'Believe me when I say,' muttered Glokta through tight lips, 'that I have no interest whatsoever in the King's parentage, but his Eminence has demanded it, and keenly awaits a report of my progress. What am I to tell him?'

Mauthis stared back with a face full of sympathy. As much sympathy as one stone might have for another. 'My employers do not care what you tell him, provided that you obey them. I see that you find yourself in a difficult position, but speaking plainly, Superior, I do not see a choice for you. I suppose you could go to the Arch Lector, and lay before him the whole history of our involvement. The gift you took from my employers, the conditions under which it was given, the consideration you have already extended to us. Perhaps his Eminence is more forgiving of divided loyalties than he appears to be.'

'Huh,' snorted Glokta. If I did not know better, I might have almost taken that for a joke. His Eminence is only slightly less forgiving than a scorpion, and we both know it.

'Or you could honour your commitment to my employers, and do as they demand.'

'They asked for favours, when I signed the damn receipt. Now they make demands? Where does it end?'

'That is not for me to say, Superior. Or for you to ask.' Mauthis' eyes flickered towards the door. He leaned across his desk and spoke soft and low. 'But if my own experience is anything to go by… it will not end. My employers have paid. And they always get what they have paid for. Always.'

Glokta swallowed. It would seem that, in this case, they have paid for my abject obedience. It would not normally be a difficulty, of course, I am every bit as abject as the next man, if not more so. But the Arch Lector demands the same. Two well-informed and merciless masters in direct opposition begins too late to seem like one too many. Two too many, some might say. But as Mauthis so kindly explains, I have no choice. He slid his boot off the chair, leaving a long streak of dirt across the leather, and shifted his weight painfully as he began the long process of getting up. 'Is there anything else, or do your employers merely wish me to defy the most powerful man in the Union?'

'They wish you also to watch him.'

Glokta froze. 'They wish me to what?'

'There has been a great deal of change of late, Superior. Change means new opportunities, but too much change is bad for business. My employers feel a period of stability is in everyone's best interests. They are satisfied with the situation.' Mauthis clenched his pale hands together on the red leather. 'They are concerned that some figures within the government may not be satisfied. That they may seek further change. That their rash actions might lead to chaos. His Eminence concerns them especially. They wish to know what he does. What he plans. They wish, in particular, to know what he is doing in the University.'