The Third God Read Free Page B

intention was that no Ochre soul should find release through the proper rites, but, perhaps, there was a contradiction in Osidian’s goals that could be exploited.
    ‘What lesson do you intend the other tribes to learn, my Lord?’
    Osidian grimaced. ‘I would have thought that clear enough.’
    ‘That they will be destroyed if they oppose you? You have gone to some lengths to justify this massacre in their eyes.’
    ‘I merely administer the Law-that-must-be-obeyed.’ Osidian regarded him balefully. ‘It allows no exceptions.’
    The implied threat struck Carnelian hard. Whatever transgressions against the Law of the Masters the Ochre might be guilty of, so were Poppy, Fern and all the other Plainsmen of Osidian’s tribes. He focused on the moment. ‘The Law demands only that they should die; it says nothing about how their bodies are to be disposed of. We have seen how they keep their enemies as huskmen, using them as guards . . .’ He still had Osidian’s attention. ‘But eventually even they are released . . .’
    The maggots were gnawing at Osidian’s patience. ‘I said, they will see them hanging.’
    ‘You have summoned them?’
    ‘They will be here tomorrow if they value their lives.’
    ‘Then they will see your justice but, after, if you were to allow the proper funerary rites, you would only serve to force the lesson deeper by framing it in a show of respect for their ways.’
    ‘When they come, I march north. There will be no time for burials.’
    That statement seemed an unscalable wall. Then a way over occurred to Carnelian. ‘Fern and I will do it.’
    The labour required to save all the souls of his people must surely force Fern to put off any attempt at retribution. It would also provide them all with a channel down which to pour their grief.
    Osidian sneered. ‘Do you not feel already unclean enough? Besides, surely the barbarian would rather join his tribe in death.’
    Fear for Fern overcame Carnelian’s distress. ‘Would it not be better to force him to live as a permanent reminder to the other tribes of the lesson that you have taught them?’
    Osidian considered this a moment, then gave a slight nod. ‘We shall let your barbarian boy live until he next defies us.’
    The smile that followed showed how certain Osidian was that such a time would come. Carnelian could not let that go unchallenged. ‘Do you really want to have his corpse join the others lying between you and me?’
    Pain closed Osidian’s eyes before he could respond. Carnelian had time to calm himself, to realize he did not want to throw away what he might have gained, but there was another anxiety he could not ignore. He waited for Osidian’s attack to subside.
    ‘You really believe you can stop Aurum’s legion?’
    The shadows in Osidian’s face deepened. ‘If that becomes necessary . . .’
    At first Carnelian did not understand, could see no alternative, then he remembered that Aurum had been, with his father Suth, the prime supporter of Osidian’s election. ‘You hope he might come over to you?’
    ‘If he becomes convinced I have a chance to regain the Masks.’
    Aurum had once before risked all on a not dissimilar gamble. Dread reared in Carnelian at the thought of Osidian in control of a legion. Horrors flashed through his mind, but from these a thought emerged. Possessed of such power, could Osidian resist striking directly at Osrakum before the Wise had a chance to muster a sufficient defence? With the Masters’ focus shifted to the Guarded Land, the Plainsmen must surely become a peripheral concern. Then, perhaps, when the gaze of the Wise turned back towards the Earthsky, they might take more measured retribution.
    Carnelian made his way back to the hearth nursing the hope that his plan would save Fern. The stench from the dead snuffed this out. He could bear the nausea better than their pendular swing among the creaking cedars.
    When he reached Akaisha’s rootearth, his eyes could not pierce