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.But I believe I know.They are mining for witchstones.’There was a grim attentiveness fixed on him now.It was not a new idea to them, but in conjunction with what Saran believed he had discovered about the origin of the witchstones, it made for an uncomfortably neat fit.‘But why seek out new witchstones?’ Zaelis asked.‘They seem to have enough for the Edgefathers to make Masks.’‘I do not pretend to know that,’ Saran said.‘But I am certain that they are seeking them.And that is not the worst of it.’ He spun around melodramatically from Zaelis to face the audience again.‘Extrapolate from this.Since they first appeared, the Weavers have infiltrated society and made themselves indispensible.You pay a terrible price for their powers, but you cannot be rid of them.Now that they are part of the empire itself, they are even harder to dislodge.All of us know that the Weavers must be removed; all of us know that they desire power for themselves.But I ask you, what if the Weavers’ sole purpose is to find these witchstones? What if they grow to dominate all of Saramyr? Even if they somehow subverted your entire continent, they would be stuck.No other land would permit Weavers onto its shores in any number; we have a healthy and sensible mistrust of them.So what then?’‘They invade,’ Cailin said, standing up herself.All eyes turned to her.She walked slowly into the centre of the room to stand by Zaelis, a tower of darkness against the noon sun.‘Perhaps you extrapolate too far, Saran Ycthys Marul.’‘Perhaps,’ he conceded.‘And perhaps not.We know nothing of the motives of the Weavers other than what history has shown us; and in that, they have proved to be as aggressive and acquisitive as they have been able while still at the mercy of the high families.But I believe soon the high families will be at the Weavers’ mercy, and then there will be no stopping them.And there would be no stopping an invading army backed up by Weavers, either.No other country has any kind of defence against that.’ He looked to Tsata again; Kaiku caught the brief glance.‘This is not only a threat to Saramyr; this is a shadow that could fall on the whole of the Near World.I would have you aware of that.’His report concluded, Saran walked to where the tattooed Tkiurathi was and sat next to him.It had been a lot for the audience to digest, and it was uncomfortable for them.He could see some of them already dismissing his findings as ridiculous speculation: how could he make guesses like that, with the little they knew of the Weavers? But they were the voices that would bring down the Libera Dramach if they were allowed to prevail, for Saran knew better than to allow the Weavers even an inch of leeway, to let them have the benefit of any doubt.‘Saran’s information sheds a somewhat more foreboding light on another piece of news I received this morning,’ said Zaelis.‘Nomoru, please stand.’It was a young woman of perhaps twenty winters who responded.She was wiry and skinny and not particularly attractive, with a surly expression and short, blonde-brown hair in a ragged, spiky tangle.Her clothes were simple peasant garb, and her arms were inked with pictures, in the manner of street folk and beggars.‘Nomuru is one of our finest scouts,’ Zaelis said.‘She has just returned from the westward end of the Fault, near where the Zan cuts through it.Tell them what you saw.’‘It’s what I didn’t see,’ Nomoru said.Her dialect was clipped and sullen, muddied with coarse Low Saramyrrhic vowels.Everyone in the room immediately placed her as being from the Poor Quarter of Axekami, and weighted their prejudices accordingly.‘I know that area.Know it well.Not easy to cross the Fault lengthways, not with all that’s in between here and there.I hadn’t been there for a long time, though.Years.Too hard to get to.’She appeared to be uncomfortable talking to so many people; it was obvious in her manner.Rather than be embarrassed, she took on an angry tone, but seemed not to know where to direct it.‘There was a flood plain there.I used to navigate by it.But this time.this time I couldn’t find it.’ She looked at Zaelis, who motioned for her to go on.‘Knew it was there, just couldn’t get to it.Kept on getting turned around.But it wasn’t me.I know that area well.’Kaiku could see what was coming, suddenly.Her heart sank.‘Then I remembered.Been told about this before.A place that should be there, but you can’t get to.Happened to her.’ She pointed at Kaiku with an insultingly accusatory finger.‘Misdirection.They put it around places they don’t want you to find.’She looked fiercely at the assembly.‘The Weavers are in the Fault.’ELEVENThe Baraks Grigi tu Kerestyn and Avun tu Koli walked side by side along the dirt path, between the tall rows of kamako cane.Nuki’s eye looked down on them benevolently from above, while tiny hovering reedpeckers swung back and forth seeking suitable candidates to drill with their pointed beaks.The sky was clear, the air dry, the heat not too fierce: another day of perfect weather.And yet Grigi’s thoughts were anything but sunny [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]