He could understand those others in the Cabal and the sudden, perfect escape that Vorcan represented. And he recalled that flat promise in her eyes on that night long ago now — it still haunted him, the ease of her betrayal, as if the con shy;tract offered by the Malazan Empire had simply provided her with an excuse for doing something she had always wanted to do: murder every other mage in the Cabal.
He might ask her why, but Vorcan was a woman who kept her own counsel. She owed him nothing and that had not changed.
‘You had better go now,’ Hinter said, cutting into his thoughts.
He blinked. ’Why?’
‘Because your silence is boring me, High Alchemist.’
‘My apologies, Hinter,’ Baruk replied. ‘One last thing, and then I will indeed leave. The risk of your enslavement is very real, and is not dependent on the ac shy;tual return of the Tyrant — after all, there are agents in the city even now working towards that fell resurrection. They might well decide-’
‘And you imagine they might succeed, High Alchemist?’
‘It is a possibility, Hinter.’
The ghost was silent for a time, and then said, ‘Your solution?’
‘I would set one of my watchers on your tower, Hinter. To voice the alarm should an attempt be made on you.’
‘You offer to intercede on my behalf, High Alchemist?’
‘I do.’
‘I accept, on condition that this does not indebt me to you.’
‘Of course.’
‘You would rather I remain. . neutral, and this I understand. Better this than me as an enemy.’
‘You were once a most formidable sorceror-’
‘Rubbish. I was passable, and fatally careless. Still, neither of us would have me serving a most miserable cause. Send your watcher, then, but give me its name, lest I invite in the wrong servant.’
‘Chillbais.’
‘Oh,’ said Hinter, ‘him.’
As he made his way back to his estate, Baruk recalled his lone meeting with Vor shy;can, only a few nights after her awakening. She had entered the chamber with her usual feline grace. The wounds she had borne were long healed and she had found a new set of clothes, loose and elegant, that seemed at complete odds with her chosen profession.
He had stood before the fireplace, and offered her a slight bow to hide a sudden tremble along his nerves. ‘Vorcan.’
‘I will not apologize,’ she said.
‘I did not ask you to.’
‘We have a problem, Baruk,’ she said, walking over to pour herself some wine, then facing him once more. ‘It is not a question of seeking prevention — we can shy;not stop what is coming. The issue is how we will position ourselves for that time.’
‘You mean, to ensure our continued survival.’
A faint smile as she regarded him. ‘Survival is not in question. We three left in the Cabal will be needed. As we were once, as we will be again. I am speaking more of our, shall we say, level of comfort.’
Anger flared within Baruk then. ‘Comfort? What value that when we have ceased to be free?’
She snorted. ‘Freedom is ever the loudest postulation among the indolent. And let’s face it, Baruk, we are indolent. And now, suddenly, we face the end to that. Tragedy!’ Her gaze hardened. ‘I mean to remain in my privileged state-’
‘As Mistress of the Assassins’ Guild? Vorcan, there will be no need for such a Guild, no room for it.’
‘Never mind the Guild. I am not interested in the Guild. It served, a function of the city, a bureaucratic mechanism. Its days are fast dwindling in number.’
‘Is that why you sent your daughter away?’
A flicker of true annoyance in her eyes, and she looked away. ‘My reasons are not of your concern in that matter, High Alchemist.’ Her tone added, And it’s none of your business, old man.
‘What role, then,’ Baruk asked, ‘do you envision for yourself in this new Daru shy;jhistan?’
‘A quiet one,’ she replied.
Yes, quiet as a viper in the grass. ‘Until such time, I imagine, as you see an op shy;portunity.’
She drained her wine and set down the goblet. ‘We are understood, then.’
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I suppose we are.’
‘Do inform Derudan.’
‘I shall.’
And she left.
The recollection left a sour taste in Baruk’s mouth. Was she aware of the other convergences fast closing on Darujhistan? Did she even care? Well, she wasn’t the only one who could be coy. One thing he had gleaned from that night of mur shy;der years ago: Vorcan had, somehow, guessed what was on its way. Even back then, she had begun her preparations. . all to ensure her level of comfort. Send shy;ing her daughter away, extricating herself from the Guild. And visiting her ver shy;sion of mercy upon the others in the Cabal. And if she’d got her way, she would now be the only one left alive.
Think hard on that, Baruk, in the light of her professed intentions. Her desire to position herself.
Might she try again?
He realized he was no longer sure she wouldn’t.
This is the moment for mirrors, and surely that must be understood by now. Pol shy;ished, with the barest of ripples to twist the reflection, to make what one faces both familiar and subtly altered. Eyes locked, recognition unfolding, quiet horrors flow shy;ering. What looks upon you here, now, does not mock, denies the cogent wink, and would lead you by a dry and cool hand across the cold clay floor of the soul.
People will grieve. For the dead, for the living. For the loss of innocence and for the surrender of innocence, which are two entirely different things. We will grieve, for choices made and not made, for the mistakes of the heart which can never be undone, for the severed nerve-endings of old scars and those to come.
A grey-haired man walks through the Estate District. No more detailed de shy;scription is necessary. The blood on his hands is only a memory, but some mem shy;ories leave stains difficult to wash away. By nature, he observes. The world, its multitude of faces, its tide-tugged swirling sea of emotions. He is a caster of nets, a trailer of hooks. He speaks in the rhythm of poetry, in the lilt of song. He un shy;derstands that there are wounds in the soul that must not be touched; but there are others that warm to the caress. He understands, in other words, the necessity of the tragic theme. The soul, he knows, will, on occasion, offer no resistance to the tale that draws blood.
Prise loose those old scars. They remind one what it is to grieve. They remind one what it is to live.
A moment for mirrors, a moment for masks. The two ever conspire to play out the tale. Again and again, my friends.
Here, take my hand.
He walks to an estate. The afternoon has waned, dusk creeps closer through the day’s settling dust. Each day, there is a moment when the world has just passed by, leaving a sultry wake that hovers, suspended, not yet stirred by the awakening of night. The Tiste Edur worship this instant. The Tiste Andii are still, motionless as they wait for darkness. The Tiste Liosan have bowed their heads and turned away to grieve the sun’s passing. In the homes of humans, hearthfires are stirred awake. People draw into their places of shelter and think of the night to come.
Before one’s eyes, solidity seems poised, moments from crumbling into disso shy;lution. Uncertainty becomes a law, rising supreme above all others. For a bard, this time is a minor key, a stretch of frailty, a pensive interlude. Sadness drifts in the air, and his thoughts are filled with endings.