‘Then one might conclude,’ the Adjunct said carefully, ‘that you are available, as it were, for a rather more ... private enterprise.’

Gamet shot her a glance. Gods below! What is this about?

‘One might,’ Pearl replied, shrugging.

There was silence, broken at last by the Red Blade, Lostara Yil. ‘I am made uneasy by the direction of this conversation,’ she grated. ‘As a loyal subject of the empire—’

‘Nothing of what follows will impugn your honour, Captain,’ the Adjunct replied, her gaze unwavering on Pearl. She added nothing more.

The Claw half smiled then. ‘Ah, now you’ve made me curious. I delight in being curious, did you know that? You fear that I will bargain my way back into Laseen’s favour, for the mission you would propose to the captain and me is, to be precise, not on behalf of the Empress, nor, indeed, of the empire. An extraordinary departure from the role of Imperial Adjunct. Unprecedented, in fact.’

Gamet took a step forward, ‘Adjunct—’

She raised a hand to cut him off. ‘Pearl, the task I would set to you and the captain may well contribute, ultimately, to the well-being of the empire—’

‘Oh well,’ the Claw smiled, ‘that is what a good imagination is for, isn’t it? One can scrape patterns in the blood no matter how dried it’s become. I admit to no small skill in attributing sound justification for whatever I’ve just done. By all means, proceed—’

‘Not yet!’ Lostara Yil snapped, her exasperation plain. ‘In serving the Adjunct I expect to serve the empire. She is the will of the Empress. No other considerations are permitted her—’

‘You speak true,’ Tavore said. She faced Pearl again. ‘Claw, how fares the Talon?’

Pearl’s eyes went wide and he almost rocked back a step. ‘They no longer exist,’ he whispered.

The Adjunct frowned. ‘Disappointing. We are all, at the moment, in a precarious position. If you are to expect honesty from me, then can I not do so in return?’

‘They remain,’ Pearl muttered, distaste twisting his features. ‘Like bot-fly larvae beneath the imperial hide. When we probe, they simply dig deeper.’

‘They none the less serve a certain . . . function,’ Tavore said. ‘Unfortunately, not as competently as I would have hoped.’

‘The Talons have found support among the nobility?’ Pearl asked, a sheen of sweat now visible on his high brow.

The Adjunct’s shrug was almost indifferent. ‘Does that surprise you?’

Gamet could almost see the Claw’s thoughts racing. Racing on, and on, his expression growing ever more astonished and ... dismayed. ‘Name him,’ he said.

‘Baudin.’

‘He was assassinated in Quon—’

‘The father was. Not the son.’

Pearl suddenly began pacing in the small chamber. ‘And this son, how much like the bastard who spawned him? Baudin Elder left Claw corpses scattered in alleys throughout the city. The hunt lasted four entire nights ...’

‘I had reason to believe,’ Tavore said, ‘that he was worthy of his father’s name.’