There had been occasional betrayals, of course, in the past. His chosen ones had turned against him, giddy with power. There had been unauthorized infection and attempts on his ab-life. The Brucolac had quashed them all, sadly and effortlessly.

His lieutenants surrounded him now, in the Uroc ’s great hall. Scores of them, freed from the necessity of disguise, allowing their serpentine tongues to unroll luxuriously, tasting the air with relish. Men and women and androgynous youths.

At the front, almost beside the Brucolac, stood the ragged woman who had watched Fennec in The Pashakan. Every one of the vampir stared at their master with wide, light-enhancing eyes.

After a very long silence, the Brucolac spoke. His voice was quiet. Had those in the room been human, they would not have heard him.

"Kin," he said, "you know why we’re here. I’ve told you all where we are heading, where the Lovers would have us go. Our opposition to their plans is well known. But we’re in a minority; we’re not trusted; we couldn’t mobilize the city behind us. We can’t usefully speak; our hands are tied.

"However, things may be changing. The Lovers are banking on momentum, so that by the time their aim becomes plain, it’ll be too late to oppose it. And by that time, they hope, people will become willing abductees." The Brucolac sneered, and licked the air with his great tongue.

" Now,it appears, word may be about to get out. A fascinating conversation was overheard tonight. Simon Fench knows where we’re going." He nodded at the woman in rags. "Doul’s Crobuzoner dollymop, of all people, has worked out what’s happening, and she’s told Mr. Fench-or Fennec, or whatever he calls himself. We know where he lives, do we not?" The woman nodded.

"Fench is planning to put out one of his inflammatory pamphlets. We’d try to intervene if we could, to help him, but he’s a solo operator, and if he discovered that we’d identified him, he’d shun us and disappear. We don’t want to risk interfering with his efforts. We can hope," the Brucolac stressed, "that he’s able to get this done soon, and that it’ll cause a crisis for Garwater. After all, we’ve not yet reached the Empty Ocean.

"But." He made the word cold and hard, and his lieutenants were rapt.

"But we must make preparations, in case Fench fails. Kin…" He prodded at the air as he spoke in his guttural whisper. "Kin, this is not a fight we will lose. We hope that Fench succeeds. But in case he does not, we must be ready to put another plan in motion.

"I will take this fucking city by force, if I must."

And his ab-dead cadre hissed and muttered their agreement.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Six