But Mappo held fast, twisting to drag the beast with him as he fell.

Another shriek, and he finally caught full sight of the thing.

Demonic, mouth opened wide, needle-like fangs fully locked in their hinges, each as long as Mappo's thumb, glistening black eyes, the pupils vertical and the hue of fresh blood.

T'rolbarahl.

How?

He saw its rage, its horror, as they both plummeted from the cliff.

Falling.

Falling…

Gods, this was

Thenys Bule Leoman of the Flails staggered from the inner sanctum, a sheen of sweat on his face. In a hoarse voice he asked, 'Is it night yet?'

Corabb rose quickly, then sat back down on the bench as blackness threatened to engulf him – he had been sitting too long, watching Dunsparrow attempt to pace a trench in the stone floor. He opened his mouth to reply, but the Malazan woman spoke first.

'No, Leoman, the sun rides the horizon.'

'Movement yet from the Malazan camps?'

'The last runner reported half a bell ago. Nothing at that time.'

There was a strange, triumphant gleam in Leoman's eyes that troubled Corabb, but he had no time to ask as the great warrior strode past. '

We must hurry. Back to the palace – some final instructions.'

The enemy was attacking this very night? How could Leoman be so certain? Corabb stood once again, more slowly this time. The High Priestess had forbidden witnesses to the ritual, and when the Queen of Dreams manifested, even the High Priestess and her acolytes had left the chamber with discomfited expressions, leaving Leoman alone with the goddess. Corabb fell in two steps behind his leader, prevented from drawing closer by that damned woman, Dunsparrow.

'Their mages will make detection difficult,' the Third was saying as they headed out of the temple.

'No matter,' Leoman snapped. 'It's not like we have any worthy of the name anyway. Even so, we need to make it look as if we're trying.'

Corabb frowned. Trying? He did not understand any of this. 'We need soldiers on the walls!' he said. 'As many as can be mustered!'

'We can't hold the walls,' Dunsparrow said over her shoulder. 'You must have realized that, Corabb Bhilan Thenu'alas.'

'Then – then, why are we here?'

The sky overhead was darkening, the bruise of dusk only moments away.

Through empty streets, the three of them rushed along. Corabb's frown deepened. The Queen of Dreams. Goddess of divination and who knew what else. He despised all gods, except, of course, for Dryjhna the Apocalyptic. Meddlers, deceivers, murderers one and all. That Leoman would seek one out… this was troubling indeed.

Dunsparrow's fault, he suspected. She was a woman. The Queen's priesthood was mostly women – at least, he thought it was – there'd been a High Priestess, after all, a blurry-eyed matron swimming in the fumes of durhang and likely countless other substances. Just to stand near her was to feel drunk. Too seductive by far. Nothing good was going to come of this, nothing at all.

They approached the palace and, finally, some signs of activity.

Warriors moving about, weapons clanking, shouts from the fortifications. So, the outer walls would be breached – no other reason for all this preparation. Leoman expected a second siege, here at the palace itself. And soon.

'Warleader!' Corabb said, shouldering Dunsparrow aside. 'Give me command of the palace gates! We shall hold against the Malazan storm in the name of the Apocalypse!'

Leoman glanced back at him, considering, then he shook his head. 'No, friend. I need you for a far more important task.'

'What will that be, Great Warrior? I am equal to it.'

'You'd better be,' Leoman said.

Dunsparrow snorted.

'Command me, Commander.'

This time she laughed outright. Corabb scowled at her.

Leoman replied, 'Your task this night is this, my friend. Guard my back.'

'Ah, we shall be leading the fight, then, in the very frontmost ranks!

Glorious, we shall deliver unto the Malazan dogs a judgement they shall never forget.'

Leoman slapped him on the shoulder. 'Aye, Corabb,' he said. 'That we shall.'

They continued on, into the palace.

Dunsparrow was still laughing.

Gods, how Corabb hated her.

Lostara Yil swept back the tent-flap and marched inside. She found Pearl lounging on looted silk pillows, a hookah of wine-flavoured durhang settled like a bowl in his lap. Through the smoke haze, he met her fury with a lazy, fume-laden regard, which of course made her even angrier.

'I see you've planned out the rest of this night, Pearl. Even as this damned army prepares to assault Y'Ghatan.'

He shrugged. 'The Adjunct doesn't want my help. I could have snuck into the palace by now, you know – they have no mages to speak of. I could be at this very moment sliding a knife across Leoman's throat.

But no, she won't have it. What am I to do?'

'She doesn't trust you, Pearl, and to be honest, I'm not surprised.'

His brows lifted. 'Darling, I am offended. You, more than anyone else, know the sacrifices I have made to protect the Adjunct's fragile psyche. Needless to say,' he added, pausing for a lungful of the cloying smoke, 'I have of late been tempted to shatter that psyche with the truth about her sister, just out of spite.'

'Your restraint impresses me,' Lostara said. 'Of course, if you did something as cruel as that, I'd have to kill you.'

'What a relief, knowing how you endeavour to protect the purity of my soul.'

'Purity is not the issue,' she replied. 'Not yours, at least.'

He smiled. 'I was attempting to cast myself in a more favourable light, my sweet.'

'It is clear to me, Pearl, that you imagined our brief romance – if one could call it that – as indicative of genuine feelings. I find that rather pathetic. Tell me, do you plan on ever returning me to my company in the Red Blades?'

'Not quite yet, I'm afraid.'

'Has she given us another mission?'

'The Adjunct? No, but as you may recall, what we did for Tavore was a favour. We work for the Empress.'

'Fine. What does our Empress command?'

His eyes were heavy-lidded as they studied her for a moment. 'Wait and see.'

'She commands us to wait and see?'

'All right, since you insist, you are temporarily detached from me, a notion that should give you untold satisfaction. Go join the marines, or the sappers, or whoever in Hood's name is attacking tonight. And if you get a limb lopped off don't come crawling back to me – gods, I can't believe I just said that. Of course you can come crawling back to me, just be sure to bring the limb along.'

'You don't possess High Denul, Pearl, so what point in bringing back the limb?'