listen to the Unity’s mumblings, did you? The Noah hypothesis is only halfway there, but it got me thinking. Got me thinking about that damn bell. Jake said that a Harlequin had actually showed up personally, on Earth, and tried to destroy it. Bit of a change, that. The Unity didn’t appear to give a damn about it, odd considering it was supposed to harm them. Finally, your own Messengers, who usually did all your dirty work, turned against you. And it was them who took me to Du Cray, helped me fill in the last piece of the puzzle. The asked me what this place was built with, and Duft told me. This dimension is built on secrets. Yours, everyone’s. Here more than anywhere, knowledge is power. So, one question remains. What happens if I strike the bell?"

There was a different kind of silence, now. Silver had largely been making it up as she went along, using odd facts here and there. But as she’d spoken, she knew it sounded right. The Harlequins stood up.

"Do you accept our terms?"

Jake blinked. They’d obviously been talking to Silver telepathically. For a moment she looked stricken, then she straightened, and swept the cloth off the bell.

"We will give you anything you desire." There was desperation in their voices. "Anything. Not just your little ‘if I won the Pools’ fantasies, but anything. You could have him back for a day, an hour, even the tiny breath it takes to say goodbye. Just to make it whole."

"And then what?" Silver’s voice was raw. "I can’t, I won’t give up the freedom of everyone I know for one tiny breath. I know you don’t understand, not really, but when he died... the grieving didn’t start at once. For a long time, I kept hoping for a miracle. That it wasn’t him who’d died, that they’d got it wrong, that he was going to walk in any second. You know the way children go to sleep early Christmas Eve, because it makes the next day come quicker? I used to close my eyes, and when I opened them, I believed he’d be there. And he never was. And he never will be. And that is a lesson hard-won, and not one I’m prepared to give up."

"And so, farewell to love. How many times can a girl fall in love?"

"One love, one life?" Silver turned on them. "I will not believe that. Even though I do."

"And your son?"

"If I get him back, it’ll be from my effort."

"Too late," said Watson. "Give us the stone. We cannot be bought."

"No. It has to be me. Nothing to do with the prophecies. Someone’s got to save the world."

The stone went up.

The stone went down.

© Naomi 'Ni' Claydon 2000. No copying without permission.