Ishwar sidled to the front of the group. He fumbled his fingers along the wall and a small rectangular section swung open. One by one, they followed him onto a tiled floor. They found themselves next to a statue of a cross-legged Shiva holding a trident in one hand.
“We are in the northwest corner of the great temple where Walker has me prisoner,” announced Ishwar.
“That can’t be wise.” Simon regarded the old man.
“Unfortunately, the Stone rests in this very temple. Did I neglect to say this to you?”
Simon laughed.
Kate rolled her eyes in exasperation. “You find that funny?”
He shook his head with great solemnity. “Not funny in the traditional sense, no.”
Ishwar pointed. “The Stone is in that direction. I am being held at the east terrace.”
Ishwar silently led the way forward across the vast chamber. Diffused moonlight filtering through the exterior lattice walls created long silvery shadows. They passed cautiously through the voluptuous interior thick with statues. Many sculptures wore frightening faces and did not appear to be any of the Hindu deities Simon knew.
At the far side of the crowded deity room, they came to an open archway. Simon and Ishwar peered through the arch, looking into a grand entry hall. Fifty feet away was a row of widely spaced columns separating the hall from the main veranda with its bonfire crackling. The true Ishwar was tied to one of those pillars. He sat on the frigid stone floor, head down, apparently unconscious. There was no sign of Walker at the moment.
Kneeling beside Simon, Ishwar stared through the gap. The elderly man put a hesitant hand up as if gesturing to his own distant form. “I may not live much longer.”
Simon said, “Aren’t you a vivimancer of some sort? You have the power of life. Why can’t you heal yourself?”
“I have, which is why I am still alive at all. I cannot now spare the power to heal and keep myself”—he touched his chest—“up and about. I can only imbue life to one form at a time.”
“The sooner we get the Stone, the sooner we can rescue you,” Nick hissed. “So where is it?”
Ishwar started from the edge of the archway and moved along the wall of the deity room, counting stones across, then up. He touched a mottled grey stone, which was the proper size of the relic they sought.
Simon reached up. It felt like any other cold rock. “You’re sure?”
“This is the location. From the arch, nine stones across and six up. Nine for Katherine. Six for Imogen.”
Kate put a hand over her mouth to stifle an uncharacteristic sob. Her eyes suddenly glistened.
Simon understood her emotional reaction to Sir Roland using his daughter’s names as a guide to hide this relic from Gaios. It was like overhearing an unexpected word of praise from her father. “Odd that something this powerful seems so normal.”
“This one is normal. That isn’t the Stone of Scone.”
“What?”
Ishwar looked embarrassed. “Your Stone is at this spot, but it is on the other side of this wall.”
“In the entry hall? In full view of the enemy.” Simon leaned heavily against the wall with an exhale of defeat. He quickly recovered; it was untoward for him to show any weakness or frustration in front of the others. “How thick is this wall? Can we get to the Stone from this side?”
“It is very thick. Many layers of stone. Even if you had the power to tear through it, the hunter would hear you first, or perhaps the wall would collapse. Your Stone is facing out on the far side. You have but to loosen it and go.”
“Oh, is that all?” Simon pinched the bridge of his nose and smiled. “Fine. There’s no point in waiting. Walker isn’t around so let’s get you and the Stone, and be off.”
Chapter 19
They went through the archway from the deity room into the entry hall. Frigid wind blew through the row of columns open to the outside. Simon counted off along the interior wall until he put his hand on the proper stone. It too felt like a normal rock and it looked exactly like every stone on the wall. But Ishwar nodded with a slight smile. Simon ran his fingers over the rough surface of the Stone of Scone, trapped here so far from home in the wall of a temple in the foothills of the Himalayas.
Kate moved to the front of the entry hall and knelt by the slumped form of the real Ishwar. Nick crouched behind a neighboring column, staring out onto the snowy terrace and city beyond. He swore.
“Those damned monkeys are everywhere out there. Can you get the Stone back through the tunnel?”
Simon shook his head. “I don’t think so. There were spots where it was far too narrow. We barely squeezed through.”
“If we try to stroll out of here,” Nick said, “Walker will be on us. And he seems unpleasant. Plus, this city is riddled with death traps.”
Simon pressed his foot against the floor. “I have an idea, but don’t know exactly how it will work. I believe I can create a new portal with the key. Here. And we can simply drop the Stone back to London.”
Kate looked up. “You can do that?”
“I’m not sure, but our discovery of the creation phrase put me on the right path.”