They reached the rampart’s summit. Trull saw that one of the prisoners was Prince Quillas. He did not seem injured. The other was a vvoman in mud-spattered armour. She wore no helmet and had taken a head wound, staining the left side of her face with streaks of blood. Her eyes were glazed with shock.
Fear had turned to regard Trull and the demon, his expression closed. ‘Brother,’ he said tonelessly, ‘it seems we have captured two personages of the royal family.’
‘This is Queen Janall?’
‘The prince expects we will ransom them,’ Fear said. ‘He does not seem to understand the situation.’
‘And what is the situation?’ Trull asked.
‘Our emperor wants these two. For himself.’
‘Fear, we are not in the habit of parading prisoners.’
A flicker of rage in Fear’s eyes, but his voice remained calm. ‘I see you have had your demon healed. What do you want?’
‘I want this KenylPrah in my charge.’
Fear studied the huge creature. Then he shrugged and turned away. ‘As you like. Leave us now, Trull. I will seek you out later… for a private word.’
Trull flinched. ‘Very well.’
The world felt broken now, irreparably broken.
‘Go.’
‘Come with me, Lilac,’ Trull said. He paused to glance over at Prince Quillas, and saw the terror in the young Letherii’s visage. Rhulad wanted him, and the queen. Why?
They walked the killing field, the rain pummelling down in a soft roar, devastation and slaughter on all sides. Figures were moving about here and there. Tiste Edur seeking fallen comrades, wraiths on senseless patrols. The thunder was closer.
‘There is a river,’ Lilac said. ‘I smelled it when we first arrived. It is the same river as ran beneath the bridge.’
‘Yes,’ Trull replied. ‘The Katter River.’
‘I would see it.’
‘Why not?’
They angled northwest. Reached the loggers’ road that ran parallel to the forest and followed its three-rutted track until the treeline thinned on their right, and the river became visible.
‘Ah,’ Lilac murmured, ‘it is so small…’
Trull studied the fast-flowing water, the glittering skin it cast over boulders. ‘A caster of nets,’ he said.
‘My home, Denier.’