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The wave tumbled closer, then suddenly fell away Hulls thundered at the swift plunge, spars snapped and, on the third ship, the , trailing wreckage, the harvesters coasted between the piers

Pressures drawing inward, building once more, the spirit withdrew fro in its obsidian world, the first ship crunched and slid against a pier, and caed down to the deck, to begin at long last their feeding The Tarancede Tower had witnessed all, the s detail of the event, despite the failing light

And, in a chamber beneath the old palace in the city of Letheras, far to the southeast, Ceda Kuru Qan watched Before him lay a tile that matched those of the distant tower above Trate’s harbour, and, as he stared at the enormous black shadow that had filled the bay andits sloithdrawal, the sorceror blinked sweat froaze back to those three harvest ships now lolling against the piers

The gulls and the gathering darknessthe twisted corpses huddled on the deck, and the last few flickering wraiths

But Kuru Qan had seen enough

Five wings to the Eternal Domicile, of which only three were complete Each of the latter consisted of wide hallith arched ceilings sheathed in gold-leaf Between elaborate flying buttresses to either side and running the entire length were doorways leading to chambers that would serve as offices and domiciles of the Royal Household’s administrative androo to private passages – beneath ground level – that encircled the entire palace that was the heart of the Eternal Does were chest-deep in h which ratsthat of, possibly, pleasure Brys Beddict stood on a landing three steps from the silt-laden flood and watched the up-thrust heads swiloo mud

‘The pu ‘We ith big hoses, ith sh in went a rat, or ten, plugging things up Besides, the seep’s as steady as ever Though the Plumbs still se’re above the table here’

‘I’e to your crew’

‘I’d appreciate it, Finadd All we need is to hold the flow back for a tio down and collect the rats We lost Orht, the palace’s best catcher Likely drowned – the fool couldn’t swi much more than bones Rats knohen it’s a catcher they’ve found, you know’

‘These tunnels are essential to -’

‘Well, ain’t nobody likely to try using theress for assassins,’ Brys cut in ‘They are to peruards to any area above that is breached’

‘Yes, yes I was onlya joke, Finadd Of course, you could choose fast swie to sniff round and tell us what’s going on and then to stop the water co in and we’ll take care of the rest’

‘Presumably,’ Brys said, ‘this is not indicative of subsidence-’

‘Like the other wings? No, nothing’s slumped – we’d be able to tell Anyway, there’s ruet a fresh look at A new construction coht up the surrounding land There’s whispers they’ve figured out how to shore up buildings’

‘Really? I’ve heard nothing about it’

‘The guilds aren’t happy about it, that’s for sure, since these upstarts are hiring the Unwelco ’eoing for the as they do that’ The engineer shrugged, began prying pieces of hardened clay fro at the pulled hairs ‘Of course, if the royal architects decide that Bugg’s shoring works, then that coh’