Mort - Life timer

Mort and Keli sat side by side on her bed. The hourglass lay between them. There was no sand left in the top bulb. From outside came the sounds of the castle waking up.

“I still don’t understand this,” she said. “Does it mean I’m dead, or doesn’t it?”

“It means you ought to be dead,” he said, “according to fate or whatever. I haven’t really studied the theory.”

“And you should have killed me?”

“No! I mean, no, the assassin should have killed you. I did try to explain all that,” said Mort.

“Why didn’t you let him?”

Mort looked at her in horror. “Did you want to die?”

“Of course I didn’t. But it looks as though what people want doesn’t come into it, does it? I’m trying to be sensible about this.”

***

Mort p70