A Malazan Book of the Fallen Collection 4

not regret destroying it.
    Huddled now in her favoured chamber, the ceiling overhead
a cracked dome, its plaster paintings obscured by
stains and mould, Feather Witch sat herself down cross-legged
and drew out a small leather pouch. Within, her
most precious possession. She could feel its modest length
through the thin hide, the protuberances, the slightly
ragged end, and, opposite, the curl of a nail that had continued
growing. She wanted to draw it out, to touch once
again its burnished skin—
    'Foolish little girl.'
    Hissing, Feather Witch flinched back from the doorway.
A twisted, malformed figure occupied the threshold – she
had not seen it in a long time, had almost forgotten –
'Hannan Mosag. I do not answer to you. And if you think
me weak—'
    'Oh no,' wheezed the Warlock King, 'not that. I chose my
word carefully when I said "foolish". I know you have delved
deep into your Letherii magic. You have gone far beyond casting
those old, chipped tiles of long ago, haven't you? Even
Uruth has no inkling of your Cedance – you did well to
disguise your learning. Yet, for all that, you are still a fool,
dreaming of all that you might achieve – when in truth you
are alone.'
    'What do you want? If the Emperor were to learn that
you're skulking around down here—'
    'He will learn nothing. You and I, Letherii, we can work
together. We can destroy that abomination—'
    'With yet another in his place – you.'
    'Do you truly think I would have let it come to this?
Rhulad is mad, as is the god who controls him. They must
be expunged.'
    'I know your hunger, Hannan Mosag—'
    'You do not!' the Edur snapped, a shudder taking him.
He edged closer into the chamber, then held up a mangled
hand. 'Look carefully upon me, woman. See what the
Chained One's sorcery does to the flesh – oh, we are bound
now to the power of chaos, to its taste, its seductive flavour.
It should never have come to this—'
    'So you keep saying,' she cut in with a sneer. 'And how
would the great empire of Hannan Mosag have looked? A
rain of flowers onto every street, every citizen freed of debt,
with the benign Tiste Edur overseeing it all?' She leaned
forward. 'You forget, I was born among your people, in your
very tribe, Warlock King. I remember going hungry during
the unification wars. I remember the cruelty you heaped
upon us slaves – when we got too old, you used us as bait
for beskra crabs – threw our old ones into a cage and
dropped it over the side of your knarri. Oh, yes, drowning
was a mercy, but the ones you didn't like you kept their
heads above the tide line, you let the crabs devour them
alive, and laughed at the screams. We were muscle and
when that muscle was used up, we were meat.'
    'And is Indebtedness any better—'
    'No, for that is a plague that spreads to every family
member, every generation.'
    Hannan Mosag shook his misshapen head. 'I would not
have succumbed to the Chained One. He believed he was
using me, but I was using him. Feather Witch, there would
have been no war. No conquest. The tribes were joined as
one – I made certain of that. Prosperity and freedom from
fear awaited us, and in that world the lives of the slaves
would have changed. Perhaps, indeed, the lives of Letherii
among the Tiste Edur would have proved a lure to the
Indebted in the southlands, enough to shatter the spine of
this empire, for we would have offered freedom.'
    She turned away, deftly hiding the small leather bag.
'What is the point of this, Hannan Mosag?'
    'You wish to bring down Rhulad—'
    'I will bring you all down.'
    'But it must begin with Rhulad – you can see that.
Unless he is destroyed, and that sword with him, you can
achieve nothing.'
    'If you could have killed him, Warlock King, you would
have done so long ago.'
    'Oh, but I will kill him.'
    She glared across at him. 'How?'
    'Why, with his own family.'
    Feather Witch was silent for a dozen heartbeats. 'His
father cowers in fear. His mother cannot meet his eyes.
Binadas and Trull are dead, and Fear has fled.'
    'Binadas?' The breath hissed slowly from Hannan Mosag.
'I did not know that.'
    'Tomad dreamed of his son's death, and Hanradi Khalag
quested for his soul – and failed.'
    The Warlock King regarded her with hooded eyes. 'And
did my K'risnan attempt the same of Trull Sengar?'
    'No, why would he? Rhulad himself murdered Trull.
Chained him in the Nascent. If that was meant to be
secret, it failed. We heard – we slaves hear everything—'
    'Yes, you do, and that is why