Korlat had not hesitated with the Malazan sergeant Whiskeyjack-Spinnock had heard the tragic tale, bound up as it was in the conquest of Black Coral and the fall of the Pannion Domin. And the prolonged absence of both Korlat and her brother, Orfantal. Nevertheless, Whiskeyjack had been a man late in his years-he had lived most of a life. And who could say if the union could have lasted? When, in a terribly short span of years, Korlat would have seen her beloved de-scend into decay, his back bent, hands atremble, memory failing.
Spinnock could almost imagine the end of that, as, broken-hearted, Korlat would face a moment with a knife in her hands, contemplating the mercy of end-ing her husband’s life. Was this a thing to look forward to? Do we not possess enough burdens as it is?
‘If not for your desire I could feel in my nest,’ said the woman now lying be-neath him, ‘I would think you disinterested, Spinnock Durav. You have not been with me here, it seems, and while it’s said a man’s sword never lies, now I truly wonder if that is so.’
Blinking, he looked down into her face. A most attractive face, one that both suited the nature of her devotion and yet seemed far too innocent-too open-for this life of uninhibited indulgence. ‘I am sorry,’ he said. ‘I waited for you to… leave.’
She pushed out from under him, sat up and ran her long-fingered hands through the brush of her hair. ‘We fail in that of late,’ she said.
Ah, so that is the reason for your desperation, your avidness.
‘It will return,’ she said. ‘It must. Something:… changes, Spin.’
He stared at her unblemished back, the graceful curve of her spine, the slight rounding on her hips that he knew to be soft and cool to the touch. The angle of her shoulders bespoke either temporary satiation or a more prolonged weariness. ‘Our Lord sends his regards.’
She turned to look down at him, brows lifted in surprise. ‘He does? That would be a first.’
Spinnock frowned. Yes, it would. I hadn’t thought of that. ‘I will be leaving soon.’
Her eyes hardened. ‘Why does he treat you so? As if he possessed you, to do with as he pleases.’
‘I stand in his stead,’
‘But you are not the Son of Darkness.’
‘No, that is true.’
‘One day you are going to die in his stead.’