Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson
‘Where it may well find itself fighting in another war.’
‘Not for me to decide,’ Trull said, shrugging.
‘You are difficult to understand,’ Uruth said, ‘and the effort wearies me.’
‘I am sorry,’ Trull said. ‘This alliance you will attempt with the demon tyrants – what is the emperor seeking from it? What does Rhulad plan to offer in return?’
‘Are you truly interested, son?’
‘I am.’
Uruth shot Fear a glance, then sighed. ‘The Korvalahrai are seafarers. They are reaching into the Kenryll’ah lands via a vast river, and even now approach the heart in a fleet carrying all the Korvalahrai. Rhulad’s power is such that he can divert that river, for a time. The invading fleet will be destroyed in the conflagration. Achieving such a thing would in turn serve Edur needs, as well. In return, we are given more demons for our war, perhaps a minor Kenryll’ah or two, who are far better versed in the arts of battle than their subject KenylPrah.’ She turned to Fear. ‘I will need another demon.’
‘Very well.’
‘And then, a place of solitude.’
Fear nodded. ‘Trull, return to your company.’
As he was walking back to where his warriors were camped, Trull found himself smiling. Lilac’s pleasure, moments before it vanished, had been childlike. Yet the demon’s mind was not simple. It must have known there was a risk that, upon discovering the deception, Trull would summon it back in a fit of rage and inflict terrible punishment. For some reason, Lilac had concluded that such an event was unlikely.
My weakness, so plain and obvious even a demon could see it.
Perhaps he was not a warrior after all. Not a follower of commands, capable of shutting out all unnecessary thoughts in service to the cause. Not a leader, either, to stride ahead, certainty a blinding fire drawing all with him.
Worse yet, he was suspicious of Rhulad’s transformation. Fear, in his youth, had displayed none of Rhulad’s strutting arrogance, his posing and posturing – all of which might well suit a leader of warriors, but not in the manner that Fear led warriors. Rhulad had been bluster, whilst Fear was quiet confidence, and Trull was not sure if that essential character trait had changed in Rhulad.
I do not belong.
The realization shocked him, slowed his steps. He looked around, feeling suddenly lost. Here, in the midst of his own people.
The Tiste Edur have changed. But I haven’t.
****
South, across the region known as the Swath, a deforested scrubland which had once been part of Outcry Wood, past the burnt-out town of Siege Place, and onto the slowly climbing Lookout Track towards the hills of Lookout Climb. Three days crossing the old hills – a range thoroughly denuded by wild goats – onto Moss Road. Marching northeast along the banks of the Moss River to the ford town of Ribs.
Retreating Letherii forces had stripped the countryside ahead of the emperor and his army. The military food and materiel caches that Hull Beddict knew of were all emptied. If not for the shadow wraiths, supplying the Tiste Edur army would have been impossible – the invasion would have stalled. Unacceptable, Rhulad had decided. The enemy was reeling. It was necessary to keep it so.
Udinaas remembered eating smoked eel from Moss River, one time when the trader ship had docked in Dresh. Delicious, once one got used to the furry skin, which was to be chewed but not swallowed. He had since heard, from another slave, that the eels had been transplanted into Dresh Lake, producing a strain that was both bigger and nastier. It had turned out that those eels captured in Moss River were juveniles, and few ever reached adulthood since there was a razor-jawed species of predatory fish resident in the river. No such fish in Dresh Lake. Adolescent swimmers from Dresh started disappearing before anyone realized the adult eels were responsible. Razor-jawed fish were netted from the river and tossed into the lake, but their behaviour changed, turning them into frenzy feeders. Adult swimmers from Dresh started vanishing. The slave who had been relating all this then laughed and finished with, ‘So they poisoned the whole lake, killed everything. And now no-one can swim in it!’
From this, Udinaas surmised, various lessons could be drawn, should one be inclined to draw lessons from multiple acts of stupidity.
They had camped on the road, a day’s march west of Ribs. The emperor was suffering from some kind of fever. Healers were tending to him, and the last Udinaas had heard, Rhulad was sleeping. It was late afternoon, and the sun’s light was painting the river’s surface red and gold.
Udinaas walked along the stony strand, flinging rocks out onto the water every now and then, shattering the lurid hues. At the moment, he was not feeling anything like a slave, or an Indebted. He marched in the shadow of the emperor, for all to see, for all to wonder at.
He heard boots crunching on pebbles and turned to see Hull Beddict scrambling down onto the strand. A big man, on whom every oversized muscle seemed to brood, somehow. There was fever in his eyes as well, but unlike Rhulad this heat had nothing to do with illness. ‘Udinaas.’
The slave watched the man approach, fighting his instinctive urge towards deference. The time for that was past, after all. He just wasn’t sure what belonged in its stead.
‘I have been looking for you.’
‘Why?’
‘The emperor’s condition…’
Udinaas shrugged. ‘A marsh fever, nothing more—’
‘I was not speaking of that, slave.’
‘I am not your slave, Hull Beddict.’
‘I am sorry. You are right.’
Udinaas collected another stone. He wiped the grit from its underside before throwing it out over the water. They watched it splash, then Udinaas said, ‘I understand your need to distinguish yourself from the other Letherii marching with this army. Even so, we are all bound to servitude, and the varying shades of that are not as relevant as they once were.’
‘Perhaps you have a point, Udinaas, but I don’t quite understand what you’re getting at.’
He brushed the grit from his hands. ‘Who better to teach the newly conquered Letherii than the Edur’s original Letherii slaves?’
‘You anticipate a new status for you and your fellow slaves, then?’
‘Maybe. How are the Tiste Edur to rule? Much remains to be answered, Hull Beddict. I gather you intend to involve yourself in that particular reshaping, if you can.’
The man’s smile was sour. ‘It seems I am to have little or no role in much of anything, Udinaas.’
‘Then the Errant looks kindly upon you,’ Udinaas said.
‘I am not surprised you might see it that way.’
‘It is a waste of time, Hull Beddict, to fashion intricate plans for restitution. What you did before, all you did before – the mistakes, the bad decisions – they are dead, for everyone but you. None of it has purchased a future claim to glory, none of it has earned you anything.’
‘Has not the emperor heeded my advice?’
‘In this war? When it suited him. But I trust you are not expecting any consideration in return.’ Udinaas turned, met Hull’s eyes. ‘Ah, I think you are.’
‘Reciprocity, Udinaas. Surely the Tiste Edur understand that, since it is so essential within their own culture.’
‘There is no reciprocity when you display expectation, Hull Beddict. Poof! It vanishes. And that was just my point earlier: there is much that we can teach the future conquered Letherii.’
‘I am blood-bound to Binadas,’ Hull said, ‘yet you accuse me of insensitivity to the mores of the Tiste Edur.’ His expression was wry. ‘I am not often chastised in such things. You remind me of Seren Pedac.’
‘The Acquitor who escorted you? I saw her, in Trate.’
Hull stepped close, suddenly intent. ‘During the battle?’
Udinaas nodded. ‘She was in bad shape, but alive. She’d found a worthy escort of her own – I have no doubt she still lives.’
‘An escort of her own? Who?’
‘I’m not s
‘You witnessed that killing.’
‘I did. Whoever that foreigner was, he was terrifying.’
‘More terrifying than Rhulad’s return?’
Udinaas said nothing for a time, then he stepped away, down to the water’s edge. He stared into the shallows, saw the muddy bottom swarming with newborn eels. ‘Do you know what is coming, Hull Beddict?’
‘No. Do you?’
‘Dresh Lake. That’s what’s coming.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Doesn’t matter. Don’t mind me, Hull Beddict. Well, I’d best return. The emperor is awake.’
Hull followed him up from the strand. ‘Things like that,’ he said. ‘He’s awake. How do you know?’
‘A stirring in the shadows,’ Udinaas said. ‘Rhulad sets the world to a tremble. Well,’ he amended, ‘a small part of it. But it’s growing. In any case, his fever has broken. He is weak, but alert.’
‘Tell me,’ Hull said as they walked into the vast camp, ‘about Feather Witch.’
Udinaas grimaced. ‘Why?’
‘She is no longer Mayen’s slave. She now serves the Edur healers. Was that your work?’
‘The emperor’s command, Hull Beddict.’
‘You claim no influence on him? Few would believe that now.’
‘Reciprocity.’
‘And in return, you give Rhulad what?’
Friendship. ‘I do not advise him, Hull Beddict. I do not seek to influence him. I cannot answer your question.’ Rather, I won’t.
‘She affects to hold only hatred for you, Udinaas. But I am not convinced.’
‘Oh, I am.’
‘I think, perhaps, she has given her heart to you. Yet would fight it, for all the pointless prohibitions and prejudices of our people. What is the extent of your debt, Udinaas?’
‘My debt? My father’s debt. Seven hundred and twenty-two docks, from the day I was taken as a slave.’
Hull reached out and stopped him. ‘That’s it?’
‘A Beddict might well say that. For most Letherii, that is insurmountable. Especially given the interest.’ Udinaas resumed walking.
Hull came up alongside him. ‘Who holds it?’
‘A minor lender in Letheras. Why are you asking?’
‘The lender’s name?’
‘Huldo.’
‘Huldo.’ After a moment, Hull snorted.
‘You find that amusing?’
‘I do. Udinaas, my brother Tehol owns Huldo.’
‘Maybe once. As I understand it, Tehol owns nothing these days.’
Let me tell you a story about my brother. He was, I guess, around ten years old, when a family debt was purchased by a particularly unscrupulous lender. The plan was to force us to relinquish a certain holding, and so the debt was called. We couldn’t pay, not all at once, and of course the lender knew it. Now, it was at the time assumed by all that Tehol was at school every day during this crisis, and indeed, that, young as he was, he had no idea of the trouble our parents were in. Only much later did certain facts come to light. The fact that Tehol had finessed a debt of his own, over his tutor. Nothing large, but he was able to coerce the tutor into saying nothing about his absences whilst he operated a business venture of his own down at a flow-out on the river. Two employees, both Nerek, sifting sewage. This particular out-flow issued from an estate district – extraordinary what treasures could be recovered. Jewellery, mostly. Rings, earrings, pearls. In any case, it seemed there was a windfall, a necklace, and the result was Tehol and his two Nerek employees found themselves suddenly flush—’
‘By selling the necklace?’
‘Oh no, from the reward. Their business was returning lost items. Shortly thereafter, the lender pressuring our family received payment in full on our debt, and was then subsequently financially gutted when a host of holdings on him were called.’
Udinaas grunted. ‘Grateful patrons, indeed.’
‘Probably. We never found out. And Tehol never explained a damned thing. It took me over a year to piece some of it together. My point is, Udinaas, Tehol’s genius is of the diabolical kind. Destitute? Not a chance. Retired from business dealings? Impossible. I am now quite skilled at tracking my brother, you see. Huldo’s not the only lender Tehol owns.’
‘So,’ Udinaas said as they approached the emperor’s tent, ‘I am Indebted to the Beddicts.’
‘Not any more,’ Hull said. ‘I am clearing it. Right now. I am sure Tehol will forgive me, assuming I ever get a chance to corner him.’
Udinaas looked over at the man. Then he nodded. ‘I see. Reciprocity.’
‘I am without expectation, Udinaas.’
‘Good. I knew you were a fast learner.’
Hull Beddict halted outside the entrance. ‘I enjoyed speaking to you,’ he said.
Udinaas hesitated, then smiled.
****
Seated on his throne, sweat streaming down between and over the gold coins on his face, neck and chest, some horrible insight burning in his eyes, the emperor trembled as if rabid. ‘Udinaas,’ he croaked. ‘As you can see, we are well.’
‘These southlands, Emperor, hold strange diseases—’
‘We were not sick. We were… travelling.’
They were alone in the chamber. Hannan Mosag was overseeing the warriors, where some old feuds between tribes were threatening to breach the unity. Mayen was cloistered among the women, for it was said that Uruth Sengar was coming, summoned via the K’risnan. The air in the tent smelled of sour sweat.
‘A long and difficult journey, then,’ Udinaas said. ‘Do you wish some wine? Food?’
‘No. Not yet. We have… done something. A terrible thing. To achieve an alliance. When we strike the Letherii army outside Letheras, you shall see what has been won this day. We are… pleased. Yes, pleased.’
‘Yet frightened. By your own power.’
The eyes flickered, fixed on Udinaas. ‘We can hide little from you, it seems. Yes, frightened. We… I… have drowned an entire world. A fragment of Kurald Emurlahn, upon which our ships will soon travel. Seeking our lost kin. And… champions.’ He clawed at his face. I drowned a world.’
The subject needed deflection, Udinaas decided. ‘Champions? I do not understand, Emperor.’
A moment to recover, then a nod. ‘Worthy foes, Udinaas. Skilled fighters capable of killing us. They are needed.’
‘For your power to grow yet stronger.’
‘Yes. Stronger. It is necessary. So many things are necessary, now…’
Udinaas risked a glance away as he said, ‘It is right to fear, then, Emperor.’
‘It is? Explain.’
‘Fear bespeaks of wisdom. Recognition of responsibility.’
‘Wisdom. Yes, it must be so, mustn’t it? We had not considered that before. We fear, because we are becoming wise.’
Oh, you poor lad. How can I do this? ‘How will you incite these… champions?’
Rhulad shivered, then raised the sword in his right hand. ‘Who among them will turn away from such a challenge? Those who do are not worth fighting. Or, if they are yet reluctant, they will be compelled. This world is vast, Udinaas, far vaster than you might think. There are other lands, other empires. There are formidable peoples, races. We will search far. We will find those useful to us. And then, one day, we will conquer. Every kingdom. Every continent.’
‘You will need to deceive those champions, Emperor. Into believing that killing you means their victory. You will have to make it seem that it is your ego that forces such challenges. They must know nothing of the sword’s power, of its demands upon you.’
Yes, you speak true, Udinaas. Together, we will shape the future. You will want for nothing.’
Emperor, I want for nothing now. I need no promises. Pl
Sudden pain in Rhulad’s dark eyes, a grief and sorrow that rent at Udinaas, somewhere deep inside. It was all he could do to continue meeting the emperor’s gaze.
‘We would have some wine, now, Udinaas.’ A tone of profound sorrow. ‘Two goblets, for you and me. We shall drink, and think of nothing. We shall talk, perhaps, of inconsequential matters.’
Udinaas strode to the table where sat a jug of Letherii wine. ‘I visited Dresh, once,’ he said as he poured out two cups full. ‘And ate smoked Moss River eel. Would you like me to tell about Moss River eels, Emperor?’ He carried the two goblets over to the Edur seated on the throne.
‘Is it inconsequential?’
Udinaas hesitated, then nodded. ‘It is.’
‘Then, yes, Udinaas. We would.’
****
Seren Pedac and the Crimson Guardsmen rode at a canter. Half a league ahead was the town of Dissent. It had once been walled, but local builders had dismantled most of the stonework long ago. The town had since grown outward in a mostly chaotic manner, swallowing commons and nearby farms. But now Dissent was barely visible, devoured in turn by at least three encamped armies.
‘Crimson Rampant Brigade,’ Seren said, scanning the distant banners. ‘Snakebelt Battalion, and the Riven Brigade.’
‘Can we ride straight through?’ Iron Bars asked.
She glanced across at him, then nodded. ‘I think so. My apologies. I’m a little shocked, that’s all. If this is all that’s left of the frontier armies…’
‘The ground ahead is not ideal for a battle,’ the Avowed judged. ‘I’d be surprised if the king intended to await the Edur here. Can you think of anywhere else close by that might be better suited?’
‘Brans Keep, in the hills a few leagues northeast of Dissent.’
‘And Dissent is the nearest major town?’
‘Apart from Letheras itself,’ Seren said.
‘Then this is temporary encampment. When the Tiste Edur draw closer, those three armies will march to Brans Keep. Assuming the warlord commanding them has any wits at all. In any case, Acquitor, other Letherii forces might already be waiting there, at Brans Keep. It’s a question of logistics, keeping these ones here.’