He was my brother. I sent him, my brother, sent him. They all die by my word. All of them, and this is what my father will tell me – oh how he hungers for that moment, but he shall not have it! The demon, yes, the demon who stalks my kin . . .' His fevered ramble trickled away, and so ravaged was Rhulad's face that Nisall had to look away, lest she cry out.
'Highness,' the Chancellor said in a quiet voice.
Nisall stiffened – this was what Triban Gnol was working towards – all that had come before was for this precise moment.
'Highness, the demon has been delivered. It is here, Emperor.'
Rhulad seemed to shrink back into himself. He said nothing, though his mouth worked.
'A challenger,' Triban Gnol continued. 'Tarthenal blood, yet purer, Hanradi Khalag claims, than any Tarthenal of this continent. Tomad knew him for what he was the moment the giant warrior took his first step onto Edur bloodwood. Knew him, yet could not face him, for Binadas's soul is in the Tarthenal's shadow – along with a thousand other fell victims. They clamour, one and all, for both freedom and vengeance. Highness, the truth must now be clear to you. Your god has delivered him. To you, so that you may slay him, so that you may avenge your brother's death.'
'Yes,' Rhulad whispered. 'He laughs – oh, how he laughs. Binadas, are you close? Close to me now? Do you yearn for freedom? Well, if I cannot have it, why should you? No, there is no hurry now, is there? You wanted this throne, and now you learn how it feels – just a hint, yes, of all that haunts me.'
'Highness,' the Chancellor murmured, 'are you not eager to avenge Binadas? Tomad—'
'Tomad!' Rhulad jolted on the throne, glared at Triban Gnol – who visibly rocked back. 'He saw the demon slay Binadas, and now he thinks it will do the same to me! That is the desire for vengeance at work here, you fish-skinned fool! Tomad wants me to die because I killed Binadas! And Trull! I have killed his children! But whose blood burns in my veins? Whose? Where is Hanradi? Oh, I know why he will not be found in the outer room – he goes to Hannan Mosag! They plunge into Darkness and whisper of betrayal – I am past my patience with them!'
Triban Gnol spread his hands. 'Highness, I had intended to speak to you of this, but at another time—'
'Of what? Out with it!'
'A humble inquiry from Invigilator Karos Invictad, Highness. With all respect, I assure you, he asks your will in regard to matters of treason – not among the Letherii, of course, for he has that well in hand – but among the Tiste Edur themselves . . .'
Nisall's gasp echoed in the suddenly silent room. She looked across to where Edur guards were stationed, and saw them motionless as statues.
Rhulad looked ready to weep. 'Treason among the Edur? My Edur? No, this cannot be – has he proof?'
A faint shrug. 'Highness, I doubt he would have ventured this inquiry had he not inadvertently stumbled on some . . . sensitive information.'
'Go away. Get out. Get out!'
Triban Gnol bowed, then backed from the chamber. Perhaps he'd gone too far, yet the seed had been planted. In most fertile soil.
As soon as the outer doors closed, Nisall stepped from the alcove. Rhulad waved her closer.
'My love,' he whispered in a child's voice, 'what am I to do? The demon – they brought it here.'
'You cannot be defeated, Emperor.'
'And to destroy it, how many times must I die? No, I'm not ready. Binadas was a powerful sorcerer, rival to the Warlock King himself. My brother . . .'
'It may be,' Nisall ventured, 'that the Chancellor erred in the details of that. It may indeed be that Tomad's dream was a deceitful sending – there are many gods and spirits out there who see the Crippled God as an enemy.'
'No more. I am cursed into confusion; I don't understand any of this. What is happening, Nisall?'
'Palace ambitions, beloved. The return of the fleets has stirred things up.'
'My own Edur . . . plotting treason . . .'
She reached out and set a hand on his left shoulder. The lightest of touches, momentary, then withdrawn once more. Dare I? 'Karos Invictad is perhaps the most ambitious of them all. He revels in his reign of terror among the Letherii, and would expand it