The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure - By Storm Constantine Page 0,182

particularly. He didn’t just grow up and move on from Saltrock. I drove him away.’

‘I’m not stupid, Seel. I can remember the way you were with him. I read between the lines.’

‘Also, I think that… I know that Cal had a hand in encouraging Flick to leave me.’ There was an awkward silence. Cal’s name was rarely mentioned nowadays and when it was, it sounded like the most obscene of curses.

‘You haven’t answered my question,’ Pellaz said stiffly. ‘Why didn’t Flick want to see me?’

‘OK, this might come as a shock, but Flick has a… well, he calls it this… a chesnari. Ulaume of the Kakkahaar.’

Pellaz laughed. ‘No! That is the most unlikely combination I can think of.’

‘I know. But it’s true. Ulaume came here with Flick to the festival. We had a verbal scuffle.’

‘I’ve had scuffles with the Kakkahaar too,’ Pellaz said. ‘How, by all that’s hallowed, did he end up with Flick?’

‘I don’t know,’ Seel said. ‘Flick wasn’t exactly that forthcoming with information, but I gathered he and Ulaume have been through a lot together. Maybe they aren’t that impressed with how we’ve ended up. It might be jealousy, resentment, or just that they think we have pretensions to grandeur. Flick really didn’t want to go to Immanion, but I’m not sure whether that means he doesn’t want to see you. It’s too complicated. What do you think about Thiede? Is he interested in Flick?’

Pellaz glanced away. ‘Probably.’

Seel wondered what the Tigron was hiding. ‘How did he know Flick was here?’

‘Who knows? The whole world is a web and Thiede crouches in the middle of it like a great bloated spider, interpreting the vibrations of the strands. I’ll keep my ears open. It might also be of value to keep tabs on Flick and Ulaume. I won’t infringe their privacy, but I’ll keep an eye on them. Thiede is too fond of plucking hara from their lives and making them dance to his tune. If that is his plan for Flick, we should prevent it. Did you send anyhar after Flick?’

‘No,’ Seel said. ‘In the cold light of day, I felt stupid for what I did last night.’

‘No matter. I’ll send out a troop of my most trusted hara, who will be able to track them down. I’ll provide an escort to wherever it is they wish to go. If Flick wants to see me, that can be arranged, but if not I have to respect his decision. I’m just pleased to know he’s alive.’

‘Will you speak to Thiede about this?’

‘Only if he mentions it to me. We have no proof he’s involved, and if he isn’t, we don’t want him to know about Flick. It would no doubt give him ideas.’

Seel hesitated, then said, ‘Pell, do you ever get the feeling something big is going on behind our backs?’

‘All the time,’ Pellaz said. ‘It takes all of my energy to try and keep up with Thiede. I follow him down the wide avenues, but I think there are many dark alleys I’ve never found.’

‘Mmm,’ Seel said. ‘Pell, do you know who or what Thiede really is? He’s not like the rest of us, is he? He’s told me as much himself.’

Pellaz stared at Seel for a few moments. ‘Yes, I know,’ he said softly.

Seel raised his hands. ‘Well?’

‘It’s not common knowledge. Thiede doesn’t want hara to know, for understandable reasons. He is… Seel, he is our progenitor, our father. He is the first of all Wraeththu. He is the Aghama.’

This did not come as a shock to Seel. It made complete sense. ‘I should have realised,’ he said.

Pellaz frowned a little. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t tell you this, but Swift already knows. Thiede told me he revealed the truth to Swift after the fall of Fulminir. He’s never mentioned it to you?’

Seel shook his head. ‘No. I assume Thiede must have told him to keep quiet about it.’

‘I’m not trying to stir anything up, telling you that, but…’

‘It’s OK. If Thiede had confided in me and asked me to keep my mouth shut, I would have done. A har would be a fool not to. I’ll not blame Swift for his silence.’

‘There is something else you should perhaps know,’ Pellaz said, his tone grave.

‘I’m listening.’

‘The second Wraeththu was Orien.’

‘What?’ Seel almost choked. ‘Really?’

‘Yes. It’s bizarre, isn’t it? I remember being incepted and Orien telling me the story of how Wraeththu started. He was talking of Thiede and himself.’

‘When did you discover all this? As you’re telling me now,