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.‘Well enough,’ she replied quietly, an unspoken accusation in her voice.‘I thought you should get away from that room,’ Avun said.‘It is not good for your health, to shut yourself away like that.’Muraki glanced up at him through the curtains of her hair, then looked meaningfully out of the window and back to him.Healthier than breathing this air, her gaze said.‘I am sorry for having interrupted you, then,’ he said, pouring a dark sauce over the shellfish, holding the bowl with his unencumbered thumb and forefinger.‘I wanted to have a meal with my wife.’She did not reply to that.Instead, she began to eat, cutting portions with the tiny blades and forks set on silver thimbles that she wore on the middle and ring fingers of her right and left hand, taking small and delicate bites.‘The feya-kori are on their way back from Zila,’ Avun said.He needed to say something to breach his wife’s wall of silence.When she did not respond, he persevered: ‘The troops of the Empire were driven out with barely any resistance at all.The Weavers are pleased with their new creations; more will join them soon, I think.’The quiet became excruciating once again, but Avun had given enough to expect something in return.Eventually, Muraki asked: ‘How soon?’‘A matter of weeks.It is uncertain.’‘And then?’‘We will overrun the Southern Prefectures, and after that we will turn to Tchom Rin.’‘And will you turn their cities into places like this?’‘I cannot see why the Weavers would do so,’ he replied.‘There will be no need for feya-kori once they have control of the continent.And so, there will be no need for this miasma.’‘Will there be a need for us, do you think?’ she asked softly.‘When they have control of the continent?’Avun smiled gently.‘I am no fool, Muraki.I do not think they would keep me as Lord Protector out of gratitude.I will be invaluable to them still.The people need a human face upon their leader.They will never trust a Mask.’‘But they will trust you?’‘They will trust me because I will give them their skies back,’ Avun said.He took a sip of wine.‘I do not want to live under this murk any more than you do; it is unnatural.But the sooner we are rid of the opposition, the sooner we can dispense with the feya-kori and dissemble the pall-pits.’‘And the temples?’Avun was lost for an answer for a moment.His wife had a way of pricking his sorest spots in a tone so submissive that he could not take umbrage.‘The temples will not return.The Weavers do not like our gods.’Muraki’s silence was more eloquent than words.She knew he still prayed in the dead of night, in the empty interior of the temple to Ocha on the roof of the Keep.The dome still remained in all its finery, though the statues of the gods that had ringed it were gone, and the altars and icons stripped away.It had an appallingly wounded feel to it now, and Muraki would not go near it.But Avun did.Muraki wondered how he reconciled his actions to himself: he was not the most pious of men, but he would not forsake his gods, even though he would tear down their temples.Did he expect forgiveness? She knew of no deity so divinely gracious as to provide him with that, after the crimes he had committed against the Golden Realm.Avun dodged the subject in the end, returning to his previous point.‘In the end, the world will be as it was.The blight can be contained once the Red Order are overthrown, for the Weavers will not need so many witchstones.The miasma will be gone.And the land will be united once again.’‘That is what the Weavers say? I had not heard that before now.’‘I met with Kakre this morning.I persuaded him to divulge.It was not easy.’ Avun seemed proud of himself; she had no trouble believing that it was a courageous thing to do.She knew what had happened to him in the past when Kakre was displeased.‘Why?’ she asked, puzzled.‘Why did you do it? You have been content in ignorance until now.’He gazed at her levelly.‘Because my wife does not like the air here,’ he said [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.‘Well enough,’ she replied quietly, an unspoken accusation in her voice.‘I thought you should get away from that room,’ Avun said.‘It is not good for your health, to shut yourself away like that.’Muraki glanced up at him through the curtains of her hair, then looked meaningfully out of the window and back to him.Healthier than breathing this air, her gaze said.‘I am sorry for having interrupted you, then,’ he said, pouring a dark sauce over the shellfish, holding the bowl with his unencumbered thumb and forefinger.‘I wanted to have a meal with my wife.’She did not reply to that.Instead, she began to eat, cutting portions with the tiny blades and forks set on silver thimbles that she wore on the middle and ring fingers of her right and left hand, taking small and delicate bites.‘The feya-kori are on their way back from Zila,’ Avun said.He needed to say something to breach his wife’s wall of silence.When she did not respond, he persevered: ‘The troops of the Empire were driven out with barely any resistance at all.The Weavers are pleased with their new creations; more will join them soon, I think.’The quiet became excruciating once again, but Avun had given enough to expect something in return.Eventually, Muraki asked: ‘How soon?’‘A matter of weeks.It is uncertain.’‘And then?’‘We will overrun the Southern Prefectures, and after that we will turn to Tchom Rin.’‘And will you turn their cities into places like this?’‘I cannot see why the Weavers would do so,’ he replied.‘There will be no need for feya-kori once they have control of the continent.And so, there will be no need for this miasma.’‘Will there be a need for us, do you think?’ she asked softly.‘When they have control of the continent?’Avun smiled gently.‘I am no fool, Muraki.I do not think they would keep me as Lord Protector out of gratitude.I will be invaluable to them still.The people need a human face upon their leader.They will never trust a Mask.’‘But they will trust you?’‘They will trust me because I will give them their skies back,’ Avun said.He took a sip of wine.‘I do not want to live under this murk any more than you do; it is unnatural.But the sooner we are rid of the opposition, the sooner we can dispense with the feya-kori and dissemble the pall-pits.’‘And the temples?’Avun was lost for an answer for a moment.His wife had a way of pricking his sorest spots in a tone so submissive that he could not take umbrage.‘The temples will not return.The Weavers do not like our gods.’Muraki’s silence was more eloquent than words.She knew he still prayed in the dead of night, in the empty interior of the temple to Ocha on the roof of the Keep.The dome still remained in all its finery, though the statues of the gods that had ringed it were gone, and the altars and icons stripped away.It had an appallingly wounded feel to it now, and Muraki would not go near it.But Avun did.Muraki wondered how he reconciled his actions to himself: he was not the most pious of men, but he would not forsake his gods, even though he would tear down their temples.Did he expect forgiveness? She knew of no deity so divinely gracious as to provide him with that, after the crimes he had committed against the Golden Realm.Avun dodged the subject in the end, returning to his previous point.‘In the end, the world will be as it was.The blight can be contained once the Red Order are overthrown, for the Weavers will not need so many witchstones.The miasma will be gone.And the land will be united once again.’‘That is what the Weavers say? I had not heard that before now.’‘I met with Kakre this morning.I persuaded him to divulge.It was not easy.’ Avun seemed proud of himself; she had no trouble believing that it was a courageous thing to do.She knew what had happened to him in the past when Kakre was displeased.‘Why?’ she asked, puzzled.‘Why did you do it? You have been content in ignorance until now.’He gazed at her levelly.‘Because my wife does not like the air here,’ he said [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]