“Don't lose sleep over it, Topper. Now you've found me, what is the” The man scowled. “She's with the Bridgeburners. Outside Pale.” “The siege continues? How old is your information?”

“Less than a week, which is as long as I've been hunting you. In any case,” he continued, “the deadlock is about to be broken.”

Paran grunted. Then he frowned. “Which squad?”

“You know them all?”

“Yes,” Paran asserted.

Topper's scowl deepened, then he raised a hand and began examining his rings. “Whiskeyjack's. She's one of his recruits.”

Paran closed his eyes. It should not have surprised him. The gods are playing with me. Question is, which gods? Oh, Whiskeyjack. You once commanded an army, back when Laseen was named Surly, back when you could have listened to your companion, when you could have made a choice. You could've stopped Surly. Hell, perhaps you could have stopped me. But now you command a squad, just a squad, and she's the Empress. And me? I'm a fool who followed his dream, and now all I desire is its end. He opened his eyes and regarded Topper. “Whiskeyjack. The War of Seven Cities: through the breach at Aren, the Holy Desert Raraku, Pan'potsun, Nathilog:”

“All in the Emperor's time Paran.”

“So,” Paran said, “I'm to take command of Whiskeyjack's squad. The mission will take us to Darulhistan, to the city of cities.”

“Your recruit is showing her powers,” Topper said, grimacing. “She's corrupted the Bridgeburners, possibly even Dujek Onearm and the entire Second and Third Armies on Genabackis.”

“You can't be serious. Besides, my concern is with the recruit With her. Only her. The Adjunct agrees we've waited long enough. Now you're telling me we've waited too long? I can't believe Dujek's about to become a renegade-not Dujek. Not Whiskeyjack either.”

“You are to proceed as planned, but I have been instructed to remind you that secrecy is paramount, now more than ever. An agent of the Claw will contact you once you reach Pale. Trust no one else. Your recruit's found her weapon, and with it she means to strike at the heart of the Empire. Failure cannot be considered.” Topper's odd eyes glinted. “If you now feel unequal to the task:”

Paran studied the man standing before him. If it's as bad as you describe, why not send in a hand of Claw assassins?

The man sighed, as if he'd somehow heard Paran's silent question. “A god is using her, Captain. She won't die easily. The plan for dealing with her has required: adjustments. Expansion, in fact. Additional threats must be taken care of, but these are threads already woven. Do as you have been commanded. All risk must be removed if we are to take Darujhistan, and the Empress wants Darujhistan. She also feels it is time for Dujek Onearm to be:” he smiled, “disarmed.”

“Why?”

“He has a following. It's still held that the Emperor had old Onearm in mind as his heir.”

Paran snorted. “The Emperor planned to rule for ever, Topper. This suspicion of Laseen's is plain ridiculous and persists only because it justifies her paranoia.”

“Captain,” Topper said quietly, “greater men than you have died for less. The Empress expects obedience of her servants, and demands loyalty.”

“Any reasonable ruler would have the expectation and the demand the other way round.”

Topper's mouth thinned to a pale line. “Assume command of the squad, stay close to the recruit but otherwise do nothing to make her suspicious of you. Once in place you are to wait. Understood?”

Paran looked away, his gaze finding the porthole. Beyond was blue sky. There were too many omissions, half-truths and outright lies in this: this chaotic mess. How will I play it, when the time comes? The recruit must die. At least that much is certain. But the rest? Whiskeyjack, I remember you, you stood tall then, and in my dreams I never imagined this growing nightmare. Will I have your blood on my bands when all this is done? At the very heart of things, he realized, he no longer knew who was the ultimate betrayer in all this, if a betrayer there must be. Was the Empire the Empress? Or was it something else, a legacy, an ambition, a vision at the far end of peace and wealth for all? Or was it a beast that could not cease devouring? Darujhistan-the greatest city in the world. Would it come to the Empire in flames? Was there wisdom in opening its gates? Within the troubled borders of the Malazan Empire, people lived in such peace as their ancestors had never imagined; and if not for the Claw, for the endless wars in distant lands, there would be freedom as well. Had this been the Emperor's dream at the very beginning? Did it matter any more?