Rake stretched out his legs and sighed. «An odd hour to dine,» he said.
«All my hours have been odd, lately,» Baruk said, around the bread. He drank a mouthful of milk.
«I'd no idea that both the Shadow Lord and Oponn had become involved in affairs,» Rake said.
Baruk felt the Lord's eyes on him, but he remained staring at the fire.
«I had an intimation of Oponn,» he said. «But nothing definite.»
Rake snorted in reply.
Baruk downed some more milk. «You hold your hunches close to your chest. I do the same.»
«This avails us nothing,» Rake snapped.
The alchemist turned in his chair to face the Tiste And?. «Your ravens watched that woman and the T'lan Imass enter the barrow. Do you still believe they will fail?»
«Do you?» Rake retorted. «I seem to recall that that was your position on the matter, Baruk. As far as I was and am concerned, I don't much care whether they succeed or not. Either way, there'll be a fight. I suspect you'd imagined there would be a way to avoid one. Obviously, your intelligence concerning the Malazan Empire is sorely lacking. Laseen knows only one thing, and that's force. She'll ignore power until it's unveiled, and then she'll hit you with everything at her disposal.»
«And you just wait for it to happen?» Baruk scowled. «That's how cities are destroyed. That's how thousands of people die. Does any of that matter to you, Anomander Rake? So long as you win in the end?»
A tight smile played on the Lord's thin lips. «An accurate assessment, Baruk. In this case, however, Laseen wants Darujhistan intact. I mean to prevent that. But destroying the city to defy her would be too easy. I could have managed that weeks ago. No, I want Darujhistan to remain as it is. Yet out of Laseen's reach. That, Alchemist, is victory.» His grey eyes were on Baruk. «I would not have sought an alliance with you otherwise.»
The alchemist frowned. «Unless you plan treachery.»
Rake was silent for a time, studying his hands clasped on his lap. «Baruk, he said soffly, «as any commander of long standing knows, treachery breeds its own. Once committed, whether against an enemy or an ally, it become a legitimate choice for everyone in your command, from the lowest private seeking promotion, to your personal aides, bodyguards and officers. My people know of our alliance with you, Alchemist. If I were to betray it, would not long remain the Lord of Moon's Spawn. And rightly so Baruk smiled.
«And who could challenge your power, Rake?»
«Caladan Brood, for one,» Rake replied immediately. «And then there's my four assassin mages. Even Silanah, the dweller within the Moon's caverns, might take it upon herself to exact judgement on me. I can thint
«So fear holds you in check, Son of Darkness?»
Rake scowled. «That title is held by those fools who think me worthy of worship. I dislike it, Baruk, and would not hear it again from you. Does fear hold me in check? No. As powerful as fear is, it is no match for what compels me. Duty.» The Lord's eyes had shifted into a dun tone as they remained fixed on his hands, which he now turned palms up.
«You have a duty to your city, Baruk. It drives you, shapes you. I'm no stranger to such a thing. Within Moon's Spawn are the last of the Tiste And? on this world. We are dying, Alchemist. No cause seems great enough to return to my people the zest for life. I try, but inspiration has never been a great talent of mine. Even this Malazan Empire could not make us rise to defend ourselves-until we ran out of places to run to.»
«We still die on this continent. Better that it be by the sword.» He let his hands slip from his lap. «Imagine your spirit dying while your body lives on. Not for ten years, not for fifty. But a body that lives on for fifteen, twenty thousand years.»
Rake rose swiftly. He looked down upon a silent Baruk, and smiled a smile that launched a dagger of pain into the alchemist's heart. «Thus duty holds me, yet a duty that is in itself hollow. Is it enough to preserve the Tiste And?? Simply preserve them? Do I raise Moon's Spawn into the heavens, where we live on, beyond any risk, any threat? What, then, will I be preserving? A history, a particular point of view.» He shrugged. «The history is done, Baruk, and the Tiste And? point of view is one of disinterest, stoicism and quiet, empty despair. Are these gifts to the world worthy of preservation? I think not.»
Baruk had no immediate response. What Anomander Rake had described was almost beyond comprehension, yet its anguished cry reached through to the alchemist. «And yet,» he said, «here you are. Allied with the Empire's victims. Do you stand alone in this, Anomander Rake? Do your people approve?»
«They care not,» Rake said. «They accept my commands. They follow me. They serve Caladan Brood when I ask them to. And they die in the mud and forests of a land that is not their own, in a war not their own, for a people who are terrified of them.»
Baruk sat forward. «Then why? Why do you do all this?»
A harsh laugh was Rake's response. After a moment, however, his bitter amusement fell away and he said, «Is an honourable cause worth anything these days? Does it matter that we've borrowed it? We fight as well as any man. We die alongside them. Mercenaries of the spirit. And even that is a coin we scarcely value. Why? It doesn't matter why. But we never betray our allies.
«I know you are worried that I did nothing to prevent the T'lan Imass from entering the barrow. I believe the Jaghut Tyrant will be freed, Baruk. But better now, with me here beside you, than at some other time when the Jaghut has no one capable of opposing him. We'll take this legend and carve the life from it, Alchemist, and never again will the threat haunt you.»
Baruk stared at the Tiste And?. «Are you that certain you'll be able to destroy the Jaghut?»
«No. But when it is finished with us, it will have been much reduced. Then it falls to others-to your Cabal, in fact. There's no certainty in this, Baruk. That seems a fact particularly galling to you humans. You'd better learn to accept it. We may well be able to destroy the Jaghut Tyrant, but even this will serve Laseen's plans.»
The alchemist was bemused. «I don't understand.»
Rake grinned. «When we are finished with it, we will have been much reduced. And then will come the powers of the Malazan Empire. So, you see, either way she wins. If anything has her worried, it's your T'orrud Cabal, Baruk. Of your abilities she knows nothing. Which is why her agents seek this Vorcan. The Guild Master accepting the contract will solve the problem you represent.»
«Yet,» Baruk mused,» there are other factors involved.»
«Oponn,» Rake stated. «That is a danger to everyone involved. Do you think Oponn cares for a mortal city? For its people? It is the nexus of power that matters to Oponn, the whirlwind where games get nasty. Will immortal blood be spilled? That's the question the gods are eager to have answered.»
Baruk stared down at his goblet of goat's milk. «Well, at least we've avoided that so far.» He took a sip.
«Wrong,» Rake said. «Forcing Shadowthrone out of the game marked the first spilling of immortal blood.»
Baruk almost choked on the milk. He set down the goblet and stared up at the Tiste And?. «Whose?»
«Two Hounds died by my sword. Knocked Shadowthrone somewhat off-balance, I believe.»
Baruk leaned back and closed his eyes. «Then the stakes have risen,» he said.
«As far as Moon's Spawn, Alchemist.» Rake returned to his chair and sat, once again stretching his legs out to the fire's warmth. «Now, what more can you tell me about this Jaghut Tyrant? I recall you said you wished to consult an authority.»
Baruk opened his eyes and tossed the flatbread into the fire. «There's a problem there, Rake. I'm hoping you can help explain what's happened. Please,» he said, rising, «follow me.»