A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 4

my feet hurt.'
    I hate children with secrets – especially ones with secrets they're not even aware of. Find the right questions; there's no other way of doing this . 'What else bothers you about being
among the living again, Kettle?' And . . . how? Why?
    'Feeling small.'
    Seren's right arm was plucked by a slave, an old man who
reached out for the keys with pathetic hope in his eyes. She
handed them to him. 'Free the others,' she said. He nodded
vigorously, scrabbling at his shackles. 'Now,' Seren said to
Kettle, 'that's a feeling we all must accept. Too much of the
world defies our efforts to conform to what would please us.
To live is to know dissatisfaction and frustration.'
    'I still want to tear out throats, Seren. Is that bad? I think
it must be.'
    At Kettle's words, the old man shrank away, redoubling
his clumsy attempts at releasing himself. Behind him a
woman cursed with impatience.
    Udinaas had climbed onto the bed of the lead wagon and
was busy looting it for whatever they might need. Kettle
scrambled to join him.
    'We need to move out of this mist,' Seren muttered. 'I'm
soaked through.' She walked towards the wagon. 'Hurry up
with that, you two. If more company finds us here, we could
be in trouble.' Especially now that Silchas Ruin is gone . The
Tiste Andii had been the singular reason for their survival
thus far. When hiding and evading the searchers failed, his
two swords found voice, the eerie song of obliteration. The White Crow .
    It had been a week since they last caught sight of Edur
and Letherii who were clearly hunters. Seeking the traitor,
Fear Sengar. Seeking the betrayer, Udinaas. Yet Seren
Pedac was bemused – there should have been entire armies
chasing them. While the pursuit was persistent, it was
dogged rather than ferocious in its execution. Silchas had
mentioned, once, in passing, that the Emperor's K'risnan
were working ritual sorceries, the kind that sought to lure
and trap. And that snares awaited them to the east, and
round Letheras itself. She could understand those to the
east, for it was the wild lands beyond the empire that had
been their destination all along, where Fear – for some
reason he did not care to explain – believed he would find
what he sought; a belief that Silchas Ruin did not refute.
But to surround the capital city itself baffled Seren. As if Rhulad is frightened of his brother.
    Udinaas leapt down from the lead wagon and made his
way to the second one. 'I found coin,' he said. 'Lots. We
should take these horses, too – we can sell them once we're
down the other side of the pass.'
    'There is a fort at the pass,' Seren said. 'It may be ungarrisoned,
but there's no guarantee of that, Udinaas. If we
arrive with horses – and they recognize them . . .'
    'We go round that fort,' he replied. 'At night. Unseen.'
    She frowned, wiped water from her eyes. 'Easier done
without horses. Besides, these beasts are old, too broken –
they won't earn us much, especially in Bluerose. And when
Wyval returns they'll probably die of terror.'
    'Wyval's not coming back,' Udinaas said, turning away,
his voice grating. 'Wyval's gone, and that's that.'
    She knew she should not doubt him. The dragon-spawn's
spirit had dwelt within him, after all. Yet there was no
obvious explanation for the winged beast's sudden disappearance,
at least none that Udinaas would share. Wyval
had been gone for over a month.
    Udinaas swore from where he crouched atop the bed of
the wagon. 'Nothing here but weapons.'
    'Weapons?'
    'Swords, shields and armour.'
    'Letherii?'
    'Yes. Middling quality.'
    'What were these slavers doing with a wagon load of
weapons?'
    Shrugging, he climbed back down, hurried past her and
began unhitching the horses. 'These beasts would've had a
hard time on the ascent.'
    'Silchas Ruin is coming back,' Kettle said, pointing down
the road.
    'That was fast.'
    Udinaas laughed harshly, then said, 'The fools should
have scattered, made him hunt each one down separately.
Instead, they probably regrouped, like the stupid good
soldiers they were.'
    From near the front wagon, Fear Sengar spoke. 'Your
blood is very thin, Udinaas, isn't it?'
    'Like water,' the ex-slave replied.
    For Errant's sake, Fear, he did not choose to abandon your brother. You know that. Nor is he responsible for Rhulad's madness. So how much of your hatred for Udinaas comes from guilt? Who truly is to blame for Rhulad? For the Emperor of a Thousand Deaths?
    The white-skinned Tiste Andii strode from the mists,