A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 2

him. There was a sudden vulnerability in her eyes that triggered a clutching anxiety in his gut – for it was something he had never before seen from this daughter of House Paran. 'Adjunct?'
    She broke the contact, visibly recovered. 'In this room,' she quietly said, 'the Empress is not present.'
    Gamet's breath caught, then he jerked his head in a nod.
    The smaller door opened, and the Fist turned to see a tall, almost effeminate man, clothed in grey, a placid smile on his handsome features as he took a step into the chamber. An armoured woman followed – an officer of
the Red Blades. Her skin was dark and tattooed in Pardu style, her eyes black and large, set wide above high cheekbones, her nose narrow and aquiline. She seemed anything but pleased, her gaze fixing on the Adjunct with an air of calculating arrogance.
    'Close the door behind you, Captain,' Tavore said to the Red Blade.
    The grey-clad man was regarding Gamet, his smile turning faintly quizzical. 'Fist Gamet,' he said. 'I imagine you are wishing you were still in Unta, that bustling heart of the empire, arguing with horse-traders on behalf of House Paran. Instead, here you are, a soldier once more—'
    Gamet scowled and said, 'I am afraid I do not know you—'
    'You may call me Pearl,' the man replied, hesitating on the name as if its revelation was the core of some vast joke of which only he was aware. 'And my lovely companion is Captain Lostara Yil, late of the Red Blades but now – happily – seconded into my care.' He swung to the Adjunct and elaborately bowed. 'At your service.'
    Gamet could see Tavore's expression tighten fractionally. 'That remains to be seen.'
    Pearl slowly straightened, the mockery in his face gone. 'Adjunct, you have quietly – very quietly – arranged this meeting. This stage has no audience. While I am a Claw, you and I are both aware that I have – lately – incurred my master Topper's – and the Empress's – displeasure, resulting in my hasty journey through the Imperial Warren. A temporary situation, of course, but none the less, the consequence is that I am at something of a loose end at the moment.'
    'Then one might conclude,' the Adjunct said carefully, 'that you are available, as it were, for a rather more ... private enterprise.'
    Gamet shot her a glance. Gods below! What is this about?
    'One might,' Pearl replied, shrugging.
    There was silence, broken at last by the Red Blade,
Lostara Yil. 'I am made uneasy by the direction of this conversation,' she grated. 'As a loyal subject of the empire—'
    'Nothing of what follows will impugn your honour, Captain,' the Adjunct replied, her gaze unwavering on Pearl. She added nothing more.
    The Claw half smiled then. 'Ah, now you've made me curious. I delight in being curious, did you know that? You fear that I will bargain my way back into Laseen's favour, for the mission you would propose to the captain and me is, to be precise, not on behalf of the Empress, nor, indeed, of the empire. An extraordinary departure from the role of Imperial Adjunct. Unprecedented, in fact.'
    Gamet took a step forward, 'Adjunct—'
    She raised a hand to cut him off. 'Pearl, the task I would set to you and the captain may well contribute, ultimately, to the well-being of the empire—'
    'Oh well,' the Claw smiled, 'that is what a good imagination is for, isn't it? One can scrape patterns in the blood no matter how dried it's become. I admit to no small skill in attributing sound justification for whatever I've just done. By all means, proceed—'
    'Not yet!' Lostara Yil snapped, her exasperation plain. 'In serving the Adjunct I expect to serve the empire. She is the will of the Empress. No other considerations are permitted her—'
    'You speak true,' Tavore said. She faced Pearl again. 'Claw, how fares the Talon?'
    Pearl's eyes went wide and he almost rocked back a step. 'They no longer exist,' he whispered.
    The Adjunct frowned. 'Disappointing. We are all, at the moment, in a precarious position. If you are to expect honesty from me, then can I not do so in return?'
    'They remain,' Pearl muttered, distaste twisting his features. 'Like bot-fly larvae beneath the imperial hide. When we probe, they simply dig deeper.'
    'They none the less serve a certain . . . function,' Tavore
said. 'Unfortunately, not as competently as I would have hoped.'
    'The Talons have found support among the nobility?' Pearl asked, a sheen of sweat now visible on his high brow.
    The Adjunct's shrug was almost