Errant take me, I wnnted to rip your head from your body, like decapitating a swamp-fly. I wanted to show you true contempt. Mine. For you and your kind. I wanted to take that dismissive expression on your face and push it through an offal grinder. You think you have all the answers? You must, given the ease of your voiced judgement. Well, you pathetic little creature, one day Uncertainty will come to your door, will clamber down your throat, and it will be a race to see which arrives first, humility Of death. Either way, I will spare you a moment’s compassion, which is what sets you and me apart, isn’t it? A package arrived today, yes?’
I anal blinked. See how we all possess a bloodlust. Then he nodded. ‘Yes, Invigilator. A new puzzle for you.’
‘Excellent. From whom?’
‘Anonymous.’
‘Most curious. Is that part of the mystery, or fear of ridicule when I solve it after a mere moment’s thought? Well, how can you possibly answer that question? Where is It now?’
‘It should have been delivered to your office, sir.’
‘Good. Permit the man below to scream for the rest of the afternoon, then have him sent below again.’
Tanal bowed as Karos left the balcony. He waited for a hundred heartbeats, then he too departed.
A short time later he descended to the lowest level of the ancient dungeons, down spiralling stone steps to corridors and cells that had not seen regular use in centuries. The recent floods had inundated both this level and the one above it, although the waters had since drained, leaving behind thick silts and the stench of stagnant, filthy water. Carrying a lantern, Tanal Yathvanar made his way down a sloping channel until he came to what had once been the primary inquisition chamber. Arcane, rust-seized mechanisms squatted on the pavestoned floor, or were affixed to walls, with one bedframe-like cage suspended from the ceiling by thick chains.
Directly opposite the entrance was a wedge-shaped con-traption, replete with manacles and chains that could be drawn tight via a wall-mounted ratchet to one side. The inclined bed faced onto the chamber, and shackled to it was the woman he had been instructed to release.
She was awake, turning her face away from the sudden light.
Tanal set the lantern down on a table cluttered with instruments of torture. ‘Time for a feeding,’ he said.
She said nothing.
A well-respected academic. Look at her now. All those lofty words of yours,’ Tanal said. ‘In the end, they prove less substantial than dust on the wind.’
Her voice was ragged, croaking. ‘May you one day choke on that dust, little man.’
Tanal smiled. ‘“Little”. You seek to wound me. pathetic effort.’ He walked over to a chest against the wall to his right. It had contained vise-helms, but Tan; had removed the skull-crushers, filling the chest witi flasks of water and dried foodstuffs. ‘I shall need to bring down buckets with soap-water,’ he said, drawing out the makings of her supper. ‘Unavoidable as your defecation is, the smell and the stains are most unpleasant.’
‘Oh, I offend you, do I?’
He glanced over at her and smiled. ‘Janath Anar, a senior lecturer in the Academy of Imperial Learning. Alas, you appear to have learned nothing of imperial ways. Although, one might argue, that has changed since your arrival here.’
She studied him, a strangely heavy look to her bruised eyes. ‘From the First Empire until this day, little man, there have been times of outright tyranny. That the present oppressors are Tiste Edur is scarely worth noting. After all, the true oppression comes from you. Letherii against Letherii. Furthermore-’
‘Furthermore,’ Tanal said, mocking her, ‘the Patriotists are the Letherii gift of mercy against their own. Better us than the Edur. We do not make indisctiminate arrests; we do not punish out of ignorance; we are not random.’
‘A gift? Do you truly believe that?’ she asked, still studying him. ‘The Edur don’t give a damn, one way or the other. Their leader is unkillable, and that makes their mastery ahsolute.’
A high-ranking Tiste Edur liaises with us almost daily-’
‘To keep you in rein. You, Tanal Yathvanar, not your prisoners. You and that madman, Karos Invictad.’ She cocked her head. ‘Why is it, I wonder, that organizations such as yours are invariably run by pitiful human failures? By small-minded psychotics and perverts. All bullied as children, of course. Or abused by twisted parents-I’m sure you have terrible tales to confess, of your miserable youth. And now the powet is in your hands, and oh how the test of us suffer.’
Tanal walked over with the food and the flask of water.
‘For Errant’s sake,’ she said, ‘loosen at least one of my arms, so I can feed myself.’
He came up beside her. ‘No, I prefer it this way. Are you humiliated, being fed like a babe?’
‘What do you want with me?’ janath asked, as he unstoppered the flask.
He set it to her cracked lips, watched her drink. ‘I don’t recall saying I wanted anything,’ he replied.
She twisted her head away, coughing, water spilling onto her chest. ‘I’ve confessed everything,’ she said after a moment. ‘You have all my notes, my treasonous lectures on personal responsibility and the necessity for compassion-’
‘Yes, your moral relativism.’
‘I refute any notion of relativism, little man-which you’d know had you bothered reading those notes. The structures of a culture do not circumvent nor excuse self-evident injustice or inequity. The status quo is not sacred, not an altar to paint in rivers of blood. Tradition and habit are not sound arguments-’
‘White Crow, woman, you are most certainly a lecturer. I liked you better unconscious.’
‘Best beat me senseless again,’ she said.
‘Alas, I cannot. After all, I am supposed to free you.’
Her eyes narrowed on his, then shied away again ‘Careless of me,’ she muttered.
‘In what way?’ he asked.
‘I was almost seduced. The lure of hope. If you are supposed to free me, you would never have brought me down here. No, I’m to be your private victim, and you my private nightmare. In the end, the chains upon you will be a match to mine.’
‘The psychology of the human mind,’ Tanal said, push-ing some fat-soaked bread into her mouth. ‘Your speciality. So, you can read my life as easily as you read a scroll. Is that supposed to frighten me?’
She chewed, then, with a struggle, swallowed. ‘I wield a far deadlier weapon, little man.’
‘And that would be?’
‘I slip into your head. I see through your eyes. Swim the streams of your thought. I stand there, looking at the soiled creature chained to this rape-bed. And eventually, I begin to understand you. It’s more intimate than making love, little man, because all your secrets vanish. And, in case you
were wondering, yes, I am doing it even now. Listening to my own words as you listen, feeling the tightness gripping your chest, that odd chill beneath your skin despite the fresh sweat. The sudden fear, as you realize the extent of your vulnerability-’
He struck her. Hard enough to snap her head to one side. Blood gushed from her mouth. She coughed, spat, then spat again, her breath coming in ragged, liquid gasps. ‘We can resume this meal later,’ he said, struggling to keep his words toneless. ‘I expect you’ll do your share of screaming in the days and weeks to come, Janath, but I assure you, your cries will reach no-one.’
A peculiar hacking sound came from her.
After a moment, Tanal realized she was laughing.
‘Impressive bravado,’ he said, with sincerity. ‘Eventually, I may in truth free you. For now, I remain undecided. I’m lure you understand.’
She nodded.
‘You arrogant bitch,’ he said.
She laughed again.
He backed away. ‘Do not think I will leave the lantern,’ he snarled.
Her laughter followed him out, cutting like broken glass.
The ornate carriage, trimmed in gleaming bloodwood, was motionless, drawn up to one side of the main thoroughfare of Drene, its tall wheels straddling the open sewer. The four bone-white horses stood listless in the unseasonal heat, heads hanging down over their collars. Directly ahead of them the street was framed in an arching
