“You one-eyed cocksucker!” Not clever, perhaps, but from the heart. She lunged at him but he caught the Calvez on his shield, swung his axe, and she only just hopped away in time, the heavy blade crashing into the organ’s surround and sending splinters flying. She dropped back, watchful, keeping her distance. She’d about as much chance of parrying that weight of steel as she did of playing sweet music on that organ.

“Why?” she snarled at him, point of the Calvez moving in little circles. She didn’t care a shit about his reasons, really. Just playing for time, looking for an opening.

“Maybe I got sick o’ your scorn.” He nudged forwards behind his shield and she backed off again. “Or maybe Eider offered me more’n you.”

“Eider?” She spat laughter in his face. “There’s your problem! You’re a fucking idiot!” She lunged on the last word, trying to catch him off guard, but he wasn’t fooled, knocked her jabs calmly away with his shield.

“I’m the idiot? I saved you how many times? I gave up my eye! So you could sneer at me with that empty bastard Rogont? You treat me like a fucking fool and still expect my loyalty, and I’m the idiot?” Hard to argue with most of that, now it was stuck under her nose. She should’ve listened to Rogont, let him put Shivers down, but she’d let guilt get in the way. Mercy might be brave, like Cosca said, but it seemed it wasn’t always clever. Shivers shuffled at her and she gave ground again, fast running out of it.

“You should’ve seen this coming,” he whispered, and she reckoned he had a point. It had been coming a long time. Since she fucked Rogont. Since she turned her back on Shivers. Since he lost his eye in the cells under Salier’s palace. Maybe it had been coming from the first moment they met. Before, even. Always.

Some things are inevitable.

Thus the Whirligig…

Shivers’ axe clanged into the pipes again. He didn’t know what the hell they were for but they made a bastard of a racket. Monza had already dodged away though, weighing her sword, narrowed eyes fixed on his. More’n likely he should’ve just axed her in the back of the skull and put an end to it. But he wanted her to know who’d done it, and why. Needed her to know.

“You don’t have to do this,” she hissed at him. “You could still walk away.”

“I thought the dead could do the forgiving,” he said, circling to cut off her space.

“I’m offering you a chance, Shivers. Back to the North, no one would chase you.”

“They’re free to fucking try, but I reckon I’ll stay a little longer. A man has to stick at something, don’t he? I’ve got my pride, still.”

“Shit on your pride! You’d be selling your arse in the alleys of Talins if it wasn’t for me!” True, more’n likely. “You knew the risks. You chose to take my money.” True too. “I made no promises to you and I broke none!” True and all. “That bitch Eider won’t give you a scale!”