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Authors: Joe Abercrombie
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giving lectures on the benefits of chastity? Please! How many women did you ruin before the Gurkish ruined you? You were notorious!'
A muscle began to tremble in his neck, and he worked his shoulder round until he felt it soften.
She makes a fair point. Perhaps a soft word with the gentleman in question will do the trick. A soft word, or a hard night with Practical Frost
. 'Your bed, your business, I suppose, as they say in Styria. How does the great Captain Luthar come to be among the civilians in any case? Doesn't he have Northmen to rout? Who will save Angland, while he's here?'
'He wasn't in Angland.'
'No?'
Father find him a nice, out of the way spot, did he
?
'He's been in the Old Empire, or some such. Across the sea to the west and far away.' She sighed as though she had heard a great deal about it and was now thoroughly bored of the subject.
'Old Empire? What the hell was he up to out there?'
'Why don't you ask him? Some journey. He talked a lot about a Northman. Ninefingers, or something.'
Glokta's head jerked up. 'Ninefingers?'
'Mmm. Him and some old bald man.'
A flurry of twitches ran down Glokta's face. 'Bayaz.' Ardee shrugged and swigged from her glass again, already developing a slight drunken clumsiness to her movements.
Bayaz. All we need, with an election coming, is that old liar sticking his hairless head in
. 'Is he here, now, in the city?'
'How should I know?' grumbled Ardee. 'Nobody tells me anything.'
----
So Much in Common
« ^ »
Ferro stalked round the room, and scowled. She poured her scorn out into the sweet-smelling air, onto the rustling hangings, over the great windows and the high balcony beyond them. She sneered at the dark pictures of fat pale kings, at the shining furniture scattered about the wide floor. She hated this place, with its soft beds and its soft people. She infinitely preferred the dust and thirst of the Badlands of Kanta. Life there was hard, and hot, and brief.
But at least it was honest.
This Union, and this city of Adua in particular, and this fortress of the Agriont especially, were all packed to bursting with lies. She felt them on her skin, like an oily stain she could not rub off. And Bayaz was sunk in the very midst of it. He had tricked her into following him across the world for nothing. They had found no ancient weapon to use against the Gurkish. Now he smiled, and laughed, and whispered secrets with old men. Men who came in sweating from the heat outside, and left sweating even more.
She would never have admitted it to anyone else. She despised having to admit it to herself. She missed Ninefingers. Though she had never been able to show it, it had been a reassurance, having someone she could halfway trust.
Now she had to look over her own shoulder.
All she had for company was the apprentice, and he was worse than nothing. He sat and watched her in silence, his book ignored on the table beside him. Watching and smiling without joy, as though he knew something she should have guessed. As though he thought her a fool for not seeing it. That only made her angrier than ever. So she prowled round the room, frowning at everything, her fists clenched and her jaw locked light.
'You should go back to the South, Ferro.'
She stopped in her tracks, and scowled at Quai. He was right, of course. Nothing would have pleased her more than to leave these Godless pinks behind forever and fight the Gurkish with weapons she understood. Tear vengeance from them with her teeth, if she had to. He was right, but that changed nothing. Ferro had never been much for taking advice. 'What do you know about what I should do, scrawny pink fool?'
'More than you think.' He did not take his slow eyes away from her for a moment. 'We are much alike, you and I. You may not see it, and yet we are. So much in common.' Ferro frowned. She did not know what the sickly idiot meant by that, but she did not like the sound of it. 'Bayaz will bring you nothing you need. He cannot be trusted. I
A muscle began to tremble in his neck, and he worked his shoulder round until he felt it soften.
She makes a fair point. Perhaps a soft word with the gentleman in question will do the trick. A soft word, or a hard night with Practical Frost
. 'Your bed, your business, I suppose, as they say in Styria. How does the great Captain Luthar come to be among the civilians in any case? Doesn't he have Northmen to rout? Who will save Angland, while he's here?'
'He wasn't in Angland.'
'No?'
Father find him a nice, out of the way spot, did he
?
'He's been in the Old Empire, or some such. Across the sea to the west and far away.' She sighed as though she had heard a great deal about it and was now thoroughly bored of the subject.
'Old Empire? What the hell was he up to out there?'
'Why don't you ask him? Some journey. He talked a lot about a Northman. Ninefingers, or something.'
Glokta's head jerked up. 'Ninefingers?'
'Mmm. Him and some old bald man.'
A flurry of twitches ran down Glokta's face. 'Bayaz.' Ardee shrugged and swigged from her glass again, already developing a slight drunken clumsiness to her movements.
Bayaz. All we need, with an election coming, is that old liar sticking his hairless head in
. 'Is he here, now, in the city?'
'How should I know?' grumbled Ardee. 'Nobody tells me anything.'
----
So Much in Common
« ^ »
Ferro stalked round the room, and scowled. She poured her scorn out into the sweet-smelling air, onto the rustling hangings, over the great windows and the high balcony beyond them. She sneered at the dark pictures of fat pale kings, at the shining furniture scattered about the wide floor. She hated this place, with its soft beds and its soft people. She infinitely preferred the dust and thirst of the Badlands of Kanta. Life there was hard, and hot, and brief.
But at least it was honest.
This Union, and this city of Adua in particular, and this fortress of the Agriont especially, were all packed to bursting with lies. She felt them on her skin, like an oily stain she could not rub off. And Bayaz was sunk in the very midst of it. He had tricked her into following him across the world for nothing. They had found no ancient weapon to use against the Gurkish. Now he smiled, and laughed, and whispered secrets with old men. Men who came in sweating from the heat outside, and left sweating even more.
She would never have admitted it to anyone else. She despised having to admit it to herself. She missed Ninefingers. Though she had never been able to show it, it had been a reassurance, having someone she could halfway trust.
Now she had to look over her own shoulder.
All she had for company was the apprentice, and he was worse than nothing. He sat and watched her in silence, his book ignored on the table beside him. Watching and smiling without joy, as though he knew something she should have guessed. As though he thought her a fool for not seeing it. That only made her angrier than ever. So she prowled round the room, frowning at everything, her fists clenched and her jaw locked light.
'You should go back to the South, Ferro.'
She stopped in her tracks, and scowled at Quai. He was right, of course. Nothing would have pleased her more than to leave these Godless pinks behind forever and fight the Gurkish with weapons she understood. Tear vengeance from them with her teeth, if she had to. He was right, but that changed nothing. Ferro had never been much for taking advice. 'What do you know about what I should do, scrawny pink fool?'
'More than you think.' He did not take his slow eyes away from her for a moment. 'We are much alike, you and I. You may not see it, and yet we are. So much in common.' Ferro frowned. She did not know what the sickly idiot meant by that, but she did not like the sound of it. 'Bayaz will bring you nothing you need. He cannot be trusted. I
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