Kruppe glanced at her. 'Ah, lass, you sense the storm's passing unbroken. As do I. Shall we pay a visit to formidable personages in any case?'
She hesitated, then shook her head. 'No, why precipitate a confrontation? I must now turn to my own … destiny. If you please, Kruppe, inform no-one of my departure. At least not for a while.'
'The Gathering is come.'
'It is,' she agreed. 'I sense the imminent convergence of the T'lan Imass, and would rather it occur somewhere beyond the sight of anyone else.'
'A private matter, of course. None the less, Silverfox, would you resent company? Kruppe is wise — wise enough to keep silent when silence is called for, and yet wiser still to speak when wise words are required. Wisdom, after all, is Kruppe's blood brother.'
She smiled down at him. 'You would witness the Second Gathering?'
'There is no better witness to all things wondrous than Kruppe of Darujhistan, lass. Why, the tales that could flow effortlessly from these rather oily lips, should you ever but prod with curiosity-'
'Forgive me if I refrain from doing so,' she replied. 'At least in the near future.'
'Lest you become distracted, of course. It is clear, is it not, that even Kruppe's mere presence generates wisdom in bounty.'
'Very clear. Very well. We'll have to find you a horse, since I plan to ride.'
'A horse? Horrors! Foul beasts. Nay, I hold to my trusty mule.'
'Tightly.'
'To the limits of my physical abilities, aye.' He turned at a clopping sound behind them. 'Ah, speak of the demon! And look, a moonstruck horse follows like a pup on a leash, and is it any wonder, when one looks upon my handsome, proud beast?'
Silverfox studied the saddled horse trailing the mule with narrowed eyes. 'Tell me, Kruppe, who else will be witness to the Gathering through you?'
'Through Kruppe? Why, naught but Kruppe himself! He swears!'
'Not the mule, surely?'
'Lass, the mule's capacity for sleep — in no matter what the circumstances — is boundless, unaffected and indeed, admirable. I assure you, none shall witness through its eyes!'
'Sleep, is it? No doubt, to dream. Very well, let us be on with it, Kruppe. I trust you're comfortable with a ride through the night?'
'Not in the least, but perseverance is Kruppe's closest cousin …'
'Walk with me.'
Pausing as he emerged from the tent entrance, Whiskeyjack looked left, to see Anomander Rake standing in the gloom. Ah, not Korlat, then. Oh well. 'Of course, Lord.'
The Son of Darkness led him through the tent rows, southward, out to the very edge of the encampment, then beyond. They ascended a ridge and came within sight of Catlin River. Starlight played on its swirling surface two hundred paces away.
Moths fluttered like flecks of snow fleeing the warm wind.
Neither man spoke for a long while.
Finally, Anomander Rake sighed, then asked, 'How fares the leg?'
'It aches,' Whiskeyjack answered truthfully. 'Especially after a full day in the saddle.'
'Brood is an accomplished healer. High Denul. He would not hesitate should you ask.'
'When there's time-'
'There has been plenty of that, as we both know. None the less, I share something of your stubbornness, so I'll not raise the subject again. Have you been contacted by Quick Ben?'
Whiskeyjack nodded. 'He's in Capustan. Or should be by now.'
'I am relieved. The assault on the warrens has made being a mage somewhat perilous. Even Kurald Galain has felt the poison's touch.'
'I know.'
Rake slowly turned to regard him. 'I had not expected to find in her such … renewal. A heart I'd believed closed for ever. To see it flowering so …'
Whiskeyjack shifted uneasily. 'I may have wounded it this evening.'
'Momentarily, perhaps. Your false outlawry is known.'
'Thus the meeting, or so we thought.'
'I pulled the thorn before you and the High Fist arrived.'
The Malazan studied the Tiste Andii in the gloom. 'I wasn't sure. The suspicion could find no root, however.'
'Because, to you, my position makes no sense.'
'Aye.'
Rake shrugged. 'I rarely see necessity as a burden.'
Whiskeyjack thought about that, then nodded. 'You still need us.'
'More than ever, perhaps. And not just your army. We need Quick Ben. We need Humbrall Taur and his White Face clans. We need your link to Silverfox and through her to the T'lan Imass. We need Captain Paran-'