us – a mystery. I do not want you to return to me at dawn to inform me that success has left two hundred dead Claws in the streets and alleys below.'
Pearl bowed.
'Go, then.'
Mallick Rel turned at that moment, 'Clawmaster,' he said, 'when the task is done, be sure to dispatch two Hands to the ship, Froth Wolf, with instructions to kill Nil and Nether. If opportunity arrives thereafter, they are to kill Fist Keneb as well.'
Pearl frowned. 'Quick Ben is on that ship.'
'Leave him be,' the Empress said.
'He will not act to defend the targets?'
'His power is an illusion,' Mallik Rel said dismissively. 'His title as High Mage is unearned, yet I suspect he enjoys the status, and so will do nothing to reveal the paucity of his talents.'
Pearl slowly cocked his head. Really, Mallick Rel? 'Send out the commands,' Laseen said.
The Clawmaster bowed again, then left the chamber.
Kalam Mekhar. Finally, we can end this. For that, Empress, thank you.
They entered the gatehouse at the top of Rampart Way. Lubben was a shadow hunched over a small table off to one side. The keeper glanced up, then down again. A large bronze tankard was nestled in his huge, battered hands.
Kalam paused. 'Tilt that back once for us, will you?'
A nod. 'Count on it.'
They moved to the opposite gate.
Behind them, Lubben said, 'Mind that last step down there.'
'We will.'
And thanks for that, Lubben.
They stepped out onto the landing.
Below, buildings were burning here and there across the city. Torches scurried back and forth like glow-worms in rotted flesh. Faint shouts, screams. Centre Docks was a mass of humanity.
'Marines on the jetty,' the Adjunct said.
'They're holding,' T'amber noted, as if to reassure Tavore.
Gods below, there must be a thousand or more in that mob. 'There's barely three squads there, Adjunct.'
She said nothing, and began the descent. T'amber followed, and finally, with a last glance at the seething battle at Centre Docks, Kalam set off in their wake.
Tene Baralta strode into the well-furnished room, paused to look around for a moment, then made his way to a plush high-backed chair. '
By the Seven,' he said with a loud sigh, 'at last we are done with the cold-eyed bitch.' He sat down, stretched out his legs. 'Pour us some wine, Captain.'
Lostara Yil approached her commander. 'That can wait. Allow me to help you out of your armour, sir.'
'Good idea. The ghost of my arm pains me so – my neck muscles are like twisted bars of iron.'
She drew the lone gauntlet off his remaining hand and set it on the table. Then moved – to behind the chair, reached over and unclasped the man's cloak. He half-rose, allowing her to pull it away. She folded it carefully and set it on top of a wooden chest near the large, cushion-piled bed. Returning to Tene Baralta she said, 'Stand for a moment, sir, if you will. We will remove the chain.'
Nodding, he straightened. It was awkward, but they finally managed to draw the heavy armour away. She placed it in a heap at the foot of the bed. Baralta's under-quilting was damp with sweat, pungent and stained under the arms. She pulled it away, leaving the man bare above the hips. The scars of old burns were livid weals. His muscles had softened with disuse beneath a layer of fat.
'High Denul,' Lostara said, 'the Empress will not hesitate in seeing you properly mended.'
'That she will,' he said, settling back into the chair. 'And then, Lostara Yil, you will not flinch when looking upon me. I have had many thoughts, of you and me.'
'Indeed.' She moved up behind him yet again, and began kneading the rock-hard tension gripping the muscles to either side of his neck.
'Yes. It is, I believe now, meant to be.'
'Do you recall, sir,' she said, 'a visit I made, long ago now, when on Kalam Mekhar's trail. A visit to a garrison keep. I sat at the very same table as the assassin. A Deck was unveiled, rather unexpectedly.
Death and Shadow predominated the field, if my memory serves – and that, I admit, I cannot guarantee. In any case, following your instructions precisely, I later conducted a thorough slaughter of everyone present – after Kalam's departure, of course.'
'You have always followed orders with impressive precision, Lostara Yil.'
She brought her left hand up along his jaw-line, stroking softly. '
That morning of murder, Commander, remains my greatest regret. They were innocents, one and all.'
'Do not let such errors weigh on you, my love.'
'That is a difficult task, sir. Achieving the necessary coldness.'
'You have singular talents in such matters.'
'I suppose I have,' she said, as her palm brushed his mangled lips, then settled there, against his mouth. And the knife in her other hand slid into the side of his neck, behind the windpipe, then slashed out and down.
Blood flooded against the palm of her hand, along with gurgling sounds and bubbles of escaping air. The body in the chair twitched a few times, then slumped down.
Lostara Yil stepped away. She wiped the knife and her hands on the silk bedding. Sheathing the weapon once more, she collected her gloves, and walked to the door.
She opened it only wide enough to permit her passage through, and to the two Red Blades standing guard outside, she said, 'The commander sleeps now. Do not disturb him.'
The soldiers saluted.
Lostara closed the door, then strode down the corridor.
Very well, Cotillion, you were right about him after all.
And once again, the necessary coldness was achieved.
Uru Hela was down, screaming and curling up round the spear transfixing her torso. Swearing, Koryk pushed hard with his shield, driving the attackers back until he could step over her. Smiles edged in behind him, grasped the downed soldier by the belt and pulled Uru Hela back.
Another sharper exploded, bodies whirling away in sheets of blood, the spray striking Koryk's face beneath the helm. He blinked stinging heat from his eyes, took a mace blow against his shield, then thrust upward from beneath it, the sword-point ripping into a groin. The shriek that exploded from the crippled attacker nearly deafened him. He tugged the sword loose.
There were shouts behind him, but he could make little sense of them.
With Uru Hela out of the fight, and Shortnose getting crippled by a sword through a thigh in the last rush, the front line was desperately thin. Both Galt and Lobe had joined it now. Deadsmell worked on Shortnose's bleeder, and Widdershins was frantically trying to deflect assaults of Mockra – the sorcerous attacks seeking to incite confusion and panic – and the squad mage was fast weakening.
What in Hood's name was Quick Ben up to? Where was he? Why hadn't he emerged onto the deck of the Froth Wolf?
Koryk found himself swearing in every language he knew. They couldn't hold.
