A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 3

telltale smear. 'Nothing to worry about, Lilac,' he said. 'It's a column from my father's army, I suspect. A portion of it occupied the Manse not long ago.'
    'There was fighting there,' the demon said, then sighed. 'Two of my kin fell.'
    'I am sorry for that,' Trull said.
    They were camped on the outskirts of Thetil, preparing for the fast, extended march down to First Reach, where their army would join up with the emperor's before striking southeast to Letheras. Tomad's army would march down Mappers' Road to approach the capital city from the north. The Letherii forces were fleeing before them along every approach. Even so, one more battle lay ahead, probably outside the walls of Letheras.
    Trull glanced over at his company. A dozen or so warriors were gathered round Sergeant Canarth, who was in the midst of a gesture-filled tirade of some sort. Trull's captain, Ahlrada Ahn, stood nearby, apart yet listening.
    Since Trull had acquired his demon bodyguard, the other warriors had kept their distance, the squad leaders reluctant to stand still even when Trull approached with orders. There was something wrong, clearly, with singling out a demon, with making it obvious that the creature was intelligent, an individual. Understandable, given the usual treatment of the Kenyll'rah by their Tiste Edur masters. But, he well knew, there was more to it than that.
    During their march down from High Fort, Trull Sengar had found himself mostly shunned by his warrior kin and by the women. No official sanction had yet been pronounced, but silent judgement had already occurred, and it was these unspoken forms of punishment that maintained the necessary cohesion of the Edur tribes – rejection of aberrant behaviour must be seen, the punishment one of public participation, the lesson clear to all who might harbour similar dangerous impulses. Trull understood this well enough, and did not rail against it.
    Without the demon at his side, it would have been far more painful, far more lonely, than it was. Yet even with Lilac, there was a truth that stung. The demon was not free, and had it been so it would not now be here, at his side. Thus, the premise of companionship was flawed, and Trull could not delude himself into believing otherwise.
    Fear had not spoken to him once since High Fort. Orders were conveyed through B'nagga, who was indifferent to, or unaware of, the tensions swirling about Trull.
    Nearby sat their two charges, the queen and her son, for whom Trull and his company had provided escort down from High Fort. They had been carried by ox-drawn wagon, the prince's minor wounds tended to by a Letherii slave, the queen provided with a female slave of her own to cook meals and do other chores as required. An indulgence permitting the king's wife to resume her haughty demeanour. Even so, the two prisoners had said little since their capture.
    Ahlrada Ahn made his way over.
    Trull spoke first. 'Captain. What has Sergeant Canarth so animated?'
    The dark-skinned warrior frowned. 'You, Trull Sengar.'
    'Ah, and you've come to warn me of insurrection?'
    The suggestion clearly offended him. 'I am not your ally,' he said. 'Not in this matter. Canarth intends to approach Fear and request a new commander.'
    'Well, that would be a relief,' Trull said. 'What is it you want, then?'
    'I want you to excuse yourself before Canarth delivers his request.'
    Trull looked away. Southward, the sprawl of farms on the other side of Thetil. No livestock, no workers in the fields. The rains had been kind, and all was a luscious, deep green. 'A Bluerose slave, wasn't she? Your mother. Which was why you were always apart from the rest of us.'
    'I am ashamed of nothing, Trull Sengar. If you are seeking to wound me—'
    He met Ahlrada's hard gaze. 'No, the very opposite. I know you do not like me. Indeed, you never have – long before I struck ... a woman. Oddly enough, I have always admired you. Your strength, your determination to rise above your birth—'
    'Rise above?' Ahlrada's grin was cold. 'I suffered under no such compulsion, Trull Sengar. Before she died, my mother told me many secrets. The Bluerose are the survivors, from a war in which it was supposed there were no survivors. It was believed the Edur had killed them all, you see. It was necessary to believe that.'
    'You have lost me, Ahlrada Ahn,' Trull said. 'What war are you speaking of?'
    'I am speaking of the Betrayal. When the Edur and the Andii fought as allies against the K'Chain Che'Malle.