Shreck and two other high Servants stood on the steps of the castle's meeting hall. They came to attention as she approached. The three backed quickly away, bellies scraping stone… but not as quickly as last fall. They knew that the other Flenser Fragments had been destroyed. As Tyrathect swept past them, she almost smiled. For all her weakness and all her problems, she knew she could best these ones.
Steel was already inside, alone. The most important meetings were all like this, just Steel and herself. She understood the relationship. In the beginning, Steel had been simply terrified of her — the one person he believed he could never kill. For tendays, he had teetered between grovelling before her and dismembering her. It was amusing to see the bonds Flenser had installed years before still having force. Then had come word of the death of the other Fragments. Tyrathect was no longer Flenser-in-Waiting. She had half expected death to come then. But in a way this made her safer. Now Steel was less afraid, and his need for intimate advice could be satisfied in ways he saw less threatening. She was his bottled demon: Flenser wisdom without the Flenser threat.
This afternoon he seemed almost relaxed, nodding casually to Tyrathect as she entered. She nodded back. In many ways Steel was her — Flenser's -finest creation. So much effort had been spent honing Steel. How many packs-worth of members had been sacrificed to get just the combination that was Steel. She — Flenser — had wanted brilliance, ruthlessness. As Tyrathect she could see the truth. With all the flensing, Flenser had created a poor, sad thing. It was strange, but… sometimes Steel seemed like Flenser's most pitiable victim.
"Ready for the big test?" Tyrathect said. At long last, the radios seemed complete.
"In a moment. I wanted to ask you about timing. My sources tell me Woodcarver's army is on its way. If they make reasonable progress, they should be here in five tendays."
"That's at least three tendays before Ravna's ship arrives."
"Quite. We will have your old enemy disposed of long before we go for the high stakes. But… something is strange about the Two-Legs' recent messages. How much do you think they suspect? Is it possible that Amdijefri are telling them more than we know?"
It was an uncertainty Steel would have masked back when she had been Flenser-in-Waiting. Tyrathect slid to a seated position before replying. "You might know the answer if you had bothered to learn more of the Two-Legs' language, dear Steel, or let me learn more." Through the winter, Tyrathect had been desperate to talk to the children alone, to get warning to the ship. She was of two minds about that now. Amdijefri were so transparent, so innocent. If they glimpsed anything of Steel's treachery, they couldn't hide it. And what might the rescuers do if they knew Steel's villainy? Tyrathect had seen one starship in flight. Just its landing could be a terrible weapon. Besides… If Steel's plan succeeds, I won't need the aliens' goodwill.
Aloud, Tyrathect continued, "As long as you can continue your magnificent performance, you have nothing to fear from the child. Can't you see that he loves you?"
For an instant, Steel seemed pleased, and then the suspicion returned. "I don't know. Amdi seems always to taunt me, as though he sees through my act."
Poor Steel. Amdiranifani was his greatest success, and he would never understand it. In this one thing Steel had truly exceeded his Master, had discovered and honed a technique that had once been Woodcarver's. The Fragment eyed his former student almost hungrily. If only he could do him all over again; there must be a way to combine the fear and the flensing with love and affection. The resulting tool would truly merit the name Steel. Tyrathect shrugged, "Take my word for it. If you can continue your kindness act, both children will be faithful. As for the rest of your question: I have noticed some change in Ravna's messages. She seems much more confident of their arrival time, yet something has gone wrong for them. I don't think they're any more suspicious than before; they seemed to accept that Jefri was responsible for Amdi's idea about the radios. That lie was a good move, by the way. It played to their sense of superiority. On a fair battlefield, we are probably their betters — and they must not guess that."
"But what are they suddenly so tense about?"
The Fragment shrugged. "Patience, dear Steel. Patience and observation. Perhaps Amdijefri have noticed this too. You might subtly inspire them to ask about it. My guess is the Two-Legs have their own politics to worry about." He stopped and turned all his heads on Steel. "Could you have your 'source' down at Woodcarver's ferret about with the question?"
"Perhaps I will. That Dataset is Woodcarver's one great advantage." Steel sat in silence for a moment, nervously chewing at his lips. Abruptly, he shook himself all over, as if to drive off the manifold threats he saw encroaching. "Shreck!"
