Shickel croaked dry laughter across the table. 'Few indeed are those who get a choice. We do as we are told. We stand or fall beside those who were born near to us, who look as we do, who speak the same words, and all the while we know as little of the reasons why as does the dust we return to.' Her head sagged sideways and a gash in her shoulder opened up as wide as a mouth. 'Do you think I like what I have become? Do you think I do not dream of being as others are? But once the change has come, you can never go back. Do you understand?'

Oh, yes. Few better. 'Why were you sent here?'

'The work of the righteous is never-ending. I came to see Dagoska returned to the fold. To see its people worship God according to the Prophet's teachings. To see my brothers and sisters fed.'

'It seems you failed.'

'Others will follow. There is no resisting the Prophet. You are doomed.'

That much I know. Let us try another tack. 'What do you know… about Bayaz.'

'Ah, Bayaz. He was the Prophet's brother. He is the start of this, and will be the end.' Her voice dropped to a whisper. 'Liar and traitor. He killed his master. He murdered Juvens.'

Glokta frowned. 'That is not the way I heard the story.'

'Everyone has their own way of telling every story, broken man. Have you not learned that yet?' Her lip curled. 'You have no understanding of the war you fight in, of the weapons and the casualties, of the victories and the defeats, every day. You do not guess at the sides, or the causes, or the reasons. The battlefields are everywhere. I pity you. You are a dog, trying to understand the argument of scholars, and hearing nothing but barking. The righteous are coming. Khalul will sweep the earth clean of lies and build a new order. Juvens will be avenged. It is foretold. It is ordained. It is promised.'

'I doubt you'll see it.'

She grinned at him. 'I doubt you will either. My father would rather have taken this city without a fight, but if he must fight for it then he will, and with no mercy, and with the fury of God behind him. That is the first step on the path he has chosen. On the path he has chosen for all of us.'

'What step comes next?'

'Do you think my masters tell me their plans? Do yours? I am a worm. I am nothing. And yet I am more than you are.'

'What comes next?' hissed Glokta. Nothing but silence.