‘Lady Envy, I arrived on a ship.’
‘What of it?’
‘A ship owned by a most delicious woman-’
‘Oh, not another one!’ moaned Sordiko Qualm.
‘The poor thing,’ said Lady Envy.
‘Hardly.’ Iskaral Pust leaned back in his chair, tilting it up on its legs so that his view could encompass both women. ‘How I dream of such moments as this! See how they hang on my every word! I have them, I have them!’
‘What is wrong with this man, High Priestess?’
‘I could not begin to tell you.’
Iskaral Pust examined has hands, his fingernails-but that made him slightly nauseous, since the bhokarala were in the habit of sucking on his fingertips when he slept at night, leaving them permanently wrinkled, mangled and decidedly un-pleasant, so he looked away, casually, and found himself staring at Therule, which wasn’t a good idea either, so, over there, at that flower-safe enough, he supposed-until it was time at last to meet Lady Envy’s extraordinary eyes. ‘Yes,’ he drawled, ‘I see the similarity at last, although you were the victor in the war of perfection. Not by much, but triumphant none the less and for that I can only ap-plaud and admire and all that. In any case, resident even at this very moment, on the ship, in the harbour, is none other than your beloved sister, Spite!’
‘I thought so!’ Lady Envy was suddenly on her feet, trembling in her… excitement?
Iskaral Pust sniggered. ‘Yes, I play at this until they play no more, and all truths are revealed, as sensibilities are rocked back and forth, as shock thunders through the cosmos, as the shadows themselves explode into all existence! For am I not the Magus of Shadow? Oh, but I am, I am!’ He then leaned forward with an expression of gravid dismay. ‘Are you not delighted, Lady Envy? Shall I hasten to her to forward your invitation to visit this wondrous garden? Instruct me as your servant, please! Whatever you wish, I will do! Of course I won’t! I’ll do what-ever I want to. Let her think otherwise-maybe it’ll bring some colour back to her face, maybe it’ll calm the storm in her eyes, maybe it’ll stop the water in this trough from boiling-impressive detail, by the way, now, what should I say next?’
Sordiko Qualm and Lady Envy never did get to their conversation that day.