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A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 4

A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 4

Titel: A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 4 Kostenlos Bücher Online Lesen
Autoren: Steven Erikson
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Samar Dev? As
my grandfather used to say, "The wolf does not smell the
bear's anus."'
    'Your grandfather,' Traveller had replied, 'was an
observant man.'
    'Mostly he was a fool, but even fools could spout tribal
wisdom.' And he turned to Samar Dev again. 'You are safe,
witch.'
    'From other people, yes,' she had growled in reply.
    And the bastard had laughed.
    The Cinnamon Wastes were well named. One species
of deep-rooted grass quickly predominated, rust-red and
hip-high, with serrated edges and thorny seed-pods on thin
wavering stalks. Small red-banded lizards swarmed these
grasses, tails whipping and rustling as they scattered from
their path. The land levelled until not a single rise or hill
was in sight.
    Amidst this monotony, Traveller and Karsa Orlong
seemed intent on wearing out their vocal cords.
    'Few recall,' Traveller was saying, 'the chaos of the
Malazan Empire in those early days. The madness only began with Kellanved, the Emperor. His first cadre of
lieutenants were all Napan, each one secretly sworn to
a young woman named Surly, who was heiress to the
crown of the Nap Isles – in hiding ever since the Untan
conquest.' He paused. 'Or so goes the tale. Was it true?
Was Surly truly the last of the Napan royal line? Who can
say, but it came in handy when she changed her name to
Laseen and attained the throne of the Empire. In any case,
those lieutenants were crocked, every one of them. Urko,
Crust, Nok, all of them. Quick to fanaticism, willing to do
anything and everything to advance the Empire.'
    'The Empire, or Surly?' asked Karsa Orlong. 'Does it not
seem just as likely that they were simply using Kellanved?'
    'A fair suspicion, except that only Nok remained once
Laseen became Empress. The others each . . . drowned.'
    'Drowned?'
    'Officially. That cause of death quickly became euphemistic.
Put it this way. They disappeared.' 'There was someone else,' Samar Dev said.
    'Dancer—'
    'Not him, Traveller. There was the First Sword. There
was Dassem Ultor, commander of all the Emperor's armies.
He was not Napan. He was Dal Honese.'
    Traveller glanced across at her. 'He fell in Seven Cities,
shortly before Laseen took power.'
    'Surly had him assassinated,' said Samar Dev.
    Karsa Orlong grunted. 'Eliminating potential rivals – she
needed to clear the path. That, witch, is neither savage nor
civilized. You will see such things in dirt-nosed tribes and
in empires both. This truth belongs to power.'
    'I would not dispute your words, Toblakai. Do you
want to know what happened after you killed Emperor
Rhulad?'
    'The Tiste Edur quit the Empire.'
    'How – how did you know that?'
    He bared his teeth. 'I guessed, witch.'
    'Just like that?'
    'Yes. They did not want to be there.'
    Traveller said, 'I expect the Tiste Edur discovered rather
quickly the curse of occupation. It acts like a newly opened
wound, infecting and poisoning both the oppressors and
the oppressed. Both cultures become malformed, bitter
with extremes. Hatred, fear, greed, betrayal, paranoia, and
appalling indifference to suffering.'
    'Yet the Malazans occupied Seven Cities—'
    'No, Samar Dev. The Malazans conquered Seven Cities.
    That is different. Kellanved understood that much. If one
must grip hard in enemy territory, then that grip must be
hidden – at the very cusp of local power. And so no more
than a handful is being strictly controlled – everyone
else, merchants and herders and farmers and tradefolk –
everyone – is to be shown better circumstances, as quickly
as possible. "Conquer as a rogue wave, rule in quiet ripples."
The Emperor's own words.'
    'This is what the Claw did, isn't it? Infiltrate and paralyse
the rulers—'
    'The less blood spilled, the better.'
    Karsa Orlong barked a laugh. 'That depends,' he said.
    'There are other kinds of conquest.'
    'Such as?'
    'Traveller, my friend, you speak of conquest as a means
of increasing one's power – the more subjects and the more
cities under your control is the measure of that power. But
what of the power of destruction?'
    Samar Dev found she was holding her breath, and she
watched Traveller considering Karsa's words, before he said,
'There is nothing then to be gained.'
    'You are wrong,' said Karsa, pausing to stretch his back.
Havok's head tossed, a chopping motion like an axe blade.
'I have looked upon the face of civilization, and I am not
impressed.'
    'There is no flaw in being critical.'
    'He's not just being critical,' said Samar Dev. 'He intends
to destroy it.

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