'I am well aware of that, Whiskeyjack. Forgive an old man his fears, please. It was Brood and Rake and the Tiste Andii — and the damned Elder Gods, as well — who were supposed to step into the Crippled God's path. They're the ones with countless warrens and frightening levels of potency — not us, not one mortal squad wizard and a young noble-born captain who's already died once. Even if they don't mess things up, look at the enemies we'll acquire.'
'Assuming our present allies are so short-sighted as to fail to comprehend.'
'Whiskeyjack, we're the Malazans, remember? Nothing we do is ever supposed to reveal a hint of our long- term plans — mortal empires aren't supposed to think that far ahead. And we're damned good at following that principle, you and I. Hood take me, Laseen inverted the command structure for a reason, you know.'
'So the right people would be there at ground level when Shadowthrone and Cotillion made their move, aye.'
'Not just them, Whiskeyjack.'
'This should be made known to Quick Ben — to all of the Bridgeburners, in fact.'
'No. In any case, don't you think your wizard's figured things out yet?'
'If so, then why did he send Kalam after the Empress?'
'Because Kalam needs to be convinced in person, that's why. Face to face with the Empress. Quick Ben knew that.'
'Then I must be the only thick-witted one in this entire imperial game,' Whiskeyjack sighed.
'Maybe the only truly honourable one, at any rate. Look, we knew the Crippled God was getting ready to make a move. We knew the gods would make a mess of things. Granted, we didn't anticipate the Elder Gods getting involved, but that's neither here nor there, is it? The point was, we knew trouble was coming. From more than one direction — but how could we have guessed that what was going on in the Pannion Domin was in any way related to the efforts of the Crippled God?
'Even so, I don't think it was entirely chance that it was a couple of Bridgeburners who bumped into that agent of the Chained One — that sickly artisan from Darujhistan; nor that Quick Ben was there to confirm the arrival of the House of Chains. Laseen has always understood the value of tactical placement yielding results — Hood knows, she taught that to the Emperor, not the other way round. The Crippled God's pocket-warren wanders — it always has. That it wandered to the hills between Pale and Darujhistan was an opportunity the Crippled God could not pass up — if he was going to do anything, he had to act. And we caught him. Maybe not in a way we'd anticipated, but we caught him.'
'Well enough,' Whiskeyjack muttered.
'As for Paran, there's a certain logic there, as well. Tayschrenn was grooming Tattersail to the role of Mistress of the Deck, after all. And when that went wrong, well, there was a residual effect — straight to the man closest to her at the time. Not physically, but certainly spiritually. In all this, Whiskeyjack — if we look on things in retrospect — the only truly thick-witted player was Bellurdan Skullcrusher. We'll never know what happened between him and Tattersail on that plain, but by the Abyss it ranks as one of the worst foul-ups in imperial history. That the role of Master of the Deck fell to a Malazan and not to some Gadrobi herder who'd happened to be nearby, well, Oponn's luck played into our hands there, and that's about all we can say of that, I think.'
'Now I'm the one who's worried,' Whiskeyjack said. 'We've been too clever by far, leaving me wondering who's manipulating whom. We're playing shadowgames with the Lord of Shadow, rattling the chains of the Crippled God, and now buying Brood more time without him even knowing it, whilst at the same time defying the T'lan Imass, or at least intending to …'
'Opportunity, Whiskeyjack. Hesitation is fatal. When you find yourself in the middle of a wide, raging river, there's only one direction to swim in. It's up to us to keep Laseen's head above water — and through her, the Malazan Empire. If Brood swings his hammer in Burn's name — we drown, all of us. Law, order, peace — civilization, all gone.'
'So, to keep Brood from doing that, we sacrifice ourselves by challenging the Crippled God. Us, one damned weary army already decimated by one of Laseen's panics.'
'Best forgive her her panics, Whiskeyjack. Shows she's mortal, after all.'
'Virtually wiping out the Bridgeburners at Pale-'
'Was an accident and while you didn't know it at the time, you know it now. Tayschrenn ordered them to remain in the tunnels because he thought it was the safest place. The safest.'
'Seemed more like someone wanted us to be a collateral fatality,' Whiskeyjack said.
'What happened at Darujhistan was a mess. Miscommunication on all sides. It was too soon after the Siege of Pale — too soon for all of us.'
'So I wasn't the only one rattled, then.'
'At Pale? No. Hood take us, we all were. That battle didn't go as planned. Tayschrenn really believed he could take down Moon's Spawn — and force Rake into the open. And had he not been left virtually on his own in the attack, things might well have turned out differently. From what I learned later, Tayschrenn didn't know at the time who Nightchill really was, but he knew she was closing in on Rake's sword. Her and Bellurdan, who she was using to do her research for her. It looked like a play for power, a private one, and Laseen wasn't prepared to permit that. And even then, Tayschrenn only hit her when she took out A'Karonys — the very High Mage who came to Tayschrenn with his suspicions about her. When I said Bellurdan killing Tattersail was the worst foul-up in Malazan history, that day at Pale runs a close second.'
'There have been more than a few lately …'
Dujek slowly nodded, his eyes glittering in the lantern light. 'All starting, I'd say, with the T'lan Imass slaughtering the citizens of Aren. But, as even with that one, each disaster yields its truths. Laseen didn't give that order, but someone did. Someone returned to sit down in that First Throne — and that someone was supposed to be dead — and he used the T'lan Imass to wreak vengeance on Laseen, to shake her grip on the Empire. Lo, the first hint that Emperor Kellanved wasn't quite as dead as we would have liked.'
'And still insane, aye. Dujek, I think we're heading for another disaster.'
'I hope you're wrong. In any case, I was the one who needed his confidence boosted tonight, not you.'
'Well, I guess that's the price of inverted commands …'
'For all that I've been saying, a new observation comes to me, Whiskeyjack, and it's not a pleasant one.'
'And that is?'
'I'm beginning to think we're not half as sure of what we're up to as we think we are.'
'Who's 'we'?'
'The empire. Laseen. Tayschrenn. As for you and I, well, we're the least of the players and what little we know isn't even close to what we need to know. We stepped up to the assault on Moon's Spawn at Pale knowing virtually nothing of what was really going on. And if I hadn't cornered Tayschrenn after, we still wouldn't.'
Whiskeyjack studied the dregs of ale in the tankard in his hands. 'Quick Ben's smart,' he murmured. 'I can't really say how much he's worked out. He can get pretty cagey at times.'
'He's still willing, surely?'
'Oh yes. And he's made it plain that he has acquired a powerful faith in Ganoes Paran. In this new Master of the Deck.'
'Does that strike you as odd, then?'
'A little. Paran has been used by a god. He's walked within the sword, Dragnipur. He has the blood of a Hound of Shadow in his veins. And none of us know what changes such things have wrought in him, or even what they portend. He's been anything but predictable, and he's almost impossible to manage — oh, he'll follow orders I give him, but I think if Laseen believes she can use him, she might be in for a surprise.'
'You like the man, don't you?'
'I admire him, Dujek. For his resilience, for his ability to examine himself with a courage that is ruthless, and, most of all, for his inherent humanity.'
'Sufficient to warrant faith, I'd say.'
Whiskeyjack grimaced. 'Stabbed by my own sword.'
'Better that than someone else's.'
'I'm thinking of retiring, Dujek. When this war is finished.'
