A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 4

rust-seized
mechanisms squatted on the pavestoned floor, or were
affixed to walls, with one bedframe-like cage suspended
from the ceiling by thick chains.
    Directly opposite the entrance was a wedge-shaped contraption,
replete with manacles and chains that could be
drawn tight via a wall-mounted ratchet to one side. The
inclined bed faced onto the chamber, and shackled to it
was the woman he had been instructed to release.
    She was awake, turning her face away from the sudden
light.
    Tanal set the lantern down on a table cluttered with
instruments of torture. 'Time for a feeding,' he said.
    She said nothing.
    A well-respected academic. Look at her now. 'All those
lofty words of yours,' Tanal said. 'In the end, they prove less
substantial than dust on the wind.'
    Her voice was ragged, croaking. 'May you one day choke
on that dust, little man.'
    Tanal smiled. ' "Little". You seek to wound me. A
pathetic effort.' He walked over to a chest against the wall
to his right. It had contained vise-helms, but Tanal
had removed the skull-crushers, filling the chest with
flasks of water and dried foodstuffs. 'I shall need to
bring down buckets with soap-water,' he said, drawing
out the makings of her supper. 'Unavoidable as your
defecation is, the smell and the stains are most unpleasant.'
    'Oh, I offend you, do I?'
    He glanced over at her and smiled. 'Janath Anar, a senior
lecturer in the Academy of Imperial Learning. Alas, you
appear to have learned nothing of imperial ways. Although,
one might argue, that has changed since your arrival here.'
    She studied him, a strangely heavy look to her bruised
eyes. 'From the First Empire until this day, little man, there
have been times of outright tyranny. That the present
oppressors are Tiste Edur is scarely worth noting. After all,
the true oppression comes from you. Letherii against
Letherii. Furthermore—'
    'Furthermore,' Tanal said, mocking her, 'the Patriotists
are the Letherii gift of mercy against their own. Better us
than the Edur. We do not make indiscriminate arrests; we
do not punish out of ignorance; we are not random.'
    'A gift? Do you truly believe that?' she asked, still studying
him. 'The Edur don't give a damn, one way or the other.
Their leader is unkillable, and that makes their mastery
absolute.'
    'A high-ranking Tiste Edur liaises with us almost daily—'
    'To keep you in rein. You, Tanal Yathvanar, not your
prisoners. You and that madman, Karos Invictad.' She
cocked her head. 'Why is it, I wonder, that organizations
such as yours are invariably run by pitiful human failures?
By small-minded psychotics and perverts. All bullied as
children, of course. Or abused by twisted parents – I'm sure
you have terrible tales to confess, of your miserable youth.
And now the power is in your hands, and oh how the rest
of us suffer.'
    Tanal walked over with the food and the flask of water.
    'For Errant's sake,' she said, 'loosen at least one of my
arms, so I can feed myself.'
    He came up beside her. 'No, I prefer it this way. Are you
humiliated, being fed like a babe?'
    'What do you want with me?' Janath asked, as he
unstoppered the flask.
    He set it to her cracked lips, watched her drink. 'I don't
recall saying I wanted anything,' he replied.
    She twisted her head away, coughing, water spilling onto
her chest. 'I've confessed everything,' she said after a
moment. 'You have all my notes, my treasonous lectures on
personal responsibility and the necessity for compassion—'
    'Yes, your moral relativism.'
    'I refute any notion of relativism, little man – which
you'd know had you bothered reading those notes. The
structures of a culture do not circumvent nor excuse self-evident
injustice or inequity. The status quo is not sacred,
not an altar to paint in rivers of blood. Tradition and habit
are not sound arguments—'
    'White Crow, woman, you are most certainly a lecturer.
I liked you better unconscious.'
    'Best beat me senseless again,' she said.
    'Alas, I cannot. After all, I am supposed to free you.'
    Her eyes narrowed on his, then shied away again.
'Careless of me,' she muttered.
    'In what way?' he asked.
    'I was almost seduced. The lure of hope. If you are
supposed to free me, you would never have brought me
down here. No, I'm to be your private victim, and you my
private nightmare. In the end, the chains upon you will be
a match to mine.'
    'The psychology of the human mind,' Tanal said, pushing
some fat-soaked bread into her mouth. 'Your speciality.
So, you can read my