“Ha ha,” said Loaf. “And you know what’s really funny?”
By now Vadesh was almost there with them. “Please tell me,” he said.
“You still don’t get it that maybe the reason Ram wouldn’t tell you anything is that you managed to get all the humans in your wallfold killed.”
Vadesh reached out and knocked Loaf down. Flicked him, or so it seemed, with a casual brush of his hand, and Loaf staggered backward and fell. When he got up he clutched his left shoulder, where Vadesh had hit him, and he was panting from the pain.
“It’s not broken,” said Vadesh. “I don’t damage human beings. I don’t kill them. We expendables can’t kill people. Why do you think I only burned the grass between the armies?”
“But people died,” said Olivenko.
“People killed each other,” said Vadesh. “But I never did.”
“Just the way you didn’t damage me,” said Loaf savagely. “You were just telling me to shut up, is that it?”
“And yet you still didn’t get the message,” said Vadesh with a smile. “Why did the smart ones bother to bring you along?”
Loaf became even more furious, but he had felt the power of Vadesh’s blow—Param watched him restrain himself.
“Very good,” said Vadesh. “Slow, but he does learn.”
“You’ve made your point,” said Rigg. “You’re stronger than we are. You can knock us around. But we can get away from you whenever we want. So I suggest that you never hit any of us again, or we’re gone.”
Vadesh looked genuinely stricken—but what did any of his humanlike expressions mean? He was as false as Mother; yet, just as with Mother, Param couldn’t keep herself from responding to him as if he were a real person, with real feelings. When he looked so hurt at Rigg’s words, Param found herself wanting to reassure him.
“Just tell us what you want from us,” said Param. “Then we’ll decide if we want to give it to you.”
“And I’ll decide if I want to give you more water,” said Vadesh.
“And we’ll decide if we want to go back to a time before you and your kind ever got to this world, cross back through the Wall, and never let you anywhere near us again,” said Rigg.
Vadesh’s smile never wavered. “Stalemate,” he said. “Come back into the city and you can have all the safe water you want. Then I’ll tell you what I need from you, and you can decide what you want to do about it. What could be more fair than that?”
“Coming from a genocidal traitor,” said Param, “I think that’s a generous offer.”
She half expected him to give her the same little flick of violence that Loaf had been subjected to. But he only winked at her. “You can’t hurt my feelings,” he said. “I don’t have any.”
But to Param it seemed that his violence against Loaf could only be explained by hurt feelings. Vadesh lashed out when Loaf taunted him for getting all the humans in his wallfold killed. Whatever Vadesh might be, he didn’t like being accused of . . . genocide? Or failure? Whatever it was that provoked him, it was clear that he could be provoked, and by words alone. He was dangerous, and they all knew it now.
We fear him. Maybe that’s the new tool he created to manipulate us, when we could no longer be deceived. So maybe he wasn’t provoked after all. Maybe he merely switched from spoon to fork, whatever utensil was appropriate for the dish he’d been served.
Just like Mother, just like most of the powerful people she had known all her life. And if there was one thing Param had learned, it was this: She couldn’t win a game against an opponent who could change the rules whenever things didn’t go his way. All Param had ever been able to do was stop playing.
So she disappeared.
CHAPTER 5
Decisions
To Rigg, Param was not invisible—he still knew exactly where she was, because her path was new and clear. That was how he had first discovered her, back in the house where their mother lived as a royal captive. Now, though, he made a point of not looking at her path, at the place where he knew she was, because he didn’t want Vadesh to have the option of moving his metal-threaded body into the same space she was flashing in and out of. Rigg wasn’t sure how much metal the body of an expendable contained, but it didn’t take much to do serious harm to Param.
“I know where she is,” said Vadesh to Rigg. “I have a perfect sense of time, and I know exactly how far she could have gone by now, even running.”
Rigg looked at Loaf, Olivenko, and Umbo. “Param made her own decision, it seems.”
“She’s going to get thirsty,” said Umbo.
“I don’t like splitting up,” said Loaf. “We can’t help each other then.”
“One thing is certain,” said Rigg. “We need to organize ourselves differently.”
He sensed Umbo growing stiff, resistant. Resentful.
“I agree with you completely, Umbo,” said Rigg.
“I didn’t say anything!” Umbo protested.
“When we started out, I was the one with the money. The jewels.”
“Still got ’em,” said Loaf.
“Do you want them?” asked Rigg. “You’ve had them before. I’ll give them back to you.”
“No!” said Vadesh sharply, before Loaf could answer.
“You’re not in this discussion,” said Rigg. “We can’t make you go away, and we couldn’t stop you from listening even if you left, but we’re not interested in your viewpoint, because as far as we can tell, you’re the enemy.”
“Those wild facemasks are the enemy,” said Vadesh.
“You’re their ally,” said Loaf.
“Please, let’s none of us respond to him, including me,” said Rigg. “I was making a point.”
“Wouldn’t want to interrupt your point-making,” said Umbo.
Rigg ignored Umbo’s dig, for now. “It made sense for me to pretend to be in charge at first because of the subterfuge we were using,” said Rigg. “Pretending I was a rich young heir and you were my attendants.”
“Oh, we were pretending,” murmured Umbo.
“Then I was captured, and Umbo and Loaf—you were on your own and you came to Aressa Sessamo to help me, and I’m grateful. I met Olivenko and brought him into our strange set of problems, and Param is my sister and she was in as much danger as I was. But at the end of it all, what I can’t figure out is why I should be in charge.”
“You’re not,” said Umbo defiantly.
“I’m relieved,” said Rigg. “The trouble is that Loaf and Olivenko defer to me whenever there’s a decision to be made. Which makes sense, because even though they’re the oldest and one of them should definitely be in charge, they don’t have any power over time, and they spend most of their energy sniping at each other anyway.”
“He does,” said Olivenko.
“You think you’re so smart,” said Loaf.
“Thank you for demonstrating my point,” said Rigg. “It’s asinine for the two of you to keep this stupid rivalry alive. Regular army against city guard—who cares? Loaf retired years ago and began two new careers—innkeeper and Leaky’s husband. Olivenko only joined the guard because his career as a scholar was wrecked when my father—my real father—died. An innkeeper and a scholar—but both of you large and strong and well-enough-trained to make anyone think twice about fighting you unless they seriously outnumber you.”
Loaf said, “He wouldn’t scare a—”
“Yes he would,” said Rigg. “Can’t you hear what I’m saying? Grow up, both of you, act like adults, and take charge of this expedition.”
“We can’t,” said Olivenko. “Not him or me.”