Weaveworld

2

It seemed it was to be a day of reunions. First Nimrod, then the Incantatrix, and now – leading this defeated troop – Yolande Dor, the woman who’d so vehemently fought the reweaving, back when Capra’s House was still standing.

She too had changed. Gone, the strutting confidence of the woman. Her face looked pale and clammy; her voice and manner were subdued. She wasted no time with courtesies.

‘If you’ve got something to tell me, spit it out.’

‘One of your prisoners –’ Suzanna began.

‘I’ve no time to hear appeals,’ came the reply. ‘Especially from you.’

‘This isn’t an appeal.’

‘I still won’t hear it.’

‘You must; and you will.’ Suzanna responded. ‘Forget how you feel about me –’

‘I don’t feel anything,’ was Yolande’s retort. The Council condemned themselves. You were just there to carry their burden for them. If it hadn’t been you it would have been somebody else.’

This outburst seemed to pain her. She slipped her hand inside her unbuttoned jacket, clearly nursing a wound there. Her fingers came away bloody.

Suzanna persevered, but more softly.

‘One of your prisoners,’ she said, ‘is Immacolata.’

Yolande looked across at Nimrod. ‘Is that true?’

‘It’s true,’ Suzanna said, ‘I know her better than any of you. It’s her. She’s … lost; insane maybe. But if we could get some sense from her, we might use her to reach Shadwell.’

‘Shadwell?’

‘The Prophet. They were allies once; him and Immacolata.’

‘I won’t conspire with Corruption like that,’ Yolande replied. ‘We’ll hang her when the proper time comes.’

‘Well at least let me talk to her. Maybe I can coax something from her.’

‘If she’s lost her mind, why should we trust a word she says? No. Let her rot.’

‘It’s a wasted chance.’

‘Don’t tell me about wasted chances,’ Yolande said bitterly. There was clearly no hope of persuading her. ‘We move towards the Mantle in an hour,’ she stated, ‘if you want to swell our ranks, do so. Or else get about your business.’

This said, she turned her back on them both.

‘Come on,’ said Nimrod, and took his leave. But Suzanna lingered.

‘For what it’s worth,’ she said, ‘I hope we have time to talk, when all this is over.’

Yolande didn’t turn back. ‘Leave me alone,’ she said.

Suzanna did just that.