That got some attention. First in the form of denial, mostly by the Principat?. “He must have used Night things to observe the action and report back. Nobody walks the Construct but Grandfather. And Heris, now. We don’t teach anyone. We don’t tell anyone. Even the monks and nuns down there don’t know what it really does.”
Cloven Februaren was not so certain. “Someone else could have come up with a Construct of their own.” The ancient fell into a brooding silence, clearly trying to remember something.
Heris said, “If he’s a half-god and near-immortal he might not need a Construct. When was the bastard born? How long ago?”
No one knew. The child was mythical. Februaren grumbled, “At least four hundred years. Probably more.”
Hecht said, “You have an eyewitness. A participant. Inside the ascendant.”
“Who couldn’t say. Arlensul never developed any skill at grasping a place in time in the middle world. A common failing of the Night. Which has kept you alive. So far.”
Hecht said, “Whatever else, Renfrow is a place to start. Even if he isn’t our man he might know where to look.”
The Ninth Unknown blurted, “I’ve got it! When I was a boy! Younger than Pella. The Sixth Unknown was in charge. The Construct was primitive back then. But we did get more support from the Collegium… You wouldn’t have recognized it…”
“Grandfather! Did you have a point?”
“Oh. Sure. There was a brother who worked on the project. Something was wrong about him. Beyond being just plain creepy. A lot of brothers, especially ascetics and monks, are natural-born creepy. It has to do with the kind of personality that’s attracted to the life…”
“Grandfather.”
“Yes. Creepy. I told my father and grandfather and his father. None of them wanted to hear it. He worked hard and didn’t do anything heinous in public. And he definitely had a talent for the work.”
Hecht said, “And his name was Brother Ferris.”
“No. It was Brother Lester. Lester… Temagat! That’s it. Temagat. He was way more interested in the Construct than anyone I’ve ever seen. Including Muno. But maybe excepting Heris. Heris is in there like a fish trying out water.”
“I have plans, ancestor.”
“Temagat disappeared under what I considered mysterious circumstances. No one else gave a rat’s ass. People came and went. The old folks only whined because they couldn’t come up with as dedicated a replacement.”
“Temagat? Lester Temagat?” Hecht asked. “You’re sure?”
“Of course I’m sure, pup. I’m old, not senile. The melon works as good as ever. Why?”
“I know that name.”
“Ah! Then talk to me, young Piper.”
“When we were in captivity in Plemenza, being interrogated by Ferris Renfrow, Pinkus Ghort told a story about one of his early jobs as a mercenary. He was working for the old Duke of Clearenza. Which was under siege by the Emperor. An Imperial agent named Lester Temagat supposedly murdered Ghort’s father and opened the gate during the night. This all came up because Ghort insisted that the man interrogating us was the man who called himself Lester Temagat back then.”
“Very interesting.”
“The problem is, Pinkus Ghort is notoriously unreliable about details of his own past. He’ll tell conflicting stories about the same incident on the same day. I didn’t try hard to find the truth about that. But Clearenzans don’t recall events the way Ghort did. Till now I’d have bet that the story was mostly true but with Pinkus Ghort in the Temagat role.”
“Rather a bleak indictment of your friend.”
“He is a friend. That doesn’t make him any less a villain to some. It doesn’t guarantee that he won’t be a villain to me, someday. Especially if he’s had too much wine. He can’t resist a good vintage.”
“Vintage this,” Anna said, ending that chatter. “Find out more about Pinkus. If only so we know how he came up with that name.”
“Anna?” All three men spoke her name at once.
“Pinkus Ghort is definitely a bastard. So far, he’s been our bastard. What are the chances he’s the half-god bastard you want to find?”
Futilely trying to be funny, Hecht suggested, “He would have to be several hundred years old to have done all the things he claims.” Which failed to stir a smile.
Cloven Februaren said, “You people will have to deal with that. My focus will be the Great Sky Fortress.”
“Wouldn’t this be part of that?” Hecht asked.
“The hunt for Pinkus Ghort’s past? Doubtful. Though my mind isn’t working with its usual cool precision. I’m a bit distracted these days.”
That piqued Principat? Delari’s curiosity. “Explain that.”
“The Windwalker is coming. Uh. No. Not here. Toward the entrance to the Realm of the Gods, through Andoray. He knows the way is open. And, before we got started, there was an explosive event under the Andorayan Sea. An immense surge of power. It’s fading now but it’s still leaking. Every Night thing able to get there is coming to feed.”
“You think he might overwhelm the others.”
“I’m scared that he’ll get strong enough to freeze the water between Andoray and the gateway. If he does, we’re doomed.”
Hecht pictured a map of the north. “Wouldn’t that approach be going the long way round? Coming along the south shore of the Shallow Sea would be shorter. He’d end up in Friesland, which would put him closer to the entrance.”
“He can’t leave the frozen country. The ice isn’t permanent south of the Shallow Sea. Yet.”
“I don’t recall my mythology that well, Grandfather,” Delari said. “Wasn’t Kharoulke afflicted with a curse that kept him from crossing open water?”
“Some. He can step over puddles and streams with little discomfort, unless the water touches him. He can wade through liquid water for a short time if he concentrates on managing the pain. If he takes the time, he can make water freeze for a hundred yards around him. One way of handling him, back when, was to make sure he stayed distracted around sizable water barriers.”
Hecht said, “This is a winter god who can’t abide water? Winter is all about ice and snow.”
“He isn’t bothered by ice or snow. They just get harder when he’s around.”
Anna observed, “There’s water naturally in the air. It evaporates. Would that explain why this devil is in a bad mood all the time?”
“Could be. Or, like some people, he could just be a natural-born asshole.”
“Well, gentlemen, I appreciate you letting me into your club tonight.” Anna downed a last sip of coffee, pushed her chair back. “But I’d better go check on the children.”
The Ninth Unknown told her, “When you get to the door, stop and count slowly to ten before you lift the latch.”
That puzzled everyone. For eight of the requested seconds.
Hecht grew irritated because the old man kept staring at Anna’s lower half.
Februaren pointed a finger, spoke a word. The word hung in the air, glowing like hot, violet metal.
Hecht loosed a violent belch, first in a gassy chorus that embarrassed everyone.
High-pitch shrieks erupted from the folds of Anna’s skirt. Shadows fell out, writhing, looking like foot-tall humanoids with scorpion tails and an extra set of arms. Nothing cast them. For an instant each shone the same dark glow as Februaren’s floating word. Then they collapsed into little piles of black sand. That sand quickly decayed to black dust.
The Ninth Unknown said, “A few seconds more, if you please, Anna. Heris, scatter that dust. Gently. You should find two tiny amber beads. Patience, Anna.”
Heris did as instructed. “I don’t see any beads. Just two flakes of gold.” She placed those in front of
