Toll the Hounds (The Malazan Book of the Fallen 8)

Desra shook her head, as if unable to give her reasons. Or unwilling.

Sighing, Nimander said, ‘Go ahead, ask her, then.’

‘It needs to come from you.’

Why? ‘Very well.’ He set out, a dozen strides taking him to where Aranatha sat. As his shadow slipped over her she glanced up and smiled.

Smiles so lacking in caution, in diffidence or wry reluctance, always struck him as a sign of madness. But the eyes above it, this time, were not at all vacuous. ‘Do you feel me, Nimander?’

‘I don’t know what you mean by that, Aranatha. Desra would like you to ex-amine Clip. I don’t know why,’ he added, ‘since I don’t recall you possessing any specific skills in healing.’

‘Perhaps she wants company,’ Aranatha said, rising gracefully to her feet.

And he was struck, as if slapped across the face, by her beauty. Standing now so close, her breath so warm and so strangely dark. What is happening to me? Kedeviss and now Amnatha.

‘Are you all right, Nimander?’

‘Yes.’ No. ‘I’m fine.’ What awakens in met To deliver both anguish and exal-tation!

She placed a half-dozen white flowers in his hand, smiled again, then walked over to the wagon. A soft laugh from Skintick brought him round.

‘There’s more of that these days,’ his brother said, gazing after Aranatha. ‘If we are to be an incongruous lot, and it seems we are, then it follows that we con-found each other at every turn.’

‘You are speaking nonsense, Skintick.’

‘That is my task, isn’t it? I have no sense of where it is we’re heading-no, I don’t mean Bastion, nor even the confrontation that I think is coming. I mean us, Nimander. Especially you. The less control you have, the greater your talent for leadership seems to become, the qualities demanded of such a person-like those flowers in your hand, petals unfolding.’

Nimander grimaced at this and scowled down at the blossoms. ‘They’ll be dead shortly.’

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Desra shook her head, as if unable to give her reasons. Or unwilling.

Sighing, Nimander said, ‘Go ahead, ask her, then.’

‘It needs to come from you.’

Why? ‘Very well.’ He set out, a dozen strides taking him to where Aranatha sat. As his shadow slipped over her she glanced up and smiled.

Smiles so lacking in caution, in diffidence or wry reluctance, always struck him as a sign of madness. But the eyes above it, this time, were not at all vacuous. ‘Do you feel me, Nimander?’

‘I don’t know what you mean by that, Aranatha. Desra would like you to ex-amine Clip. I don’t know why,’ he added, ‘since I don’t recall you possessing any specific skills in healing.’

‘Perhaps she wants company,’ Aranatha said, rising gracefully to her feet.

And he was struck, as if slapped across the face, by her beauty. Standing now so close, her breath so warm and so strangely dark. What is happening to me? Kedeviss and now Amnatha.

‘Are you all right, Nimander?’

‘Yes.’ No. ‘I’m fine.’ What awakens in met To deliver both anguish and exal-tation!

She placed a half-dozen white flowers in his hand, smiled again, then walked over to the wagon. A soft laugh from Skintick brought him round.

‘There’s more of that these days,’ his brother said, gazing after Aranatha. ‘If we are to be an incongruous lot, and it seems we are, then it follows that we con-found each other at every turn.’

‘You are speaking nonsense, Skintick.’

‘That is my task, isn’t it? I have no sense of where it is we’re heading-no, I don’t mean Bastion, nor even the confrontation that I think is coming. I mean us, Nimander. Especially you. The less control you have, the greater your talent for leadership seems to become, the qualities demanded of such a person-like those flowers in your hand, petals unfolding.’

Nimander grimaced at this and scowled down at the blossoms. ‘They’ll be dead shortly.’

‘So may we all,’ Skintick responded. ‘But… pretty while it lasts.’

Kallor joined them as they prepared to resume the journey. His weathered face was strangely colourless, as if drained of blood by the incessant wind. Or whatever memories haunted him. The flatness in his eyes suggested to Nimander that the man was without humour, that the notion was as alien to him as mending the rips in his own clothes. ‘Are you all finally done with your rest?’ Kallor asked, noting the flowers still in Nimander’s hand with a faint sneer.

‘The horses needed it,’ Nimander said. ‘Are you in a hurry? If so, you could al-ways go ahead of us. When you stop for the night we’ll either catch up with you or we won’t.’

‘Who would feed me, then?’

‘You could always feed yourself,’ Skintick said. ‘Presumably you’ve had to do that on occasion.’

Kallor shrugged. ‘I will ride the wagon,’ he said, heading off.

Nenanda had collected the horses and now led them over. ‘They all need re-shoeing,’ he said, ‘and this damned road isn’t helping any.’

A sudden commotion at the wagon brought them all round, in time to see Kallor flung backward from the side rail, crashing heavily on the cobbles, the look on his face one of stunned surprise. Above him, standing on the bed, was Aranatha, and even at that distance they could see something dark and savage blazing from her eyes…

Desra stood near her, mouth hanging open.

On the road, lying on his back, Kallor began to laugh. A rasping, breathy kind of laugh.

With a bemused glance at Skintick and Nenanda, Nimander walked over.

Aranatha had turned away, resuming her ministrations with Clip, trickling water between the unconscious man’s lips. Tucking the flowers under his belt, Nimander pulled himself on to the wagon and met Desra’s eyes. ‘What hap-pened?’

‘He helped himself to a handful,’ Desra replied tonelessly, nodding towards Aranatha. ‘She, er, pushed him away.’

‘He was balanced on a wheel spoke?’ Skintick asked from behind Nimander.

Desra shook her head. ‘One hand on the rail. She just… sent him flying.’

The old man, his laughter fading away, was climbing to his feet. ‘You damned Tiste Andii,’ he said, ‘no sense of adventure.’

But Nimander could see that, despite Kallor’s seeming mirth, the grizzled war-rior was somewhat shaken. Drawing a deep breath and wincing at some pain in his ribs, he moved round to the back of the wagon and once more climbed aboard, this time keeping his distance from Aranatha.