With a visage of thoughtful regard belied by the flustered alarm evinced by her posture and gestures, the priestess cleared her throat. 'Not all among us. A few. Very few.' Her head turned, surveyed her brothers and sisters. Rath'Burn was the first to react, her breath hissing through the slitted mouth of her mask.
After a moment, Rath'Hood grunted. 'I see. An extraordinary solution indeed-'
'Obvious!' Rath'Shadowthrone snapped, jerking in his seat. 'No secret knowledge required! None the less, we must consider the matter! What is lost by relinquishment? What is gained by denial?'
'No,' Hetan said. 'Denial shall not force our hand into defending this land. Humbrall Taur, my father, rightly guessed the twist of your thoughts. If it must be, we shall accept our loss. However, my brother and I will kill everyone in this chamber before we leave here today, should you choose to deny us. Can you accept your loss?'
No-one spoke for a long moment, then Rath'Queen of Dreams coughed again. 'Hetan, may I ask you a question?'
The grey-faced woman nodded.
'How will you effect the expediting of … of what you seek?'
'What secret do you withhold?' Rath'Oponn shrieked. 'You and Rath'Hood and Rath'Burn! What are you all going on about! The rest of us must know!'
'Use that kernel of a brain,' Rath'Shadowthrone sneered. 'What do pilgrims go to honour and revere?'
'Uh … relics? Icons?'
Rath'Shadowthrone mimed a tutor's patient, condescending nod. 'Very good, brother. So, how do you put an end to the pilgrimage?'
Rath'Oponn stared, his mask blank.
'You move the relics, you idiot!' Rath'Shadowthrone screamed.
'But wait!' Rath'Beru said. 'Doesn't that assume their location is known? Weren't all the mounds flattened? By the Abyss, how many estates and Camp hearthhomes have some battered Barghast urn up on a shelf? Are we to set out and search every house in the city?'
'We care nothing for vessels,' Hetan rumbled.
' That's precisely the secret!' Rath'Shadowthrone chimed to Rath'Beru, head wagging from side to side. 'Our two sisters and one brother know where the bones lie!' He faced Rath'Queen of Dreams. 'Don't you, dear? Some fool or wise spark gathered them all those centuries back and deposited them in one place — and that place still remains, doesn't it? Put that nauseating coyness to bed and out with the goods, woman!'
'You are so crass,' the priestess hissed.
Itkovian stopped listening as the bickering continued. His gaze was on Hetan, his attention sharpened. He wished he could see her eyes, if only to confirm what he now suspected.
She was trembling. So slight, the Shield Anvil doubted anyone else noticed. Trembling … and I think I know why.
Movement caught his eye. Karnadas was backing away, edging towards Brukhalian's side once again. The Destriant's gaze seemed to be fixed on the brothers and sisters on the council, in particular upon the silent, slight figure of Rath'Fener, seated on the far right. The set of Karnadas's back and shoulders — and his deliberate avoidance of focusing on Hetan — told Itkovian that the Destriant had come to the same revelation — a revelation that had the Shield Anvil's heart thumping.
The Grey Swords were not part of this. Indeed, they were neutral observers, but Itkovian could not help adding his silent will to Hetan's cause.
The Destriant withdrew to Brukhalian's side, casually glanced over and met Itkovian's eyes.
The Shield Anvil responded with the faintest of nods.
Karnadas's eyes widened, then he sighed.
Aye. The Barghast gambit. Generations of pilgrims. long before the coming of the Capon and Daru, long before the settlement was born. Barghast do not normally honour their dead in such a manner. No, the bones hidden here — somewhere — are not simply the bones of some dead warchief or shoulder-man. These bones belong to someone. profoundly important. Valued so highly that the sons and daughters of countless generations journeyed to their legendary resting place. Thus, one significant truth. which leads to the next one.
Hetan trembles. The Barghast spirits. tremble. They have been lost — made blind by the desecration. For so long. lost. Those holiest of remains. and the Barghast themselves were never certain — never certain that they were here, in this earth in this place, were never certain that they existed at all.
The mortal remains of their spirit-gods.
And Hetan is about to find them. Humbrall Tour's long-held suspicion. Humbrall Tour's audacious — no, outrageous — gambit. 'Find me the bones of the Founding Families, daughter Hetan.'