“Call off your ravens, First,” Ragnor said. “That is all I ask. For the good of us all. Temegrin complains that the Battle and the Lore are making themselves masters of the army in his place. Anything that draws Gyre and the Inkallim apart serves the creed ill, does it not?”

“Temegrin’s counsel has been found wanting, I hear. He has tried, at every turn, to curb the ambition of your people, whose hearts cry out not for such timidity but for fate’s cleansing judgement. Perhaps you should have sent another of your captains, one more… eager. Unless you approve of his caution, of course.”

“I would put every sword I have in the field to prevent Gryvan coming north across the Vale of Stones, but if you try to force me – to shame me – into fighting a war in the Glas valley, and outside Kolkyre, and beneath the walls of Vaymouth, you will fail. You can have these few thousand to feed into whatever slaughterhouse it is Nyve means to build for our people down there, but I will not see our Bloods throw away every last life in pursuit of the impossible.”

“The impossible?” Theor murmured. “We do not know what is or is not possible, High Thane. We can never know that. It is in the nature of fate to surprise us.”

IV

Every few days, Magrayn bathed Torquentine. Bowls of water, infused with herbs and scents, were carried down into the cellar where he dwelled, then jars of unguents and oils. All those who brought them were sent back up into the complex of ramshackle houses above; only Magrayn remained to kneel beside the great man on his bed of pillows.

She peeled Torquentine’s clothes back to reveal his vast bulk. She was gentle and precise as she washed his blotchy skin. The cloths she used were the softest to be had in Vaymouth. The soothing ointments she worked into the fleshy folds of his torso were the most expensive, the oils she spread over him the rarest. It took a long time, and through it all she and Torquentine exchanged not a word. There was silence there in the cellars beneath Ash Pit in Vaymouth.

Only after it was all done, and he was dressed once more and the cloths and bowls and jars had been cleared away, did Torquentine turn his affectionate, one-eyed gaze on his doorkeeper. His visage was far from perfect – bloated, scarred – but hers was still more imperfect. Her nose was a misshapen stump, her face a mass of purplish blemishes.

“Thank you,” Torquentine said.

Magrayn only smiled: a lopsided gesture, since the King’s Rot had reached the muscles of her cheek and lip before it receded.

“I’ve got a craving for lemon tarts, Magrayn. You know the ones I mean?”

She nodded. “I’ll send someone out for some.” The words were indistinct, as if her tongue had been bloated by a bee sting.

“Sweet Magrayn. I’d be lost without you. Well, not lost precisely.” Torquentine gave a short laugh as he gestured towards the low ceiling with fat fingers. “I am fortunate in always knowing, without fail, where I am, since I am never anywhere else. Let me kiss those gentle hands.”

He laid his lips softly on the back of each of Magrayn’s hands in turn. She slipped out of the chamber. In her absence, Torquentine’s one good eye soon closed. He clasped his hands, resting them on the huge swell of his belly, and hummed a few phrases of a melody. The tune grew softer and softer until it faded away. His jowly head slumped forward, only to jerk upright once more at Magrayn’s return. She carried a bowl, covered with a cloth.

“Jemmin has gone for the lemon tarts,” she reported as she knelt down on a cushion at her master’s side. “But there’s this in the meantime.”

She drew the cloth away and held the bowl up so that Torquentine could see its contents. He smiled.

“Preserved pears,” he said as he plucked one from the bowl.

“The Calasheen sent them up from Hoke.”

“There’s a man who knows how to please,” Torquentine said. Sticky juice glistened on his lips as he sucked down a sliver of pear. “Did he send any news of note along with them?”

“Gann’s killers are dead, and their killer too. There’s no word of any witness. People talk, of course, and gossip; but there’s none left could track the death back to the Calasheen, or through him to us. None save the Shadowhand himself, of course.”

“Ah, I know you too well, dear Magrayn.” Torquentine wagged a finger at her. “I hear the worry you do not speak. You think me rash, to have accepted this commission?”

Magrayn shrugged. “It’s dangerous, that’s all. People care when someone like Gann nan Dargannan-Haig dies. They become curious.”

“You’re right, of course. Perhaps I should have turned the Shadowhand away this time, but he’s a potent friend to have. And the more he asks of me, the more I can ask of him. He gave me Ochan, didn’t he? Ochan the Cook! What kind of man gives himself childish names like that?” He selected another morsel of pear. “And before you say it, dear lady, I know Ochan’s hardly a fair trade for Gann, but not every exchange need be equal in the scales from the first day. We’ll reap a rich harvest in the years to come, I promise you that. We’re hand in hand with the noble Chancellor now.”

Magrayn looked sceptical but said nothing. She set the bowl of pears down on Torquentine’s broad stomach and went slowly around the chamber, setting out new candles to replace those that had guttered in the last few hours. She lit the wick of an aromatic oil burner. A sweet scent seeped into the air.

Torquentine sucked juice from his finger.

“Have you any other news to fend off boredom with?” he asked.

Magrayn returned to his side.

“Melmon Thyr is complaining. Says all the fighting in the north has ruined his trade. Too risky for his mule men to get in and out of the Vare Wastes, with all the armies marching up and down the road. One of them was already caught by a passing Haig patrol, apparently: got himself flogged and gaoled in Kilvale for smuggling.”

Torquentine grunted. He held a slice of pear up before his eye and subjected it to minute examination. “Melmon means to soften my sympathies, to ease the blow of a meagre trickle of coin back into my vault, I suppose.”

Magrayn shrugged.

“You are more voluble than ever today, my dear,” Torquentine remarked, smiling. “No matter. I think this is a puzzle that I can solve unaided. We have that lumber merchant in Kilvale. The one whose cousin’s in the Guard.”

“Thune.”

“Have him buy Melmon’s man out of gaol. Tell him he’ll be reimbursed in due course. And send word to Melmon that I expect him to apply more imagination to his efforts. If his dealings with those bandits in the Vare are going poorly, he must find other outlets for his energies. I will be expecting no less from him by way of share this year than I received last.”

He handed the bowl back to Magrayn. A single lonely piece of preserved pear remained, disconsolate in a pool of sugary liquid.

“Here, take this away before I gorge myself. He’s right, of course. Nothing worse for business than all this strife. Creates too much uncertainty; puts people too much on edge. Makes everyone suspicious, watchful.” He shook his head dolefully. “Erodes trust.”

“Nobody seems to think it’ll last much longer,” Magrayn said as she ran a cloth around the rim of the bowl.

“Maybe, maybe not. Nobody thought the Black Road had it in them to bring down Anduran, but look what happened. Never occurred to anyone they could reach inside the Tower of Thrones and put an end to old Lheanor. Dangerous to make too many assumptions, I think. People have grown soft and lazy, if they think the Black Road’ll be easily undone. Did you ever find out what became of Kennet oc Lannis-Haig’s children, by the way?”

“They turned up in Kolkyre. Rumour has it that they brought half a dozen Kyrinin and na’kyrim with them. The boy – Thane, now – has disappeared again, last I heard. The girl’s still in Kolkyre, as far as anyone seems to know.”