'Honestly? I don't care a shit what you believe, and I care about doing the right thing even less—that's all a matter of who you ask. As for being a good man,' and Glokta curled his lip, 'that ship sailed long ago, and I wasn't even there to wave it off. I'm interested in holding Dagoska. That and nothing else.'

'And you know you cannot hold Dagoska without our help.'

'Neither one of us is a fool, Kahdia. Don't insult me by acting like one. We can bicker with each other until the Gurkish tide sweeps over the land walls, or we can cooperate. You never know, together we might even beat them. Your people will help us dig the ditch, repair the walls, hang the gates. You will provide a thousand men to serve in the defence of the city, to begin with, and more later.'

'Will I? Will I indeed? And if, with our help, the city stands? Will our deal stand with it?'

If the city stands, I will be gone. More than likely, Vurms and the rest will be back in charge, and our deal will be dust. 'If the city stands, you have my word that I will do everything possible.'

'Everything possible. Meaning nothing.' You get the idea.

'I need your help, so I'm offering you what I can. I'd offer you more, but I don't have more. You could sulk down here in the slums with the flies for company, and wait for the Emperor to come. Perhaps the great Uthman-ul-Dosht will offer you a better deal.' Glokta looked Kahdia in the eye for a moment. 'But we both know he won't.'

The priest pursed his lips, stroked his beard, then gave a deep sigh. 'They say a man lost in the desert must take such water as he is offered, no matter who it comes from. I accept your deal. Once the temple is empty we will dig your holes, and carry your stone, and wear your swords. Something is better than nothing, and, as you say, perhaps together we can even beat the Gurkish. Miracles do happen.'

'So I've heard,' said Glokta as he shoved on his cane and grunted his way to his feet, shirt sticking to his sweaty back. 'So I've heard.' But I've never seen one.

Glokta stretched out on the cushions in his chambers, head back, mouth open, resting his aching body. The same chambers that were once occupied by my illustrious predecessor, Superior Davoust. They were a wide, airy, well-furnished set of rooms. Perhaps they once belonged to a Dagoskan Prince, or a scheming vizier, or a dusky concubine, before the natives were thrown out into the dust of the Lower City. Better by far than my poky shit-hole in the Agriont, except that Superiors of the Inquisition have been known to go missing from these rooms.