It was going to ram.
‘Brace yourselves!’ To Watt: ‘Ready to swing to port.’
The old tillerman clamped his toothless gums together, his lips wrinkling. ‘We'll give it a go, sir.’
Corlo tapped his shoulder, gestured to the bow. Bars was now standing, his hands clamped on the gunwale, gaze fixed upon the closing vessel. ‘Pity the Marese, maybe, hey?’ he said.
Pity us first. Jemain, a lifelong seaman, could only stare in awful appreciation of the skill and seamanship as the vessel bore down upon them, cresting the last wave just in time to lurch downward, adding the impetus of its weight to the thrust of the blunt bronze-sheathed ram cutting the water and throwing a curled wake higher than the vessel itself.
Beautiful. ‘Port!’ Watt threw the arm sideways; the Ardent only began to respond before the ship was upon them. Too slow – no chance. No chance at all.
The blow drove the Ardent sideways. It snatched Jemain from where he stood to throw him against the gunwale and over. The frigid water stung as if it were boiling. It stole what little breath he possessed. Vision and sensations came in glimpses as his head broached the surface. The Ardent wallowing, side caved in. Men tumbling overboard. Bars at the canted bow, fists raised in rage. Then frothed grey water as he spun in the waves. Frigid, life-sapping water numbing his arms, face and legs. And he sinking, weakening in the all-embracing cold. The numbness spreading to take his vision and thoughts.
He awoke coughing and spluttering on hard decking. Limp. Limbs useless. Other crewmen from the Ardent lay about like gaffed fish. Mare crewmen in dark leather armour were gathered around one particular netted man, truncheons rising and falling, beating and beating. Seeing him awake, one crewman came over, wiped his brow, panting. ‘You are of Genabaris, yes?’ he asked in a strange mangling of the South Confederacy dialect.
Jemain nodded mutely.
‘We usually capture ships – except Malazan – but yours was such an insult we had to sink it.’ He smiled as if that somehow made up for it. ‘My apology.’ He wiped his brow again, taking a deep breath, and gestured his truncheon to the netted, now limp, crewman from the Ardent, whose identity Jemain could guess. ‘You are all going to the Korelri. Especially that one. He would not go down – good thing the waters had done half our work, hey? We should get a good price for him.’ He smiled his white teeth again. ‘I think he would do well upon the wall.’
GLOSSARY
Terms and Titles
The Agatii: among the Seguleh, their first thousand ranked warriors
Ascendant: individuals of great power/influence
Baya Gul: Seti Goddess of divination and guide to their sun mysteries
Brethren: term among the Crimson Guard for their fallen comrades
Cadre mages: Malazan organization of mages/warlocks/ sorcerers, many of whom serve in the military ranks
Deck of Dragons/the Dragons: deck of cards, their identities unfixed, used in divination
D'ivers: a high order of shape-shifting
Eleint: term for the elder race of dragons
First Investiture: those of the first round of recruitment by the Crimson Guard subsequent to its Vow, with Second and Third following
Fist: Malazan title for commander, military or administrative
High Fist: Malazan title for a regional or campaign commander
Old Guard: those whose Imperial service goes back to Emperor Kellanved
Prevost: old Quon Talian title for a military officer, roughly equivalent to captain
The Seguleh: a fierce isolationist island people off the coast of Genabackis
Shalmanat: protectress of Li Heng
Soldier of Light: a position among the divinatory deck, the Deck of Dragons
Soletaken: shape-shifting
Sword of the Empire/First Sword: Imperial champion, Malazan and Imass title
Talons: an organization of Imperial assassins begun by Dancer, Emperor Kellanved's cohort and bodyguard
Thel Akai: ‘First People’, first-born of Mother Earth, ancestors of Thelomen, Toblakai and Trell races
Veils: Crimson Guard assassins, begun by Cowl in response to the Imperial Talons
The Warrens
The Elder Warrens
Kurald Galain: the Elder Warren of Darkness
Kurald Emurlahn: the Elder Warren of Shadow
Kurald Liosan: the Elder Warren of Light
Kurald Thyrllan: another name for the Elder Warren of Light
Omtose Phellack: the Elder Jaghut Warren of Ice
Tellann: the Elder Imass Warren of Fire
Starvald Demelain: the Eleint Warren, the first Warren
‘The Paths’ (those Warrens accessible to humans)
Thyr: the Path of Light
Denul: the Path of Healing
Hood's Path: the Path of Death
Sere: the Path of Sky
Meanas: the Path of Shadow and Illusion
D'riss: the Path of the Earth
Ruse: the Path of the Sea
Rashan: the Path of Darkness
Mockra: the Path of the Mind
Telas: the Path of Fire
The Deck of Dragons
High House Life
King
Queen (Queen of Dreams)
Champion
Priest
Herald
Soldier
Weaver
High House Death
King (Hood)
Queen
Knight (once Dassem Ultor, now Baudin)
Magi
Herald
Soldier
Spinner
Mason
Virgin
High House Light
King
Queen
Champion (Osserc)
Priest
Captain
Soldier (Kyle)
Seamstress
Builder
Maiden
High House Dark
King
Queen
Knight (Anomander Rake)
Magi
Captain
Soldier
Weaver
Mason
Wife
High House Shadow
King (Shadowthrone/Ammanas)
Queen
Assassin (the Rope/Cotillion)
Magi
Hound
High House Chains
The King in Chains (Skinner)
The Consort (Poliel)
Reaver
Knight (Toblakai)
The Seven of the Dead Fires (the Unbound)
Cripple
Leper
Fool
Unaligned
Oponn
Obelisk (Burn)
Crown
Sceptre
Orb
Throne
Chain
Master of the Deck (Ganoes Paran)
Elder Races
Tiste Andii: Children of Darkness
Tiste Edur: Children of Shadow
Tiste Liosan: Children of Light
T'lan Imass: ancient non-human race thought to be extinct
Jaghut: ancient non-human race thought to be extinct
Forkrul Assail: ancient non-human race thought to be extinct
K'Chain Che'Malle: ancient non-human race thought to be extinct
Eres/Eres'al: an ancient race thought legendary
The Eleint: the Elder race of dragons
The Trell: a non-human pastoral nomadic people
The Barghast: a non-human pastoral nomadic people
The Thelomen Toblakai: a non-human pastoral nomadic people
The Teblor: a non-human pastoral nomadic people
The Thel Akai: a forgotten people, progenitors of Thelomen, Toblakai, Teblor and perhaps Barghast
s on Archive.
Return of the Crimson Guard: A Novel of the Malazan Empire Page 96
