The Malazan Empire, page 608
Gesturing for his warriors to follow, Bruthen Trana stepped over the Chancellor and marched quickly down the corridor.
As the footfalls echoed away, Triban Gnol, clutching one hand against his torso, slowly climbed to his feet. He glared down the now empty corridor. Licked dry lips, then hissed, ‘You will die for that, Bruthen Trana. You and every other witness who stood back and did nothing. You will all die.’
Could he warn Karos Invictad in time? Not likely. Well, the Master of the Patriotists was a capable man. With more than just two incompetent, pathetic bodyguards. Perfunctory notes to their widows: Your husbands failed in their responsibilities. No death-pensions will be forthcoming. Leave the family residences of the Palace Guard immediately – barring your eldest child who is now Indebted to the estate of the Chancellor.
He despised incompetence – and to be made to suffer its consequences…well, someone paid. Always. Two children, then, yes. Hopefully boys. And now he would need two new bodyguards. From among the married guard, of course. Someone to pay the debt should they fail me.
His broken fingers were growing numb, although a heavy ache throbbed in his wrist and forearm now.
The Chancellor set off for the residence of his private healer.
Her nightgown half torn, Nisall was pushed into a windowless room that was lit by a single candle positioned on a small table in the centre. The chill, damp air stank of old fear and human waste. Shivering from the night’s march through the streets, she stood unmoving for a moment, seeking to wrap the gauze-thin material closer about herself.
Two young innocent women were dead. Butchered like criminals. And Tissin is next – as close to a mother as I have ever had. She has done nothing – no, stop that. None of us have. But that doesn’t matter – I cannot think otherwise. I cannot pretend that anything I say will make a difference, will in any way change my fate. No, this is a death sentence. For me. For Tissin.
The Emperor would not hear of this. She was certain of that. Triban Gnol would announce that she was missing from the palace. That she had fled – just one more betrayal. Rhulad would flinch back in his throne, seeming to shrink in upon himself, as the Chancellor carefully, remorselessly fed the Emperor’s many insecurities, then stood back to observe how his poisoned words stole the life from Rhulad’s tortured eyes.
We cannot win against this. They are too clever, too ruthless. Their only desire is to destroy Rhulad – his mind – to leave him gibbering, beset by unseen terrors, unable to do anything, unwilling to see anyone. Anyone who might help him.
Errant save him—
The door was thrown open, swinging to slam hard against the wall, where old cracks showed that this violent announcement was part of the pattern. But she had noted those, and so did not start at the cracking crunch, but merely turned to face her tormentor.
None other than Karos Invictad himself. A swirl of crimson silks, onyx rings on his fingers, the sceptre of his office held in one hand and resting between right shoulder and clavicle. A look of faint dismay in the mundane features. ‘Dearest woman,’ he said in his high voice, ‘let us be quick about this, so that I can be merciful. I’ve no wish to damage you, lovely as you are. Thus, a signed statement outlining your treason against the empire, then a quick, private execution. Your handmaiden has already complied, and has been mercifully decapitated.’
Oh, well done, Tissin. Yet she herself struggled, seeking similar courage – to accept things as they were, to recognize that no other recourse was possible. ‘Decapitation is not damage?’
An empty smile. ‘The damage I was referring to, of course, concerned wresting from you your confession. Some advice: compose your features in the moment before the blade descends. It is an unfortunate fact that the head lives on a few moments after it has been severed from the neck. A few blinks, a roll or two of the eyes, and, if one is not…mindful, a rash of unpleasant expressions. Alas, your handmaiden was disinclined to heed such advice, too busy as she was with a pointless tirade of curses.’
‘Pray the Errant heard her,’ Nisall said. Her heart was thudding hard against her ribs.
‘Oh, she did not curse me in the Errant’s name, sweet whore. No, instead she revealed a faith long believed to be extinct. Did you know her ancestry was Shake? By the Holds, I cannot even recall the name of the god she uttered.’ He shrugged and smiled his empty smile once more. ‘No matter. Indeed, even had she called upon the Errant, I would have no cause to panic. Coddled as you are – or, rather, were – in the palace, you are probably unaware that the handful of temples in the city purportedly sanctified in the Errant’s name are in truth private and wholly secular – businesses, in fact, profiting from the ignorance of citizens. Their priests and priestesses are actors one and all. I sometimes wonder if Ezgara Diskanar even knew – he seemed oddly devoted to the Errant.’ He paused, then sighed. The sceptre began tapping in place. ‘You seek to delay the inevitable. Understandable, but I have no wish to remain here all night. I am sleepy and desire to retire at the earliest opportunity. You look chilled, Nisall. And this is a dreadful room, after all. Let us return to my office. I have a spare robe that is proof against any draught. And writing materials at hand.’ He gestured with the sceptre and turned about.
The door opened and Nisall saw two guards in the corridor.
Numbed, she followed Karos Invictad.
Up a flight of stairs, down a passageway, then into the man’s office. As promised, Karos Invictad found a cloak and set it carefully on Nisall’s shoulders.
She drew it tight.
He waved her to a chair in front of the huge desk, where waited a sheet of vellum, a horsehair brush and a pot of squid ink. Slightly off to one side of the ink pot was a small, strange box, opened at the top. Unable to help herself, Nisall leaned over for a look.
‘That is none of your concern.’ The words were a pitch higher than usual and she glanced over to see the man scowling.
‘You have a pet insect,’ Nisall said, wondering at the flush of colour in Karos Invictad’s face.
‘Hardly. As I said, not your concern.’
‘Do you seek a confession from it as well? You will have to decapitate it twice. With a very small blade.’
‘Are you amusing yourself, woman? Sit down.’
Shrugging, she did as he commanded. Stared down at the blank vellum, then reached over and collected the brush. Her hand trembled. ‘What is it you wish me to confess?’
‘You need not be specific. You, Nisall, admit to conspiring against the Emperor and the empire. You state this freely and with sound mind, and submit to the fate awaiting all traitors.’
She dipped the brush into the ink and began writing.
‘I am relieved you are taking this so well,’ Karos Invictad said.
‘My concern is not for me,’ she said as she completed the terse statement and signed it with a flourish that did not quite succeed in hiding the shakiness of her hand. ‘It is for Rhulad.’
‘He will spare you nothing but venom, Nisall.’
‘Again,’ she said, leaning back in the chair. ‘I do not care for myself.’
‘Your sympathy is admirable—’
‘It extends to you, Karos Invictad.’
He reached out and collected the vellum, waved it in the air to dry the ink. ‘Me? Woman, you insult me—’
‘Not intended. But when the Emperor learns that you executed the woman who carried his heir, well, Master of the Patriotists or not…’
The vellum dropped from the man’s fingers. The sceptre ceased its contented tapping. Then, a rasp: ‘You lie. Easily proved—’
‘Indeed. Call in a healer. Presumably you have at least one in attendance, lest the executioner be stung by a sliver – or, more likely, a burst blister, busy as he is.’
‘When we discover your ruse, Nisall, well, the notion of mercy is dispensed with, regardless of this signed confession.’ He leaned over and collected the vellum. Then scowled. ‘You used too much ink – it has run and is now illegible.’
‘Most missives I pen are with stylus and wax,’ she said.
He slapped the sheet back down in front of her, the reverse side up. ‘Again. I will be back in a moment – with the healer.’
She heard the door open and shut behind her. Writing out her confession once more, she set the brush down and rose. Leaned over the odd little box with its pivoting two-headed insect. Round and round you go. Do you know dismay? Helplessness?
A commotion somewhere below. Voices, something crashing to the floor.
The door behind her was flung open.
She turned.
Karos Invictad walked in, straight for her.
She saw him twist the lower half of the sceptre, saw a short knife-blade emerge from the sceptre’s base.
Nisall looked up, met the man’s eyes.
And saw, in them, nothing human.
He thrust the blade into her chest, into her heart. Then twice more as she sagged, falling to strike the chair.
She saw the floor come up to meet her face, heard the crack of her forehead, felt the vague sting, then darkness closed in. Oh, Tissin—
Bruthen Trana shouldered a wounded guard aside and entered Invictad’s office.
The Master of the Patriotists was stepping back from the crumpled form of Nisall, the sceptre in his hand – the blade at its base – gleaming crimson. ‘Her confession demanded—’
The Tiste Edur walked to the desk, kicking aside the toppled chair. He picked up the sheet of vellum, squinted to make out the Letherii words. A single line. A statement. A confession indeed. For a moment, he felt as if his heart stuttered.
In the corridor, Tiste Edur warriors. Bruthen Trana said without turning, ‘K’ar Penath, collect the body of the First Concubine—’
‘This is an outrage!’ Karos Invictad hissed. ‘Do not touch her!’
Snarling, Bruthen Trana took one stride closer to the man, then lashed out with the back of his left hand.
Blood sprayed as Karos Invictad staggered, sceptre flying, his shoulder striking the wall – more blood, from mouth and nose, a look of horror in the man’s eyes as he stared down at the spatter on his hands.
From the corridor, a warrior spoke in the Edur language. ‘Commander. The other woman has been beheaded.’
Bruthen Trana carefully rolled the sheet of vellum and slipped it beneath his hauberk. Then he reached out and dragged Karos Invictad to his feet.
He struck the man again, then again. Gouts of blood, broken teeth, threads of crimson spit.
Again. Again.
The reek of urine.
Bruthen Trana took handfuls of the silk beneath the flaccid neck and shook the Letherii, hard, watching the head snap back and forth. He kept shaking him.
Until a hand closed on his wrist.
Through a red haze, Bruthen Trana looked over, met the calm eyes of K’ar Penath.
‘Commander, if you continue so with this unconscious man, you will break his neck.’
‘Your point, warlock?’
‘The First Concubine is dead, by his hand. Is it for you to exact this punishment?’
‘Sister take you,’ Bruthen Trana growled, then he flung Karos Invictad to the floor. ‘Both bodies come with us.’
‘Commander, the Chancellor—’
‘Never mind him, K’ar Penath. Wrap well the bodies. We return to the Eternal Domicile.’
‘What of the dead Letherii below?’
‘His guards? What of them? They chose to step into our path, warlock.’
‘As you say. But with their healer dead, some of them will bleed out unless we call upon—’
‘Not our concern,’ Bruthen Trana said.
K’ar Penath bowed. ‘As you say, Commander.’
Half blind with terror, Tanal Yathvanar approached the entrance to the headquarters. She was gone. Gone, from that place, that most hidden place – her shackle snapped, the iron bent and twisted, the links of the chain parted as if they were nothing but damp clay.
Karos Invictad, it was your work. Again. Yet another warning to me – do as you command. You know all, you see all. For you, nothing but games, ones where you make certain you always win. But she was not a game. Not for me, you bastard. I loved her – where is she? What have you done with her?
Slowly, it registered upon him that something was amiss. Guards running in the compound. Shouts, wavering torchlight. The front entrance to the building yawned wide – he saw a pair of boots, attached to motionless legs, prone across the threshold.
Errant take us, we have been attacked!
He hurried forward.
A guard emerged, stepping over the body.
‘You!’ shouted Tanal. ‘What has happened here?’
A rough salute. The man’s face was pale. ‘We have called for healers, sir—’
‘What has happened, damn you?’
‘Edur – a vicious ambush – we did not expect—’
‘The Master?’
‘Alive. But beaten badly. Beaten, sir, by a Tiste Edur! The liaison – Trana – Bruthen Trana—’
Tanal Yathvanar pushed past the fool, into the hallway, to the stairs. More bodies, guards cut down without so much as their weapons drawn. What initiated this from the Edur? Did they catch word of our investigations? Bruthen Trana – does his file remain? Damn him, why didn’t he just kill the bastard? Choke the life from him – make his face as red as those damned silks? Oh, I would run this differently indeed. Given the chance—
He reached the office, stumbled to a halt upon seeing the spattered blood on the walls, the pools of it on the floor. The reek of piss was heavy in the air. Looking small and broken, Karos Invictad sat hunched in his oversized chair, stained cloths held to his swollen, bruised face. In the man’s eyes, a rage as sharp as diamonds. Fixing now upon Tanal Yathvanar.
‘Master! Healers are on the way—’
From mashed lips, muffled words: ‘Where were you?’
‘What? Why, at home. In bed.’
‘We arrested Nisall tonight.’
Tanal looked about. ‘I was not informed, sir—’
‘No – no-one could find you! Not at your home – not anywhere!’
‘Sir, has Bruthen Trana retrieved the whore, then?’
A hacking, muffled laugh. ‘Oh yes. Her cold flesh – but not her spirit. But he carries her written confession – by the Holds, it hurts to speak! He broke my face!’
And how many times did your fist do the same to a prisoner? ‘Will you risk some wine, sir?’
A glare above the cloths, then a sharp nod.
Tanal went quickly to the cabinet. Found a clay jug containing undiluted wine. A better smell than – the piss of your terror, little man. He poured a goblet, then hesitated – and poured another for himself. Damn you, why not? ‘The healers will be here soon – I informed the guards that any delay risks their lives.’
‘Swift-thinking Tanal Yathvanar.’
He carried the goblet over to Karos Invictad, not sure if there was irony in that last statement, so distorted was the voice. ‘The guards were struck unawares – vicious betrayal—’
‘Those that aren’t yet dead will wish they were,’ the Master of the Patriotists said. ‘Why weren’t we warned? Chancellor or no, I will have his answer.’
‘I did not think we’d take the whore yet,’ Tanal said, retrieving his own wine. He watched over the rim of the goblet as Karos pulled the soaked cloth away, revealing the terrible assault done on his face as he gingerly sipped at the wine – wincing as the alcohol bit into gashes and cuts. ‘Perhaps the Edur should have been first. Bruthen Trana – he did not seem such a viper. He said not a word, revealed nothing—’
‘Of course not. Nor would I in his place. No. Wait, observe, then strike without warning. Yes, I underestimated him. Well, such a failing occurs but once. Tonight, Tanal Yathvanar, a war has begun. And this time the Letherii will not lose.’ Another sip. ‘I am relieved,’ he then said, ‘that you got rid of that academic – too bad you did not get Nisall to play with, but I needed to act quickly. Tell me how you disposed of her – the academic. I need some satisfying news for a change…’
Tanal stared at the man. If not you…
From the corridor, rushing feet. The healers had arrived.
‘Commander,’ K’ar Penath said as he hurried alongside Bruthen Trana, ‘do we seek audience with the Emperor?’
‘No. Not yet. We will watch all of this play out for a time.’
‘And the bodies?’
‘Hide them well, warlock. And inform Hannan Mosag that I wish to speak to him. As soon as possible.’
‘Sir, he is not in the Emperor’s favour at the moment—’
‘You misunderstand me, warlock. This has nothing to do with Rhulad. Not yet. We conquered this empire. It seems the Letherii have forgotten that. The time has come to stir the Tiste Edur awake once more. To deliver terror, to make our displeasure clear. This night, K’ar, the weapons are drawn.’
‘You speak of civil war, Commander.’
‘In a manner of speaking, although I expect nothing overt from the Chancellor or Invictad. A war, yes, but one waged behind the Emperor’s back. He will know nothing—’
‘Commander—’
‘Your shock at my words does not convince me. Hannan Mosag is no fool – nor are you or any of his other warlocks. Tell me now you anticipated nothing…ah, I thought as much.’
‘I fear we are not ready—’
‘We aren’t. But neither were they. This taking Nisall – this murder – tells me something gave them reason to panic. We need to find out what. Something has happened, or is happening even now, that forced matters to a head. And that is the trail Hannan Mosag must pursue – no, I do not presume to command him—’
‘I understand, Bruthen Trana. You speak as a Tiste Edur. I will support your advice to the Warlock King with all my zeal.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Tonight, Commander,’ K’ar Penath said, ‘in witnessing you…I was proud. We are…awakened, as you said. This civilization, it is a poison. A rot upon our souls. It must be excised.’
