“There’s a lot of us to try and quash.”

“I know, and that’s what frightens me the most. Owain had guns and fear to keep people in line. The nest has dominance, which they haven’t been afraid to use. They also have the same skill I have with the city.”

Kristabel gave him a sober look. “Oh. If their strength comes from numbers, then you pick them off one at a time.”

“Won’t work,” he said apologetically. “They call themselves a nest for a reason. They’re like a family of the mind; it’s quite weird to see them together. Back when old Chae was training us, he made sure our farsight was always aware of where the others of the squad were. The nest has a more sophisticated version of that technique. I’d never be able to isolate one of them.”

“Ladycrapit, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. But they’re young, and they want to forge ahead in their own fashion. They’ve never learned how to accommodate other people because they’ve never had to; if they’re allowed to carry on the way they are, they never will. That means I might have a small opening.”

“To do what?”

“They asked me to be a bridge between them and the ‘weaker’ people.”

“Weaker?” she snapped indignantly.

“Yes. That’s their way of thinking. That’s what has to be broken.”

“Do you really think you can do that? Edeard, I know we never talk about Owain and Buate and all the others that vanished, and I never asked, but … you couldn’t make them change their minds, could you?”

“No.” He sighed. “But this time I really have to try.” Lady, but I don’t want to have to do that kind of thing again.

“So they share their thoughts all the time?”

“Sort of. They claim it’s a development of democracy. They’re still all individuals, but for decision making they communicate on a very deep level, in their own mental language. I suspect that’s how they overcome anyone else with strength; they can gang up in perfect union. And the more that embrace them, the stronger they become.” He’d been intrigued by the union they had ever since the encounter. To share thoughts so easily must be a wonderful thing, except they’d perverted it, using dominance to rid the concept of all equality. He suspected that Tathal was the cause of that. If the nest could have started without that malign influence, it might have had a chance to develop in a positive, beneficial manner. He’d concluded years ago that psychic abilities in the newer generations were significantly higher than among his own agemates. People were changing, adapting to their easier life.

Kristabel gave him a worried look. “Embrace or get subsumed?”

“Good question. Dominance isn’t my specialty, and the Lady knows I never found out how to reverse it.”

“No,” she growled.

“The one good thing is the way they’ve covered their tracks and set about amassing wealth.”

“How can that be good?”

“It shows they aren’t that different from the rest of us, after all. They chase after wealth and power just like everyone.”

“Taralee doesn’t,” Kristabel said immediately. “And you’re the ultimate champion of democracy. After all, you could have been emperor.”

“Yes, but … once you become part of the nest, you become part of what they are, what they aim for.”

Kristabel wrinkled her nose. “A blatant psychic aristocracy.”

“Yes. And then what happens to those who won’t or can’t become a part of it? They lack any signs of compassion.”

She stroked a hand across his cheek. “Poor Edeard. You have to find a way.”

“Easily said.”

“If you can’t, who will?”

“I know. At least they’ve offered to listen to me.” Which wasn’t quite what Tathal had said.

“Are they really stronger than you?”

“Who knows? Individually, I expect we’re about the same. Though Marcol certainly panicked when he was trying to contain Tathal. It’s this union of theirs which has me worried.”

Kristabel was frowning as she considered what he was telling her. “It sounds like Tathal is the leader.”

“He is.”

“But if they have this mental democracy, surely they wouldn’t need a leader. If he’s as strong as you think, especially when it comes to dominance, isn’t this nest just another gang, with him as the boss? The rest of them won’t even know; they just think they have free will. That’s always the worst aspect of dominance, how the victim just embraces it.”

“They did seem to be contributing to the union. But to be honest, I couldn’t interpret any of their combined thoughts.”

“He’s the key, isn’t he, this Tathal?”

“I think so. But the chances of me ever getting him by himself are slim.”

“He was on his own when Marcol confronted him.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

She grinned. “Of course I am.”

“So if you wouldn’t mind telling me, how do I watch someone who knows I’m going to be looking for an opportunity and is in control of the city the same way I am?”

“You’re the Waterwalker.” She pulled him closer, arms twining around his neck. “You tell me.”

“You did it,” Salrana said. “I didn’t believe you could or you would. I suppose … thank you, Edeard. I mean that.”

“Timath has withdrawn his objection?” a surprised Edeard asked. He’d completely forgotten, hadn’t even talked to the Grand Master of the Lawyers Guild.

“Yes. It’s all over. Once Garnfal accepts the Skylord’s guidance, his estate passes to me.”

“I see. That’s wonderful news. Er, did Timath say why he wasn’t going to challenge the will?”

“Not really. Just that he’d changed his mind.”

“Okay. I’m glad for you, really I am.”

Changed his mind, my ass, Edeard thought. The nest couldn’t have been more blatant if they’d bludgeoned Timath with a wooden club. They want me to know. They want to see what I’ll do.

It was surprisingly easy to work out some of Tathal’s possible weaknesses. Edeard put Argian on tracking down Constatin’s final movements. If he’d left any trace, any impression with people along his route to the Blue Fox, Argian would find it. Edeard at least expected Argian to find out roughly at which point he’d vanished. That would allow him to check the memory within the city structure. Any gaps would be as incriminating as seeing Constatin being abducted by members of the nest.

His second possibility was the other missing people. Golbon and Jaralee had been bemused at first. It was an odd request, seeing if they could tie in anyone who had gone missing during the last few years to the nest’s business deals, but they soon set to cross-referencing files. It was what they excelled at, and they had begun to enjoy the scent of the chase again. They even talked about bringing back other members of the old committee.

That left just the last two leads. They were the ones he needed to follow personally. And without a great deal of surprise, his first one took only three hours to confirm. After all, a station captain led a busy life. Especially Dinlay, who structured his days with meetings and inspections and appointments with civic notables and even made sure he went out on patrol with his officers three times a week. That left his wife with a lot of time to fill during the day.

Edeard floated in the middle of a transport tube, eyes closed, drifting along slowly as he kept pace with Gealee. She moved through Lillylight’s central streets, wandering in and out of shops. Midmorning was taken up with meeting her girlfriends in a coffeehouse for gossip and admiring one another’s morning purchases. Edeard didn’t use farsight; rather, he pulled the images directly from the city’s substance, feeling the weight of her high heels walking along, receiving the splash of color her bright orange and black coat made amid the throng, hearing her voice growing sharp with shopgirls, the scent of her perfume wafting through the air. Then, just before midday, she walked over Steen Canal into Abad, where she went into one of the little cylindrical cottages behind the Jarcon family’s mansion. It was the home of the family’s second farrier, a hulking twenty-three-year-old with thick ebony hair that tumbled down over his shoulders. Gealee particularly liked twining her fingers through that hair while her lusty beau pounded away on top of her on the bed, on the lounge floor, on the awkward stairs …