‘Now he flatters us,’ Telorast said.

‘He asks only that we voice the offer to our kin,’ Curdle pointed out. ‘You and me, love, we yield nothing.’

‘True.’

K’rul shrugged. ‘The only thing you two yield is your choice of Warrens. In fact, given your obsession, it seems that you will surrender them entirely in favour of a throne that may never appear. That of course is your choice.’

Telorast turned to her companion. ‘I see no reason to remain here, Curdle. Do you?’

‘None at all!’ Curdle replied. ‘K’rul, we accept your bargain! Where then are these unclaimed gates?’

‘Here and there. Follow the scent of magic and you will find them.’

Scabandari gasped as the two Tiste women seemed to blur, vanishing inside twin burgeoning clouds that moments later manifested as a pair of dragons. Wings hammering the air, scattering sparks from the bonfire, they lunged upward into the darkness.

In their sudden absence, no one spoke.

Then Scabandari gestured with his sword. ‘Who is this giant?’

As attention fixed upon the huge stranger, the man straightened, leaning against a column. ‘I am Kanyn Thrall. Fever has taken me and I shall soon be dead. Yet within, I feel the power of my soul. Sufficient, I should think, for one last service to you, Ardata—’

He got no further, as Skillen Droe leapt forward, wings wide, one clawed hand reaching out to grasp him. The bones of the wings seemed to crackle as the assassin carried Kanyn Thrall upward.

Ardata shrieked.

The winged assassin plunged into the maw of the gate of Starvald Demelain. Both vanished. An instant later, so too did the gate itself, like an iris closing until swallowed by the night.

Uncomprehending, Scabandari stared first at K’rul, and then at Ardata. ‘What just happened?’ he asked.

‘The gate is sealed,’ replied K’rul.

Ardata turned on him. ‘Deceit! You planned this!’

‘Don’t be a fool!’ snapped K’rul. ‘We knew nothing about that Thel Akai!’

‘And Skillen?’

‘Has a mind of his own. And really, should that surprise either of us, Ardata?’

‘Then – he has gone into the Draconean realm? Has he lost his mind! They will tear him to pieces!’

‘Well, they tried that last time, didn’t they?’

Ardata turned on Scabandari. ‘Look what you’ve done, Tiste!’

‘I merely pointed at the man, milady!’

Snarling, Ardata made to march off, towards the temple, but K’rul stepped into her path. ‘A moment,’ he begged. ‘I need your help.’

Her look of stunned incredulity was almost comical to Scabandari’s eyes, and yet she halted.

‘The gates of my Warrens, Ardata, the ones the dragons will now seek out.’

‘What of them?’

A brief look of intense frustration twisted K’rul’s face. ‘What value guardians, Ardata,’ he said in a painfully slow voice, ‘if they can leave whenever they please?’

She crossed her arms. ‘Go on.’

‘I need your talent… with webs. Or, in this case, chains.’