Orb Sceptre Throne, page 23
Orbern sighed again. ‘I know. But I am anyway. Osserc knows why. Must be my civilized conscience.’
She went to pack the rest of her meagre belongings. Queen’s throw! I may as well just ditch ’em. She spotted Short-tall, out of the south, and raised her chin to him. ‘So who are these Segulath anyway?’
‘It’s Seguleh,’ he corrected her, then drew a slashing line across the air. ‘Swords, sweetmeat. Walking swords is what they are. Watch yourself or they’ll do you as they did Waynar.’
She gave him a face, threw her tied bedroll over her shoulder.
She found them waiting in the muddy garbage-strewn grounds that Orbern called the ‘Marshalling field’. A pack of gathered stores sat with them.
The spokesman indicated it. ‘Carry this.’
‘I ain’t no one’s pack mule.’
‘None the less.’
‘No. You can fucking carry it.’
Something whipped past her face – a silvery blur. Her bedroll fell from her shoulder into the mud, its rope tie cut. The man straightened, his cloak falling back into place.
Yusek stared. How in the name of Togg did he do that? She raised her gaze to the painted mask and the eyes behind: these studied her, narrowed, as if gauging her reaction. It was not the swaggering superior look she was used to from all those who’d bested her in the past.
She spat to one side – ‘Fine!’ – yanked up the pack, which was damned heavy, adjusted it on her back. ‘You do have a name … ?’
The spokesman motioned for her to walk with him. The silent partner followed, hood still raised. As they approached the palisade door she spotted fat Orbern up on the catwalk. He waved for the solid log cross-piece to be pulled aside and the door pushed open. They exited into the woods with almost the entire crew of Orbern-town at the palisade watching them go.
‘My name is Sall,’ the spokesman said. Now, in the silence of the woods, he sounded rather young.
Yusek jerked a thumb to the other. ‘And him?’
Sall was silent for a time, perhaps searching for the right words. ‘In the rankings of the Seguleh I am of the Three Hundredth—’
‘Three hundredth what?’ she cut in.
Again, he was silent for a while. The rain had let up and now the streams of run-off trickled across the track. Heavy drops pattered amid the woods. The morning’s mist was gone with the rain.
‘The Three Hundredth I refer to means among the Seguleh fighters,’ Sall said, his tone now quite icy. It seemed he wasn’t used to being interrupted.
She eyed him sidelong. He’d raised his hood again. ‘So … you mean that you’re among the top three hundred fighters of all you Seguleh?’
‘Among all those who choose to pursue the rankings, yes. Not all need do so.’
Among the three hundred best fighters of these Seguleh? Damn! She jerked her thumb to the other. ‘And him?’
‘Yusek’ – he spoke much more quietly now – ‘I can give you his name … but it will be of no use to you. You might address him but he will never speak to you. He is Lo. And he is Eighth.’
Eighth? Like in eighth best of all of ’em? Burn’s embrace! And they’re out here in the middle of nowhere? ‘What’re you two doing here?’
‘As I said. We are looking for a monastery that is supposed to be somewhere here in these mountains.’
Yusek snorted. Damned foolishness. Here she was guiding a couple of fanatics off to some temple so they could bow to some dusty piece of bone, or a sacred statue on a wall, or have a senile old man wave his hand over their heads. What a fucking waste of her time!
She decided to ditch them right away.
She simply didn’t stop walking. So far that tactic had never failed her. She’d lost everyone she’d ever walked away from. As the day progressed, sure enough they fell back just as everyone always did. Once they were far enough behind on the trail she shucked the pack from her shoulders, took the best of the dried staples and a skin of water, and just kept right on going without looking back. In fact, she decided to run.
She made for an overhang she knew of, a kind of unofficial way-station along the trail. It was much further than an average day’s travel but she’d push on into the night.
For all the rest of the day, into the long twilight of evening, until the light failed entirely and she couldn’t make out the track ahead, she saw no more sign of them. The combined light of the mottled moon and the ill-omened green night sky visitor allowed her to find the narrow path up the rocks to the overhang and here she crouched down on her hams, in the dirt and rotting leaves, and chewed on a strip of dried venison. Her legs were trembling and numb, her chest aflame, but she’d made it. And she was rid of them. She was rid of them all! Fat Orbern, leering Ezzen, slow-witted Henst with his clumsy paws. She’d done it again! Shaken the useless dust from her heels. Just like her ma and pa that day in the worst stretch of the Dwelling Plain when it was them or her and damned if it was gonna be her!
I’ll head for Mengal just as I’ve always wanted. Make a name for myself there. Must be plenty of opportunities for a girl like me … I’ll be—
She stiffened, listening. Rocks were falling down on the trail. She slowly straightened, a hand going to the fighting knife at her hip, her heart thudding.
The hooded and cloaked figure of Sall climbed up into the overhang. He brushed dirt from himself. He dropped the pack to the dry dust and leaves. She lowered her hand. I don’t fucking believe it!
‘A fair first day’s travel, Yusek.’ The hood rose as he peered about. ‘I approve. You may rest. I will take first watch.’
Lo joined them, rising as silently as a ghost from the murk. He crossed to the rear of the overhang and sat without a word.
‘Who are you people …’ she breathed, awed despite herself.
‘We are the Seguleh, Yusek. And all these lands will soon come to know us again.’
Spindle sat on a stone bench in the Circle of Faiths. It was a paved plaza in the Daru district that through the years, building by building and yard by yard, had been invaded then annexed by the worshippers of foreign, emerging, or even discredited religions. A sort of unofficial bazaar to any god, spirit or ascendant you’d care to name. Tall prayer sticks burned next to him as votive offerings to some obscure northern deity, possibly Barghast ancestor spirits. He waved the thick smoke from his face. Across the plaza a tiny stone building looking unnervingly like a sepulchre housed a priest of the new cult of the Shattered God. The man sat gabbling on to all who passed but was rather hard to understand, speaking as he was through broken teeth and a swollen jaw from the many beatings the local toughs meted out. Spindle had to hand it to the fellow, though. The man was undeterred. He even seemed to relish the extra challenge to his devotion and perseverance.
Some people just want to be persecuted … it proves they’re right.
But then, he knew all about persecution. He and his ma together had watched the world succeed in its persecution of his father, uncles, brothers, aunts, sisters and uncounted cousins. ‘Ain’t gonna lose you, little ’un,’ she’d always told him. She repeated it yet again when word came of the loss of his last brother, fallen overboard in rough seas off the coast of Delanss. ‘That’s my sworn vow, that is.’ And he’d looked up from where he sat next to her chair to watch her brushing her hair – hair so long it would drag along the ground behind her should she ever let it down. ‘Hold you in my arms, I will. Bind you up in protection. Keep you safe. Your mama’s gonna keep you safe. You’ll see.’
He rubbed his shirt over his chest. She was close now. He could feel her next to him the way he could when trouble was coming.
Been three days and no contact yet from any of the cadre mages. Should’ve been contact by now. Ain’t right.
‘You look like a brother,’ someone addressed him in Daru.
Spindle shaded his eyes to blink up at a young swell-sword all done up in mock Malazan officer gear complete with torcs and Quon-style longsword. On his silk surcoat the lad bore the sword symbol of the cult of Dessembrae. ‘Whazzat? Brother?’
‘One of the initiate. The Elite. Recognized by Dessembrae.’
‘What in Osserc’s smothering warmth are you going on about?’
The young man’s ingratiating smile slipped into a stung haughtiness as he looked Spindle up and down. ‘My apology. Clearly I am mistaken. Obviously you not possess the requisite dignity.’
Spindle hawked up a mouthful of phlegm and spat. ‘Dignity my arse. If he saw you now he wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry.’
‘So those found unworthy may grumble.’
Spindle considered rousing himself to teach the pup a lesson, but he was feeling at ease on the bench and decided not to let the ignorant fool ruin his day. He waved the lad away. ‘Take your rubbish elsewhere.’
The aristocratic youth actually tossed his head as he walked off. Spindle snorted at the absurdity of it all, then realized he was no longer alone on the bench. He eyed the fellow sidelong: tall and rangy, wrapped in an old travelling cloak. Long black wavy hair. Looked Talian in profile.
‘If that lad knew he was talking to a Bridgeburner he’d have pissed himself,’ the man said.
Spindle cursed under his breath. ‘Took your own damned time, didn’t you?’ He rubbed his hand over his chest, listening for guidance, heard nothing. This man was no mage. ‘Who are you anyway? Where’s Filless?’
‘Filless is no longer with us. Someone’s made a sport of hunting Imperial mages and Claws.’ He turned to address him directly. ‘If I were you I’d keep my head down.’
‘Hunh. That’s me. Question still stands. Who’re you?’
‘I’m with the Imperial delegation.’
Spindle snorted again. ‘Military intelligence. Shoulda known.’ ‘We learned long ago not to depend entirely on the Claw.’
‘Hood’s cautionary finger to that, my friend.’
‘So – your report?’
‘Some kinda spook’s entered the city. Drug his arse outta the burial grounds to the south. Wasn’t alone neither. Has servants. And they ain’t entirely human, if you know what I mean.’
The intelligence officer let out a faint whistle, fingers tapping on his lap. ‘And the Moranth flee … Damned scary, that.’
‘As did we. You lot marched out.’
‘Just a training exercise,’ the fellow answered, his mind elsewhere. ‘I want you to try to track him, or it, down.’
Spindle gave him his best glare. The feller tells me to keep my head down, then he has the nerve … He spat again. ‘Not me. Just a bystander, remember?’
The young officer murmured, ‘Might I remind you the punishment for desertion is still death?’
Stretching out his legs, Spindle took out a handful of nuts he’d purchased from a street vendor, began cracking them and tossed them one by one into his mouth. ‘Amateurish bluff, lad. I’m the last asset you got left in this whole Queen-damned city.’
The officer studied his tapping fingers for a time. ‘I wouldn’t count on that. When the Fifth came to this continent an Imperial Sceptre was sent with High Fist Dujek. It’s with us now. Here in the city. And it’s awakened.’
Spindle missed his mouth with a thrown nut. Gods all around. A line straight to Unta. Anything could be sent through. An army of Claws. A High Mage. He cleared his throat, shrugging. ‘Well, then, you don’t need me.’
The young intelligence officer pursed his lips eloquently. ‘Until then – we’ll just have to put up with you.’
Damned Empire ! Never lets you go. Always drags you back in. Sons a bitches.
Then he squeezed the nuts in his sweaty hand. Oh no. Picker’s gonna kill me!
Stooped and shuffling, Aman picked his way through his wrecked shop. Taya followed in his wake. Her steps were dainty and soundless against his noisy dragging of boots through the broken wares.
She wrinkled her nose at the churned-up dust. ‘Revenge?’ she asked. ‘A warning?’
Aman picked up a relatively whole glass urn, turned it in an errant ray of sunlight that penetrated the shutters he kept locked. ‘No, my dear. Neither.’ He dropped the urn to smash to pieces alongside its fellows. ‘Irrelevant. All too irrelevant.’
Taya studied his gnarled profile. She blew a hair from her face. ‘Then why are we here?’
‘Tone, dear. Watch your tone. Petulant. It is not becoming.’
She raised her full painted lips in a smirk that was almost a leer. ‘Depends upon what you’re looking for.’
After a moment Aman tilted his head to acknowledge the point. ‘True. It has served you in the past. But things are changing now. And you must change as well.’
She snorted her opinion of that. ‘Nothing has changed! Still we skulk in the shadows.’ Her gaze slid sideways to Aman. ‘Perhaps you’re too used to living like rats?’
He was examining the glittering jade-encrusted statue, running his mangled hands over its strange crusted armour of stone. ‘You are wasting your breath, young one. Too long among those who can so easily be stung. Whereas I possess no vanity to be plucked like a thin rich robe. No fragile self-image so readily chipped or shattered.’ He regarded her, his gaze weighing. ‘No. The die is cast … as they say. We merely wait while the ripples spread outward – if I may be permitted to tweak my metaphors. We must wait for we are yet vulnerable, yes? But soon … soon we shall be unassailable. Never you doubt, child.’ He clasped his hands together under his uneven chin as if praying. ‘So. What happened here?’
She shrugged her thin bare shoulders. ‘Someone broke in and ransacked the place. Probably offended by your housekeeping.’
Aman touched his fingertips to his mouth. His mismatched eyes, one brown, the other a sickly yellow, seemed to peer in two directions. ‘No. That is not what happened at all. Observe.’ He indicated the floor next to the statue. Taya looked: near where it stood the floorboards clearly showed the dark outline, free of dust, of its carved stone armoured boots.
‘It moved,’ she breathed.
Aman smiled lopsidedly – the only way he could. ‘Yes.’
‘So … it’s alive?’
He patted the statue’s chest. ‘No. It is not. Makes it even more formidable, truth be told. No, this is what happened. Someone entered undetected, bypassing all my considerable wards, spirit guardians, and Warren-keyed traps. An accomplishment all by itself. He was in the process of examining the premises when the one guardian he did not anticipate acted.’
‘And the mess?’
‘The clumsy efforts of my foreign friend to corner the pest … who, with breathtaking insolence, continued his search even while being chased.’ He shook his misshapen head, awed. ‘Such effrontery! It will be his downfall.’
Taya raised an expressive, elegant brow. ‘Whose downfall?’
Aman tugged at something clasped in one stone fist. He pulled again, grunting. Cloth tore. He raised a dirty shred of material: a stained handkerchief. ‘An old friend. Slipped greasily away … yet again.’
CHAPTER VII
The scholar and traveller Sulerem of Mengal writes in his journals of a distant land to the south where every man and woman is as a sovereign unto themselves. It is a wasteland where in over a hundred years not even one fallen tree has been moved.
Letters of the Philosophical Society
Darujhistan
KISKA HAD LONG LOST TRACK OF HOW MANY LEAGUES OF SHORELINE she and Leoman had walked when, eventually, as she knew he would, the man cleared his throat in a way that told her he had something to say – something she would no doubt not want to hear.
She stopped on the stretch of black sand, the sun-bright surf brushing up the strand, and turned to regard him. He stood some paces back. His hands were at his weapon belt; his long pale robes hung grimed and ragged at their bottom edge over his chain coat. He was growing a beard to match his moustache and his hair hung long and unkempt from beneath his peaked helmet.
She knew she must present no prettier a picture. She waved for him to speak. ‘What is it?’
He gave an uneasy shrug, not meeting her eyes. ‘This is useless, Kiska. If he wanted to be found he’d have come to us long ago.’
‘We don’t know that …’
‘Stands to reason.’
‘And I suppose you have some brilliant alternative?’
‘I suggest we strike inland. Perhaps we’ll find something. A way …’ He tailed off, seeing Kiska’s change of expression. She was no longer looking at him, but above and beyond. He turned round. A moment later he cursed softly. She came up to stand next to him. ‘It’s closing,’ he said.
‘Yes. Definitely smaller.’
The dark smear in the slate-grey sky that was the Whorl had faded to a fraction of the size it had once been.
‘Looks like the Liosan have put an end to it.’
‘I suppose so. Two offspring of Osserc ought to be enough.’
He studied her, his gaze oddly gentle. ‘That could be our way out closing before us.’
She turned away to keep walking. ‘All the more reason to track him down.’
‘Kiska,’ he called, a touch irritated. ‘We could be walking in the wrong direction.’
‘Go ahead! I’m not keeping you! I’m sure all the ladies are missing your moustache.’
She walked on in silence. Part of her wondered whether he’d answer, or whether he was following along at a distance. She refused to glance behind.
Then his voice came, shouting from far off: ‘What if I told you I could find him?’
She stopped, let out a long angry breath. Ye gods! Was this all just some sort of game to the fellow? She turned round, eyed him. He was standing as before, hands still at his belt, rocking back and forth on the heels of his boots. Shaking her head, she retraced her tracks back up the stretch of beach and planted herself before him, hands on hips.
‘This better be good.’
His brown eyes held the usual glint of amusement. He brushed at his now enormous untrimmed moustache so very pleased with himself. Like the damned cat that has the mouse.
