Osidian sneered at the old man. ‘Your speech is filled with patrician pride, my Lord Aurum, but your long service to the Wise makes it clear that your House would be more comfortable among the Lesser Chosen.’
Some colour oozed into Aurum’s deathly face. ‘I would have thought my Lord would understand how circumstances can conspire to force one into unwanted alliances. I can see in your face how low you have fallen and I already knew what squalid accommodations you have had to stomach.’
Carnelian stepped between them. ‘My Lords, we have all suffered humiliations, but what shall it profit us to cast these in each other’s faces?
He was glad to see their composure returning. Aurum made a vague gesture of apology. ‘The Lord Suth is not in error. We have the same enemies and have both been the playthings of the Wise. You have no doubt encountered Grand Sapient Legions?’
Carnelian sensed the old Master was returning to his sly game.
‘It was he who forced me to make an appearance of defending Makar. He assured me it would bring you into his power.’ Aurum’s taloned fingers closed into a fist.
Osidian shrugged and, though he spoke offhandedly, Carnelian felt he was watching Aurum carefully. ‘It was we who took him. Even now he dreams here beneath our feet.’
Though the old Master appeared uninterested in this, he could not help glancing down as if he might see the Grand Sapient through the watch-tower roof. ‘When he sent me no signal, I guessed he had failed. It was that which made me reconsider my position. I decided it was perilous to continue my alliance with the Wise. In my dealings with them, I had come to suspect that, behind the adamantine unity they present to us, there lie fractures. Though Legions had been for a long time dominant among the Twelve, there were other factions. With him out of contact, who knew what would happen? Certainly, I did not wish to fall victim to their calculations. I risked everything in a direct appeal to the God Emperor.’
‘You were a fool to put your trust in my brother. He has always been my mother’s creature. Though I confess to some surprise that being made the Gods has not put iron in his backbone.’
Aurum nodded. ‘We both have reasons to hate your mother, but not only her. You must be aware of the part Imago played in your abduction.’ The Master glanced at Osidian, perhaps hoping that this was news to him. ‘Though you suffered most from that, Celestial, I too suffered. When your brother cheated you of the Masks, I too was cheated who had risked so much in your cause. Remember, Celestial, that both of us have suffered exile.’ He glanced at Osidian again, but he seemed impassive. ‘So, Celestial, even if only for these reasons, we might both enjoy destroying Imago.’
Osidian smiled coldly. ‘I can see, my Lord, why you have had need to once more become the tool of the Wise, but you have not yet explained to me why I should share that choice.’
Aurum grew very still, giving Carnelian the feeling that they were finally coming to the core of his intention. ‘Celestial, even if you did not wish to pull Imago down and, through him, your mother; even if you cared nothing for the way she is subverting the Balance; still you would have no choice.’
Osidian groaned. ‘Was it the Wise who told you that?’
‘Grand Sapient Lands who is now regnant among the Twelve has informed me of his conviction that we can defeat Imago. He bade me tell you that, for all its fearsome reputation, the Ichorian is more accustomed to ceremonial than it is to war. Our two legions of the line would already be more warlike than the Ichorian, but have, besides, the unique experience of having confronted huimur against huimur.’
‘I deny none of this, my Lord, but why am I bound to fight?’
‘Because, Celestial, it is the only chance you have. You have reached the zenith of your stolen power. If you retreat, your strength will ebb. Defeat will become inevitable.’
Carnelian looked to Osidian, willing him to deny this, but he seemed peculiarly inert. Carnelian turned his attention back to Aurum. He desired to dull the predacious gleam in his eyes. ‘Why was it that you, my Lord, sharing all my father’s crimes, should be merely exiled, while he was deposed?’
It took some moments for the Master to disengage his eyes from Osidian. When he turned to Carnelian he seemed to be thinking of something else. He frowned as if he was hearing Carnelian’s question again, but could not understand it. Then, before he could mask it, a sly expression flitted across his skull face.
Osidian drew the Master’s attention away. ‘My Lord, how far is Imago from here?’
Aurum shrugged. ‘Two days ago I received communication from him claiming he was in Magayon. I know his courier took two more days to locate me. All in all it would surprise me if he was here within anything less than seven days.’
‘He could be here in half that if he marched night and day,’ said Carnelian.
Aurum shook his head. ‘I believe my Lord Imago will be feeling too confident to incommode himself with night marches.’
Nodding, Osidian withdrew into himself. Carnelian watched Aurum watching him. At last the old man spoke. ‘I am weary, Celestial. With your leave…?’
Osidian seemed to wake. ‘I have had a cell prepared for you below.’
Aurum frowned. ‘I would rather return to my huimur tower.’ His free hand began to make a sign, then stopped. He looked anxious, worn out. ‘I have had it modified for my use. It has been my home for so long.’
Osidian regarded him with a frown. ‘Very well. We shall send a signal to your huimur and have it come here to berth alongside this watch-tower. I would not wish to submit my Lord to the inconvenience of having to cross the camp below. However, I will have to insist that once the creature arrives, all its crew should quit it.’
As Aurum and Osidian negotiated over how many of his household he would be allowed to retain, Carnelian sighed with relief that they were not going to have to share their watch-tower with the old monster.
Carnelian stood with Osidian at the edge of the platform watching Aurum’s dragon lumbering towards them. They had summoned it with a signal from the heliograph, using the last rays of the sinking sun. Its lurid disc was forcing Carnelian to squint in spite of the mask he was holding up before his face. Aurum had already begun his painful descent to the leftway. Carnelian reassured himself that Poppy was safe in their cell, then he took a step away from the edge so that he could allow his mask to drop. For a while Osidian did not react. Something about his stillness made Carnelian uneasy. ‘Osidian?’
He still did not move.
‘We need to talk, my Lord.’
At last, he turned. As his mask fell away, his face was revealed. Carnelian’s heart faltered. Such sadness. ‘What ails you?’
‘Have you not heard enough to know?’
‘I thought you wanted this.’
Osidian gave a humourless chuckle. ‘Oh, no, not this.’
‘Can we even be sure he tells the truth? We only have his word that Jaspar is marching here. Perhaps it is another ruse to take you alive.’
Osidian shook his head slowly. Carnelian wondered at his fatalistic certainty. ‘And you would trust him enough to have him fight at our side?’
‘He is as trapped as are we.’
Carnelian gazed out over their camp, all washed with gold. Beyond their dragon wall, the Lepers. They would never accept fighting alongside their most hated enemy. ‘How can we ally ourselves with him?’
‘How can we not? Can you provide me with another legion, Carnelian? Shall we fight the more than fifty huimur of the Ichorian with but two dozen of our own?’
Carnelian struggled to find reasons other than the hatred of the Lepers or his own revulsion. ‘If we must use his huimur, can we not strip him of his command?’
Osidian shook his head and seemed to be seeing someone else before him. ‘There is no time to train their crews to operate without their commanders. We might be able to control the legion through them, but the last time we tried it, you may remember it was not a great success. They are accustomed to taking orders from Aurum. He has been their Legate for years and, as far as they know, has been appointed by the God Emperor.’