A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 3

about it, then dismissed
the idea. Fiddler was like Kalam, who was like
Apsalar, who was like Quick Ben. All ... evil.
    All right, not evil, but something. I don't know. That stuff
in Shadow – what were they up to? And Kalam, ready to stick
his knives in Apsalar. And Apsalar, looking like she wanted just
that. Then Quick Ben waking up, getting between the two as if
this was all some old argument, old wounds ripped open.
    Tavore had claimed Quick Ben, Kalam and Apsalar for
her own retinue on the Adjunct's flagship, Froth Wolf – a
Quon-built dromon, its workmanship Mapau, its keel and
metalwork from somewhere else entirely. Fenn – can't be
more than a handful of keel-carvers and blacksmiths left among
the squalid remnants ... but they made that keel and they made
those fittings, and there's nothing insensate or inert about them. In any case, Bottle was glad they were on that ship riding
the swells three reaches to starboard. Not quite far enough
away for his comfort, but it would have to do. He could
picture those two skeletal reptiles scurrying around in the
hold below, hunting rats ...
    'So it was Grub who held onto that whistle?' Fiddler
asked Gesler in the cabin.
    Beneath the table, Y'Ghatan's tattered ears perked up.
    'Aye. Keneb's lad. Now there's a strange one for ya. Said
he knew we were coming. Now, maybe I believe that.
Maybe I don't. But it was the first thing I got back.'
    'Good thing, too,' Stormy said, audibly scratching his
beard. 'I'm feeling right at home—'
    'That's a joke,' Gesler cut in. 'Last time we was on this
damned ship, Stormy, you spent most of the time cowering
in a corner.'
    'Just took a while getting used to it, that's all.'
    Fiddler said, 'Look what some bright spark left in my
loot.' Something thumped onto the table.
    'Gods below,' Sergeant Balm muttered. 'Is it complete?'
    'Hard to say. There are cards in there I've never seen
before. One for the Apocalyptic – it's an Unaligned – and
there's something called the House of War, showing as its
ranked card a bone throne, unoccupied, flanked by two
wolves. And in that House there's a card called the
Mercenary, and another – done by a different hand – that I
think is named something like Guardians of the Dead, and
it shows ghostly soldiers standing in the middle of a burning
bridge ...'
    A moment of silence, then Gesler: 'Recognize any faces,
Fid?'
    'Didn't want to look too closely at that one. There's the
House of Chains, and the King of that House – the King in
Chains – is sitting on a throne. The scene is very dark,
swallowed in shadows, except I'd swear that poor bastard is screaming. And the look in his eyes ...'
    'What else?' Balm asked.
    'Stop sounding so eager, you Dal Honese rock-toad.'
    'All right, if you don't like your new present, Fiddler, give
it to me.'
    'Right, and you'd probably lay a field right here, on this
ship.'
    'So?'
    'So, you want to open a door to this Tiste and Tellann
nightmare of warrens? To the Crippled God, too?'
    'Oh.'
    'Anyway, there's more Unaligned. Master of the Deck,
and aye, him I recognize. And Chain – a knot in the centre,
with links stretching out in all directions. Don't like the
look of that one.'
    'Some gift, Fid.'
    'Aye, like a rock thrown to a drowning sailor.'
    'Put it away,' Gesler said.
    The rat listened as the Deck was dragged back from the
centre of the table.
    'We got us a problem,' Gesler continued.
    'Only,' Stormy added, 'we don't know what it is. We only
know that something's rattled Keneb, and that assassin
friend of yours, Fid. And Quick Ben. Rattled them all.'
    'The Adjunct,' Fiddler said. 'Kalam and Quick weren't
talking, but they're not happy.' A pause, then, 'Could be it's
the way Pearl just vanished, right after Y'Ghatan, likely
straight back to the Empress. Just a Claw operative delivering
his report? Maybe. But even that leaves a sour taste in
the mouth – he was too quick to act, too quick to reach
conclusions – as if what he thought happened at Y'Ghatan
was only confirming suspicions he already held. Think on
it – do you really suppose a report like that has anything
good to say?'
    'She killed Sha'ik,' Balm said, exasperated. 'She broke
open that wasp nest in Raraku and damned nothing came
buzzing out. She nabbed Korbolo Dom and sent him back
in shackles. And she did all that with us not losing nobody,
or almost nobody – the scraps on the way were expected,
and not nearly so bad as they could've been. Then she
chases Leoman to Y'Ghatan. Unless you