The realization – the recognition – was devastating. Bottle pulled his hand away. But it was too late. He knew too many things, now. The father… Tiste Edur. The child to come… the only pure candidate for a new Throne of Shadow – a throne commanding a healed realm.
And it would have so many enemies. So many…
'No,' he said to the creature, shaking his head. 'You cannot pray to me. Must not. I'm not a god. I'm only a…'
Yet… to her I must seem just that. A vision. She is spirit-questing and she barely knows it. She's stumbling, as much as we all are, but within her there's a kind of… certainty. Hope. Gods… faith.
Humbled beyond words, filling with shame, Bottle pulled away, clawing up the slope of the mound, amidst the detritus of civilization, potsherds and fragments of mortar, rusted pieces of metal. No, he didn't want this. Could not encompass this… this need in her. He could not be her… her faith.
She drew yet closer, hands closing round his neck, and dragged him back. Teeth bared, she shook him.
Unable to breathe, Bottle flailed in her grip.
She threw him down, straddled him, released his neck and raised two fists as if to batter him.
'You want me to be your god?' he gasped, 'Fine, then! Have it your way!' He stared up at her eyes, at the fists lifted high, framed by bright, blinding sunlight.
So, is this how a god feels?
A flash of glare, as if a sword had been drawn, an eager hiss of iron filling his head. Something like a fierce challengeBlinking, he found himself staring up at the empty sky, lying on the rough scree. She was gone, but he could still feel the echo of her weight on his hips, and the appalling erection her position had triggered in him.
****
Fist Keneb walked into the Adjunct's tent. The map-table had been assembled and on it was an imperial map of Y'Ghatan that had been delivered a week earlier by a rider from Onearm's Host. It was a scholar's rendition drawn shortly after Dassem's fall. Standing at Tavore's side was Tene Baralta, busy scrawling all over the vellum with a charcoal stick, and the Red Blade was speaking.
'… rebuilt here, and here, in the Malazan style of sunk columns and counter-sunk braces. The engineers found the ruins beneath the streets to be a maze of pockets, old rooms, half-buried streets, wells and inside-wall corridors. It should all have been flattened, but at least one age of construction was of a stature to rival what's possible these days. Obviously, that gave them problems, which is why they gave up on the fourth bastion.'
'I understand,' the Adjunct said, 'however, as I stated earlier, Fist Baralta, I am not interested in assailing the fourth bastion.'
Keneb could see the man's frustration, but he held his tongue, simply tossing down the charcoal stick and stepping away from the table.
Over in the corner sat Fist Blistig, legs sprawled out in a posture bordering on insubordination.
'Fist Keneb,' Tavore said, eyes still on the map, 'have you met with Temul and Warleader Gall?'
'Temul reports the city has been evacuated – an exodus of citizens on the road to Lothal. Clearly, Leoman is planning for a long siege, and is not interested in feeding anyone but soldiers and support staff.'
'He wants room to manoeuvre,' said Blistig from where he sat. 'Panic in the streets won't do. We shouldn't read too much into it, Keneb.'
'I suspect,' Tene Baralta said, 'we're not reading enough into it. I am nervous, Adjunct. About this whole damned situation. Leoman didn't come here to defend the last rebel city. He didn't come to protect the last believers – by the Seven Holies, he has driven them from their very homes, from their very own city! No, his need for Y'Ghatan was tactical, and that's what worries me, because I can make no sense of it.'
The Adjunct spoke: 'Did Temul have anything else to say, Keneb?'
'He had thoughts of a night attack, with sappers, taking out a section of wall. Presumably, we would then follow through in strength, into that breach, thrusting deep into Y'Ghatan's heart. Cut through far enough and we can isolate Leoman in the Falah'd's palace…'
'Too risky,' Tene Baralta said in a grumble. 'Darkness won't cover those sappers from their mages. They'd get slaughtered-'
'Risks cannot be avoided,' Tavore said.
Keneb's brows rose. 'Temul said much the same, Adjunct, when the danger was discussed.'
'Tene Baralta,' Tavore continued after a moment, 'you and Blistig have been directed as to the disposition of your companies. Best you begin preparations. I have spoken directly with Captain Faradan Sort on what will be required of her and her squads. We shall not waste time on this. We move tonight. Fist Keneb, remain, please. The rest of you are dismissed.'
