A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 4

He
glanced out of the window behind Karos Invictad. 'The
investigation must be conducted by the Patriotists, in
utmost secrecy.' The heavy-lidded eyes lowered, settling on
the Invigilator. 'I understand that you have been targeting
academics and scholars of late.'
    A modest shrug and lift of the brows from Karos Invictad.
'The many paths of treason.'
    'Some are members of established and respected families
in Lether.'
    'No, Rautos, not the ones we have arrested.'
    'True, but those unfortunate victims have friends,
Invigilator, who have in turn appealed to me.'
    'Well, my friend, this is delicate indeed. You tread now on
the thinnest skin of ground, with naught but mud beneath.'
He sat forward, folding his hands on the desk. 'But I shall
look into it nonetheless. Perhaps the recent spate of arrests
has succeeded in quelling the disenchantment among the
learned, or at least culled the most egregious of their lot.'
    'Thank you, Invigilator. Now, who will conduct your
investigation?'
    'Why, I will attend to this personally.'
    'Venitt Sathad, my assistant who awaits in the courtyard
below, can serve as liaison between your organization and
myself for this week; thereafter, I will assign someone
else.'
    'Very good. Weekly reports should suffice, at least to
start.'
    'Agreed.'
    Rautos Hivanar rose, and after a moment Karos Invictad
followed suit.
    The office was suddenly very cramped, and Tanal edged
back, angry at the intimidation he felt instinctively rising
within him. I have nothing to fear from Rautos Hivanar. Nor Karos. I am their confidant, the both of them. They trust me.
    Karos Invictad was a step behind Rautos, one hand on
the man's back as the Master opened the door. As soon as
Rautos stepped into the hallway, Karos smiled and said a few
last words to the man, who grunted in reply, and then the
Invigilator closed the door and turned to face Tanal.
    'One of those well-respected academics is now staining
your sheets, Yathvanar.'
    Tanal blinked. 'Sir, she was sentenced to the Drowning—'
    'Revoke the punishment. Get her cleaned up.'
    'Sir, it may well be that she will recall—'
    'A certain measure of restraint,' Karos Invictad said in a
cold tone, 'is required from you, Tanal Yathvanar. Arrest
some daughters of those already in chains, damn you, and
have your fun with them. Am I understood?'
    'Y-yes sir. If she remembers—'
    'Then restitution will be necessary, won't it? I trust you
keep your own finances in order, Yathvanar. Now, begone
from my sight.'
    As Tanal closed the door behind him, he struggled to
draw breath. The bastard. There was no warning off her, was there? Whose mistake was all this? Yet, you think to make me pay for it. All of it. Blade and Axe take you, Invictad, I won't suffer alone.
    I won't.
    'Depravity holds a certain fascination, don't you think?'
    'No.'
    'After all, the sicker the soul, the sweeter its
comeuppance.'
    'Assuming there is one.'
    'There's a centre point, I'm sure of it. And it should be
dead centre, by my calculations. Perhaps the fulcrum itself
is flawed.'
    'What calculations?'
    'Well, the ones I asked you to do for me, of course. Where
are they?'
    'They're on my list.'
    'And how do you calculate the order of your list?'
    'That's not the calculation you asked for.'
    'Good point. Anyway, if he'd just hold all his legs still, we
could properly test my hypothesis.'
    'He doesn't want to, and I can see why. You're trying to
balance him at the mid-point of his body, but he's designed
to hold that part up, with all those legs.'
    'Are those formal observations? If so, make a note.'
    'On what? We had the wax slab for lunch.'
    'No wonder I feel I could swallow a cow with nary a
hiccough. Look! Hah! He's perched! Perfectly perched!'
    Both men leaned in to examine Ezgara, the insect with a
head at each end. Not unique, of course, there were plenty
around these days, filling some arcane niche in the complicated
miasma of nature, a niche that had been vacant for
countless millennia. The creature's broken-twig legs kicked
out helplessly.
    'You're torturing him,' said Bugg, 'with clear depravity,
Tehol.'
    'It only seems that way.'
    'No, it is that way.'
    'All right, then.' Tehol reached down and plucked the
hapless insect from the fulcrum. Its heads swivelled about.
'Anyway,' he said as he peered closely at the creature, 'that
wasn't the depravity I was talking about. How goes the
construction business, by the way?'
    'Sinking fast.'
    'Ah. Is that an affirmation or decried