‘What’s to discuss?’ Tehol asked. He scowled suddenly down at his cup. ‘Gods below, I’ve been drinking water! Bugg, are you trying to poison me or something? Wine, man, wine! Oops, sorry, Brys, that was insensitive of me. Beer, man, beer!’
‘The Malazans will probably petition us,’ Brys said. ‘For some unfathomable reason, they intend to march into the Wastelands. They will seek to purchase writs of passage—which will involve diplomatic efforts on our part—as well as sufficient supplies to satisfy their troops. King Tehol, I admit to having little confidence with respect to those writs of passage—we all know the inherent duplicity of the Bolkando and the Saphii—’
‘You want to provide the Malazans with an escort,’ said Janath.
‘A big one!’ shouted Ublala, as if unaware that the conversation in the throne room had moved on. ‘I want Captain Shurq Elalle. Because she’s friendly and she likes sex. Oh, and I need money for food and chickens, too, and boot polish to make my army. Can I get all that?’
‘Of course you can!’ replied Tehol with a bright smile. ‘Chancellor, see to it, won’t you?’
‘This very day, King,’ said Bugg.
‘Can I go now?’ Ublala asked.
‘If you like.’
‘Sire,’ began Brys, in growing exasperation, ‘I think—’
‘Can I stay?’ Ublala asked.
‘Naturally!’
‘Sire—’
‘Dear brother,’ said Tehol, ‘have you gleaned no hint of my equanimity? Of course you can escort the Malazans, although I think your chances with the Adjunct are pretty minimal, but who am I to crush hopeless optimism under heel? I mean, would I even be married to this lovely woman at my side here, if not for her seemingly unrealistic hopes?’ Bugg delivered a new mug to the King, this one filled with beer. ‘Bugg, thank you! Do you think Ublala’s worked up a thirst?’
‘Undoubtedly, sire.’
‘Then pour away!’
‘Not away!’ cried Ublala. ‘I want some!’
‘It would give me an opportunity to observe the Malazan military in the field, sire,’ explained Brys, ‘and to learn what I can—’
‘Nobody’s objecting, Brys!’
‘I am simply stating the accurate reasons justifying my desire—’
‘Desires should never be justified,’ Tehol said, wagging a finger. ‘All you end up doing is illuminating the hidden reasons by virtue of their obvious absence. Now, brother, you happen to be the most eligible Beddict—legitimately eligible, I mean—so why not cast wide your amorous net? Even if, by some peculiar quirk on your part, the Adjunct is not to your tastes, there is always her aide—what was that foreign-sounding name again, Bugg?’
‘Blistig.’
Tehol frowned. ‘Really?’
Brys rubbed at his brow, and at an odd splashing sound glanced over at Ublala and saw the man guzzling from an enormous pitcher, a brown pool spreading round his bare feet. ‘Her name is Lostara Yil,’ he said, unaccountably weary, almost despondent.
‘Then,’ demanded Tehol, ‘who is Blistig, Bugg?’
‘Sorry, one of the Fists—uhm, Atri-Predas—in her command. My mistake.’
‘Is he pretty?’
‘I’m sure someone exists in the world who might think so, sire.’
‘Tehol,’ said Brys, ‘we need to discuss the motivations of these Malazans. Why the Wastelands? What are they looking for? What do they hope to achieve? They are an army, after all, and armies exist to wage wars. Against whom? The Wastelands are empty.’
‘It’s no use,’ said Janath. ‘I’ve already tried addressing this with my husband.’
‘A most enlightening discussion, dear wife, I assure you.’
She regarded him with raised brows. ‘Oh? That hardly describes my conclusions.’
‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Tehol asked, gaze flicking from Janath to Brys, to Bugg and hence to Ublala, and then back to Brys once more—and then, with a slight widening of his eyes, back again to the Tarthenal who had just consumed most of the contents of the pitcher and was belching golden froth that ran down his chin. Noting the King’s attention, Ublala Pung wiped his chin and smiled.
‘Isn’t what obvious?’ Janath asked.
‘Huh? Oh, they’re not going to the Wastelands, my Queen, they’re going to Kolanse. They’re just passing through the Wastelands since they no longer have the transports to get to Kolanse by sea. Nor have we the ships to accommodate them, alas.’
‘What do they seek in Kolanse?’ Brys asked.
Tehol shrugged. ‘How should I know? Do you think, maybe, we should ask them?’
‘I would wager,’ said Bugg, ‘they’ll rightly tell us it’s none of our business.’
‘Is it?’
‘Sire, your question encourages me to dissemble, and I’d rather not do that.’
‘Entirely understandable, Bugg. Let’s leave it there, then. Are you unwell, Ublala Pung?’
The giant was frowning down at his feet. ‘Did I piddle myself?’
‘No, that’s beer.’
‘Oh. That’s good, then. But . . .’
‘Yes, Ublala?’
‘Where are my boots?’
Janath reached out and stayed her husband’s hand as he was lifting his goblet to drink. ‘Not again, husband. Ublala, you informed us earlier that you fed your boots to the other guards in your billet.’
‘Oh.’ Ublala belched, wiped foam from his nose, and then smiled again. ‘I remember now.’
Tehol blessed his wife with a grateful look and then said, ‘That reminds me, did we send healers to the palace barracks?’
‘Yes, sire.’
‘Well done, Bugg. Now then, since I hear the Malazan entourage on its way in the hallway beyond: Brys, how big do you want to make your escort?’
‘Two brigades and two battalions, sire.’
‘Is that reasonable?’ Tehol asked, looking round.
‘I have no idea,’ Janath replied. ‘Bugg?’
‘I’m no general, my Queen.’
‘We need an expert opinion, then,’ said Tehol. ‘Brys?’
Nothing good was going to come of this, Bottle knew, but he also recognized the necessity and so walked uncomplaining in Ebron’s company as they cut across the round with its heaving, shouting throng locked in a frenzy of buying and selling and consuming—like seabirds flocking to a single rock day after day, reliving the same rituals that built up a life in layers of . . . well, don’t hedge now . . . of guano. Of course, one man’s shit was another man’s . . . whatever.
There was a hidden privilege in being a soldier, he decided. He had been pushed outside normal life, protected from the rigours of meeting most basic needs—food, drink, clothes, shelter: all of these were provided to him in some form or other. And family—don’t forget that. All in exchange for the task of delivering terrible violence; only every now and then to be sure, for such things could not be sustained over long periods of time without crushing the capacity for feeling, without devouring a mortal’s humanity.
In that context, Bottle reconsidered—with a dull spasm of anguish deep inside—maybe the exchange wasn’t that reasonable after all. Less a privilege than a burden, a curse. Seeing the faces in this crowd flashing past, a spinning, whirling cascade of masks—each a faintly stunning alternative to his own—he felt himself not simply pushed outside, but estranged. Leaving him bemused, even perturbed, as he witnessed their seemingly mindless, pointless activities, only to find himself envious of these shallow, undramatic lives—wherein the only need was satiation. Possessions, stuffed bellies, expanding heaps of coin.
What do any of you know about life? he wanted to ask. Try stumbling through a burning city. Try cradling a dying friend with blood like tattered shrouds on all sides. Try glancing to an animated face beside you, only to glance a second time and find it empty, lifeless.
A soldier knew what was real and what was ephemeral. A soldier understood how thin, how fragile, was the fabric of life.
Cou
ld one feel envy when looking upon the protected, ignorant lives of others—those people whose cloistered faith saw strength in weakness, who found hope in the false assurance of routine? Yes, because once you become aware of that fragility, there is no going back. You lose a thousand masks and are left with but one, with its faint lines of contempt, its downturned mouth only a comment away from a sneer, its promise of cold indifference.
Gods, we’re just going for a walk here. I don’t need to be thinking any of this.
Ebron tugged at his arm and they edged into a narrow, high-walled alley. Twenty paces down, the well-swept corridor broadened out into a secluded open-air tavern shaded by four centuries-old fig trees, one at each corner.
Deadsmell was already sitting at one of the tables, scraping chunks of meat and vegetable from copper skewers with his dagger and with a stab lifting morsels to his grease-stained mouth, a tall cup of chilled wine within reach.
Leave it to necromancers to find pleasure in everything.
He looked up as they arrived. ‘You’re late.’
‘See how you suffered for it?’ Ebron snapped, dragging out a chair.
‘Yes, well, one must make do. I recommend these things—they’re like Seven Cities tapu, though not as spicy.’
‘What’s the meat?’ Bottle asked, sitting down.
‘Something called orthen. A delicacy, I’m told. Delicious.’
‘Well, we might as well eat and drink,’ said Ebron, ‘while we discuss the miserable extinction of sorcery and the beginning of our soon-to-be-useless lives.’
Deadsmell leaned back, eyes narrowing on the mage. ‘If you’re going to steal my appetite, you’re paying for it first.’
‘It was the reading,’ Bottle said, and oh, how that snared their attention, not to mention demolished the incipient argument between the two men. ‘What the reading revealed goes back to the day we breached the city wall and struck for the palace—do you recall those conflagrations? That damned earthquake?’
‘It was the dragon that showed up,’ said Deadsmell.
‘It was munitions,’ countered Ebron.
‘It was neither. It was Icarium Lifestealer. He was here, waiting in line to cross blades with the Emperor, but he never got to him, because of that Toblakai—who was none other than Leoman of the Flails’ old friend back in Raraku, by the way. Anyway, Icarium did something, right here in Letheras.’ Bottle paused and eyed Ebron. ‘What are you getting when you awaken your warren?’
‘Confusion, powers spitting at each other, nothing you can grasp tight, nothing you can use.’
‘And it’s got worse since the reading, hasn’t it?’
‘It has,’ confirmed Deadsmell. ‘Ebron will tell you about the mad house we unleashed the night of the reading—I could have sworn Hood stepped right into our room. But the truth was, the Reaper was nowhere even close. If anything, he was sent sprawling the other way. And now, it’s all . . . jumpy, twisty. You take hold and everything shudders until it squirms loose.’
Bottle was nodding. ‘That’s the real reason Fid was so reluctant. His reading fed into what Icarium made here all those months back.’
‘Made?’ Ebron demanded. ‘Made what?’
‘I’m not sure—’
‘Liar.’
‘No, Ebron, I’m really not sure . . . but I have an idea. Do you want to hear it or not?’
‘No, yes. Go on, I need to finish my list of reasons to commit suicide.’
A server arrived, a man older than a Jaghut’s stockings, and the next few moments were spent shouting at the deaf codger—fruitlessly—until Ebron stumbled on to the bright notion of pointing at Deadsmell’s plate and goblet and showing two fingers.
As the man set off, wilful as a snail, Bottle said, ‘It might not be that bad, Ebron. I think what we’re dealing with here is the imposition of a new pattern on to the old, familiar one.’
‘Pattern? What pattern?’
‘The warrens. That pattern.’
Deadsmell dropped his last skewer—scraped clean—on the plate and leaned forward. ‘You’re saying Icarium went and made a new set of warrens?’
‘Swallow what’s in your mouth before you gape, please. Yes, that’s my idea. I’m telling you, Fiddler’s game was insane with power. Almost as bad as if someone tried a reading while sitting in K’rul’s lap. Well, not quite, since this new pattern is young, the blood still fresh—’
‘Blood?’ demanded Ebron. ‘What blood?’
‘Icarium’s blood,’ Bottle said.
‘Is he dead then?’
‘Is he? How should I know? Is K’rul dead?’
‘Of course not,’ Deadsmell answered. ‘If he was, the warrens would have died—that’s assuming all your theories about K’rul and the warrens are even true—’
‘They are. It was blood magic. That’s how the Elder Gods did things—when we use sorcery we’re feeding on K’rul’s blood.’
No one spoke for a time. The server approached with a heavy tray. It was like watching the tide come in.
‘So,’ ventured Ebron once the tray clunked down and the plates and wine and goblets were randomly arrayed on the table by a quivering hand, ‘are things going to settle out, Bottle?’
‘I don’t know,’ he admitted, pouring out some wine as the waiter shuffled away. ‘We may have to do some exploring.’
‘Of what?’
‘The new warrens, of course.’
‘How can they be any different?’ Ebron asked. ‘It’s the fact that they’re mostly the same that’s got things confused—has to be. If they were completely different, there wouldn’t be this kind of trouble.’
‘Good point. Well, we should see if we can nudge things together, until the overlap is precise.’
Deadsmell snorted. ‘Bottle, we’re squad mages, for Hood’s sake. We’re like midges feeding on a herd of bhederin—and here you’re suggesting we try and drive that herd. It’s not going to happen. We haven’t the power—even if we put ourselves together on this.’
‘That’s why I’m thinking we should involve Quick Ben, maybe even Sinn—’
‘Don’t even think that,’ Ebron said, eyes wide. ‘You don’t want her anywhere close, Bottle. I still can’t believe the Adjunct made her High Mage—’
‘Well,’ cut in Deadsmell, ‘since she’s mute she’ll be the only High Mage in history who never complains.’
‘Just Quick Ben, then.’
‘He’ll complain enough for both of them,’ Deadsmell nodded.
‘Just how nasty is he?’ Ebron asked Bottle.
‘Quick? Well, he gave a dragon a bloody nose.’
‘A real dragon or a Soletaken dragon?’
‘It makes no difference, Ebron—you pretty much can’t tell just from looking at them. You’ll only know a Soletaken when it veers. Anyway, don’t forget, he faced down the Edur mages once we quit Seven Cities.’
‘That was illusion.’
‘Ebron, I was in on that—a lot closer than you. Sure, maybe it was illusion, but maybe not.’ He paused, then said, ‘That’s another thing to consider. The local mages. They used raw sorcery, pretty much Chaotic and nothing else. No warrens. But now there’s warrens here. The local mages are in worse shape than we are.’
‘I still don’t like the idea of some kind of collective ritual,’ Deadsmell said. ‘When you’re under siege you don’t pop your head up over the parapet, do you? Unless you want feather eyelashes.’
‘Well, Fiddler went and did just that with the reading, didn’t he? Nobody died—’
‘Rubbish. A whole building went crashing down!’
‘Nothing new there, Ebron. This whole city is on shaky ground.’
‘People died, is what I’m telling you, Bottle. And if that’s not bad enough, there were plenty of witnesses claiming to see two dragons rise out of the rubble.’ He ducked his head and looked round. ‘I don’t like dragons. I don’t like places where dragons show up all the time. Say we try some ritual—what if fifty dragons come bla
sting down out of the sky, splatting right on top of us? What then, hey?’
‘Well, I don’t know, Ebron. It depends. I mean, are they real or Soletaken?’
Sinn held Grub’s hand in a tight, sweaty grip. They were edging once more on to the grounds of the old Azath tower. The day was hot, steamy, the air above the tortured mounds glittering with whirling insects. ‘Can you smell it?’ she asked.
He didn’t want to reply.
She shot him a wild look, and then tugged him on to the winding stone path. ‘It’s all new, Grub. You can drink it like water. It tastes sweet—’
‘It tastes dangerous, Sinn.’
‘I can almost see it. New patterns, getting stronger—it’s running roots right through this place. This is all new,’ she said again, almost breathless. ‘Just like us—you and me, Grub, we’re going to leave all the old people behind. Feel this power! With it we can do anything! We can knock down gods!’
‘I don’t want to knock anything down, especially gods!’
‘You didn’t have to listen to Tavore, Grub. And Quick Ben.’
‘We can’t just play with this stuff, Sinn.’
‘Why not? No one else is.’
‘Because it’s broken, that’s why. It doesn’t feel right at all—these new warrens, they feel wrong, Sinn. The pattern is broken.’
They halted just outside the tower’s now gaping doorway and its seemingly lifeless wasp nest. She faced him, eyes bright. ‘So let’s fix it.’
He stared at her. ‘How?’
‘Come on,’ she said, pulling him into the gloom of the Azath tower.
Feet crunching on dead wasps, she led him without hesitation to the stairs. They climbed to the empty chamber that had once been the nexus of the Azath’s power.
It was empty no longer.
Blood-red threads sizzled within, forming a knotted, chaotic web that spanned the entire chamber. The air tasted metallic, bitter.
They stood side by side at the threshold.
‘It uses what it finds,’ Sinn whispered.
‘So now what?’
The Malazan Empire Page 842
