Midnight Tides & The Bonehunters - By Steven Erikson Page 0,162

– shafts were extended straight down, through lenses of clay and sand, to a thick bed of gravel. Cement was poured in and a ring of vertical iron rods put in place, followed by alternating packed gravel and cement for half the depth of the shaft. Limestone pillars, their bases drilled to take the projecting rods, were then lowered. From there on upwards, normal construction practices followed. Columns, buttresses and false arches, all the usual techniques in which Bugg had little interest.

The old school was being transformed into a palatial mansion. Which they would then sell to some rich merchant or noble devoid of taste. Since there were plenty of those, the investment was a sure one.

Bugg spent a short time at the site, surrounded by foremen thrusting scrolls in his face describing countless alterations and specifications requiring approval. A bell passed before he finally managed to file his drawings and escape.

The street that became the road that led to the gravel quarry was a main thoroughfare wending parallel with the canal. It was also one of the oldest tracks in the city. Built along the path of a submerged beach ridge of pebbles and cobbles sealed in clay, the buildings lining it had resisted the sagging decay common to other sections of the city. Two hundred years old, many of them, in a style so far forgotten as to seem foreign.

Scale House was tall and narrow, squeezed between two massive stone edifices, one a temple archive and the other the monolithic heart of the Guild of Street Inspectors. A few generations past, a particularly skilled stone carver had dressed the limestone façade and formal, column-flanked entrance with lovingly rendered rats. In multitudes almost beyond counting. Cavorting rats, dancing rats, fornicating rats. Rats at war, at rest, rats feasting on corpses, swarming feast-laden tabletops amidst sleeping mongrels and drunk servants. Scaly tails formed intricate borders to the scenes, and in some strange way it seemed to Bugg as he climbed the steps that the rats were in motion, at the corner of his vision, moving, writhing, grinning.

He shook off his unease, paused a moment on the landing, then opened the door and strode inside.

'How many, how bad, how long?'

The desk, solid grey Bluerose marble, almost blocked the entrance to the reception hall, spanning the width of the room barring a narrow space at the far right. The secretary seated behind it had yet to look up from his ledgers. He continued speaking after a moment. 'Answer those questions, then tell us where and what you're willing to pay and is this a one-off or are you interested in regular monthly visits? And be advised we're not accepting contracts at the moment.'

'No.'

The secretary set down his quill and looked up. Dark, small eyes glittered with suspicion from beneath a single wiry brow. Ink-stained fingers plucked at his nose, which had begun twitching as if the man was about to sneeze. 'We're not responsible.'

'For what?'

'For anything.' More tugging at his nose. 'And we're not accepting any more petitions, so if you're here to deliver one you might as well just turn round and leave.'

'What sort of petition might I want to hand to you?' Bugg asked.

'Any sort. Belligerent tenement associations have to wait in line just like everyone else.'

'I have no petition.'

'Then we didn't do it, we were never there, you heard wrong, it was someone else.'

'I am here on behalf of my master, who wishes to meet with your guild to discuss a contract.'

'We're backed up. Not taking any more contracts—'

'Price is not a consideration,' Bugg cut in, then smiled, 'within reasonable limits.'

'Ah, but then it is a consideration. We may well have unreasonable limits in mind. We often have, you know.'

'I do not believe my master is interested in rats.'

'Then he's insane ... but interesting. The board will be in attendance tonight on another matter. Your master will be allotted a short period at the meeting's end, which I will note in the agenda. Anything else?'

'No. What time tonight?'

'Ninth bell, no later. Come late and he will be barred outside the chamber door. Be sure he understands that.'

'My master is always punctual.'

The secretary made a face. 'Oh, he's like that, is he? Poor you. Now, begone. I'm busy.'

Bugg abruptly leaned forward and stabbed two fingers into the secretary's eyes. There was no resistance. The secretary tilted his head back and scowled.

'Cute,' Bugg smiled, stepping back. 'My compliments to the guild sorceror.'

'What gave me away?' the secretary asked as Bugg opened