So,' he passed a goblet to the sapper, 'drink, my friend! And revel once more in the delicious sensation of taste, not to mention alcohol!'
'If you say so,' Hedge said, accepting the goblet. He swallowed a mouthful, and his hazy expression somehow brightened. 'Gods below!
You've done it now, merchant! I think I'll end up haunting this carriage for all time!'
'Alas, my friend, the effect wears off, eventually. Else we face an impossible burden, as you might imagine! Now you, Jaghut, please, the significance of the myriad flavours in this wine shall not be lost on you, I'm sure.' Beaming, he handed her a goblet.
She drank, then bared her tusks in what Paran took to be a smile. '
Bik'trara – ice flowers – you must have crossed a Jaghut glacier some time in the past, to have harvested such rare plants.'
'Indeed, my dear! Jaghut glaciers, and much more besides, I assure you! To explain, the Trygalle Trade Guild travels the warrens – a claim no other merchants in this world dare make. Accordingly, we are very expensive.' He gave Paran a broad wink. 'Very, as the Master of the Deck well knows. Speaking of which, I trust you have your payment with you?'
Paran nodded.
Karpolan proffered the third goblet to Paran. 'I note you have brought your horse, Master of the Deck. Do you intend to ride alongside us, then?'
'I think so. Is that a problem?'
'Hard to say – we do not yet know what we shall encounter on this fell bridge. In any case, you must ride close, unless you mean to assert your own protection – in which case, why hire us at all?'
'No, your protection I shall need, I'm sure,' Paran said. 'And yes, that is why I contracted with your guild in Darujhistan.' He sipped at the wine, and found his head swimming. 'Although,' he added, eyeing the golden liquid, 'if I drink any more of this, I might have trouble staying in the saddle.'
'You must strap yourself tightly, Ganoes Paran. In the stirrups, and to the saddle. Trust me in this, such a journey is best managed drunk – or filled with the fumes of durhang. Or both. Now, I must begin preparations – although I have never before visited this warren, I am beginning to suspect we will be sorely tested on this dread bridge.'
'If you are amenable,' Ganath said, 'I would ride with you within.'
'Delightful, and I suggest you ready yourself to access your warren, Jaghut, should the need arise.'
Paran watched as the two climbed back into the carriage, then he turned to regard Hedge.
The sapper finished the wine in his goblet and set it back down on the tray, which was being held still by the servant – an old man with redrimmed eyes and grey hair that looked singed at its ends. 'How many of these journeys have you made?' Hedge asked him.
'More'n I can count, sir.'
'I take it Karpolan Demesand is a High Mage.'
'That he be, sir. An' for that, us shareholders bless 'im every day.'
'No doubt,' Hedge said, then turned to Paran. 'If you ain't gonna drink that, Captain, put it down. You and me need to talk.'
Paran risked another mouthful then replaced the goblet, following as, with a gesture, Hedge set off towards the foot of the bridge.
'Something on your ghostly mind, sapper?'
'Plenty, Captain, but first things first. You know, when I tossed that cusser back in Coral, I figured that was it. Hood knows, I didn't have a choice, so I'd do the same thing if I had to do it over again.
Anyway -' he paused, then said, 'for a time there was, well, just darkness. The occasional flicker of something like light, something like awareness.' He shook his head. 'It was like, well,' he met Paran' s eyes, 'like I had nowhere to go. My soul, I mean. Nowhere at all.
And trust me on this, that ain't a good feeling.'
'But then you did,' Paran said. 'Have somewhere to go, I mean.'
Hedge nodded, eyes once more on the mists engulfing the way ahead. '
Heard voices, at first. Then… old friends, coming outa the dark.
Faces I knew, and sure, like I said, friends. But some who weren't.
You got to understand, Captain, before your time, a lot of Bridgeburners were plain bastards. When a soldier goes through what we went through, in Raraku, at Black Dog, you come out one of two kinds of people. Either you're damned humbled, or you start believing the Empress worships what slides outa your ass, and not just the Empress, but everyone else besides. Now, I never had time for those bastards when I was alive – now I'm looking at spending an eternity with 'em.'