A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 3

of thought. But I don't see how that—'
    'Our expectations reside in the clouds, Brys. Oh, we try. All of us have tried, haven't we?'
    'Damn it, Tehol, what's your point?'
    'Hull, of course. That's who you came here to talk about, isn't it? Well. He met a woman. As smart as our mother, in her own way. Or, rather, she found him. Hull's greatest gift, but he didn't even recognize it for what it was, when it was right there in his hands.'
    Brys stepped closer, hands lifting as if about to grasp his brother by the throat. 'You don't understand,' he said, his voice cracking with emotion. After a moment his hands fell away. 'The prince will see him killed. Or, if not the prince, then the First Eunuch – should Hull speak out against the king. But wait!' He laughed without humour. 'There's also Gerun Eberict! Who'll also be there! Have I left anyone out? I'm not sure. Does it matter? Hull will be at the parley. The only one whose motives are unknown – to anyone. You can't play your game if a stranger wades in at the last moment, can you?'
    'Calm yourself, brother,' Tehol said. 'I was getting to my point.'
    'Well, I can't see it!'
    'Quietly, please. Hull found her, then lost her. But she's still there – that much is clear. Seren Pedac, Brys. She'll protect him—'
    Brys snarled and turned away. 'Like Mother did Father?'
    Tehol winced, then sighed. 'Mitigating circumstances—'
    'And Hull is our father's son!'
    'You asked, a moment ago, how I honour the memory of our parents. I can tell you this, Brys. When I see you. How you stand. The deadly grace – your skill, taught you by his hand – well, I have no need for memory. He stands before me, right now. More than with Hull. Far more. And, I'd hazard, I am much as you say – like her. Thus,' he spread his hands helplessly, 'you ask for help, but will not hear what I tell you. Need there be reminders of the fates of our parents? Need there be memory, Brys? We stand here, you and I, and play out once more the old familial tortures.'
    'You describe, then,' he said hoarsely, 'our doom.'
    'She could have saved him, Brys. If not for us. Her fear for us. The whole game of debt, so deftly contrived to snare Father – she would have torn it apart, except that, like me, she could see nothing of the world that would rise from the ashes. And, seeing nothing, she feared.'
    'Without us, then, she would have saved him – kept him from that moment of supreme cowardice?'
    Brys was facing him now, his eyes glittering.
    'I think so,' Tehol answered. 'And from them, we have drawn our lessons of life. You chose the protection of the King's Guard, and now the role of Champion. Where debt will never find you. As for Hull, he walked away – from gold, from its deadly traps – and sought honour in saving people. And even when that failed ... do you honestly imagine Hull would ever consider killing himself? Our father's cowardice was betrayal, Brys. Of the worst sort.'
    'And what of you, Tehol? What lesson are you living out right now?'
    'The difference between me and our mother is that I carry no burden. No children. So, brother, I think I will end up achieving the very thing she could not do, despite her love for Father.'
    'By dressing in rags and sleeping on your roof?'
    'Perception enforces expectation, Brys.' And thought he saw a wry smile from his brother.
    'Even so, Tehol, Gerun Eberict is not as deceived as you might believe. As, I admit, I was.'
    'Until tonight?'
    'I suppose so.'
    'Go home, Brys,' Tehol said. 'Seren Pedac stands at Hull's back, and will continue to do so no matter how much she might disagree with whatever he seeks to do. She cannot help herself. Even genius has its flaws.'
    Another grin. 'Even with you, Tehol?'
    'Well, I was generalizing to put you at ease. I never include myself in my own generalizations. I am ever the exception to the rule.'
    'And how do you manage that?'
    'Well, I define the rules, of course. That's my particular game, brother.'
    'By the Errant, I hate you sometimes, Tehol. Listen. Do not underestimate Gerun Eberict—'
    'I'll take care of Gerun. Now, presumably you were followed here?'
    'I hadn't thought of that. Yes, probably I was. Do you think our voices carried?'
    'Not through the wards Bugg raises every night before he goes to sleep.'
    'Bugg?'
    Tehol clapped his brother on the shoulder and guided him towards the hatch. 'He's only mostly worthless. We ever seek out hidden talents, an exercise assuring endless amusement. For me, at