The Crippled God

choose to be ruled over, and that forces notions of inequity to the fore, until theybecome, well, formalized. Made central to education, made essential as a binding force in society, until everything exists to prop up those in power. The Empty Throne reminds us of all that. Well, some of us, anyway.’
    Precious Thimble frowned. ‘What did you mean when you said the Hold was awake once more?’
    ‘The Wastelands are so called because they are damaged—’
    ‘I know that – I can’t do a damned thing here.’
    ‘Nor could I, until recently.’ The Atri-Ceda plucked out a stick of rolled rustleaf and quickly lit it. Smoke thickened the air in the tent. ‘Imagine a house burning down,’ she said, ‘leaving nothing but heaps of ash. That’s what happened to magic in the Wastelands. Will it ever come back? Ever heal? Maybe that’s what we’re seeing here, but the power doesn’t just show up. It grows, and I think now it has to start in a certain way. Beginning with … wandering. And then come the Holds, like plants taking root.’ Aranict gestured. ‘Much wandering in these Wastelands of late, yes? Powerful forces, so much violence, so much will .’
    ‘And from Holds to warrens,’ muttered Precious, nodding to herself.
    ‘Ah, the Malazans speak of this, too. These warrens . If they are destined to appear here, they have yet to do so, Precious Thimble. And is there not concern that they are ill?’
    ‘Malazans,’ Precious hissed. ‘You’d think they invented warrens, the way they go on. Things got sickly for a time, sure, but then that went away.’
    ‘The Holds have always been the source of magical power on this continent,’ Aranict said, shrugging. ‘In many ways, we Letherii are very conservative, but I am beginning to think there are other reasons for why there has been no change here. The K’Chain Che’Malle remain. And the Forkrul Assail dominate the lands to the east. Even the creatures known as the T’lan Imass are among us now, and without question the Hold of Ice is in the ascendant, meaning the Jaghut have returned.’ She shook her head. ‘The Malazans speak of war among the gods. I fear that what is coming will prove more terrible than any of us can imagine.’
    Precious licked her lips, glanced away. The tent seemed to have closed round her, like a death-shroud being drawn tight. She shivered. ‘We just want to go home.’
    ‘I do not know how I can help you,’ Aranict said. ‘The Holds are not realms one willingly travels through. Even drawing upon their power invites chaos and madness. They are places of treachery, of deadly traps and pits leading down into unknown realms. Worse, the more powerful rituals demand blood.’
    Precious gathered herself, met the Atri-Ceda’s gaze. ‘In the east,’ she said. ‘Something’s there – I can feel it. A thing of vast power.’
    ‘Yes,’ Aranict said, nodding.
    ‘It is where you are going, isn’t it? This army and the war to come. You are going to fight for that power, to take it for yourself.’
    ‘Not quite, Precious Thimble. That power – we mean to set it free.’
    ‘And if you do? What happens then?’
    ‘We don’t know.’
    ‘You keep speaking of the Malazans. Are they here? Are they one of the armies marching to this war?’
    Aranict seemed about to say one thing, then changed her mind and said, ‘Yes.’
    Precious sat back on her haunches. ‘I am from One-Eye Cat, a city of Genabackis. We were conquered by the Malazans. Winning is all that matters to them, Atri-Ceda. They will lie. They will backstab. Whatever you see on the surface, don’t believe it. Don’t. With them, nothing is as it seems, not ever.’
    ‘They are a complicated people—’
    Precious snorted. ‘Their first emperor was where it all started. The sleight of hand, the deadly misdirection – everything the Malazan Empire became infamous for started with him . And though he’s now dead and gone, nothing has changed. Tell your commander, Aranict. Tell him. The Malazans – they’ll betray you. They’ll betray you .’
    Brys glanced up as she entered the tent. ‘You were able to speak to her?’
    ‘I was, after some curious work – it’s as I said, the power of the Holds ever grows. I was never before able to manipulate the Empty Hold the way I did this night. In fact –’ she settled down on the bed mat, started pulling off her boots – ‘I don’t feel very good about what I had to do. By the time I was done not even her