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the side.
    Cowards. Can’t they do anything without me ? Tolos stepped forward and bowed his head.
    “His death was instant, Cursed Master,” he said, keeping his voice appropriately low, yet clear enough to carry through the hollow stone courtyard. “A blade between the collarbones.”
    The Reincarnate prodded the dead man’s head with the tip of his boot. The head rolled sideways, exposing the gaping wound at the base of the throat. There was no blood around the narrow triangular entrance wound. The blade had gone deep enough to reach the heart.
    “Kaddim Nimos was not only a great master of his Gift,” the Reincarnate said. “He was also a formidable swordsman.”
    He raised his head and met Tolos’s gaze. It was unnerving to see the man’s irises, whose bloodshot redness filled his eyes with an inhuman glow. Tolos knew that his own eyes, whose pale brown bordered on yellow, were equally unnerving to some of the weaker members of the Brotherhood, but he could never fully understand how they felt, outside the rare moments when the Cursed Master himself graced him with a direct look. He felt a chill run down his spine as he returned the gaze.
    “The man who struck him down,” he said, “was a Majat of the Diamond rank.”
    The Reincarnate nodded. The setting sun chose that exact moment to slide behind the main dome of the Shal Addim Temple, submerging the courtyard fully into shadows. In the dusk the Reincarnate’s eyes glowed like coals.
    “Aghat Mai.”
    “Yes, Cursed Master.”
    The Reincarnate threw another thoughtful look at the body by his feet.
    “The Majat are becoming a problem. How was he able to withstand our power?”
    Tolos sighed. The fight at the Illitand Castle had been a disaster, with the Kaddim warriors pitched against three combat-effective Diamond Majat who appeared to be immune to Kaddim mind control. It was not supposed to have happened this way.
    “We don’t know, Master,” he said. “We are still investigating. We believe Prince Kythar Dorn had something to do with it. His ability to resist us can apparently be passed on to others.”
    The Reincarnate shook his head. “His ability is a problem indeed: one that we are hopefully about to address once and for all.”
    “Indeed, Cursed Master,” Tolos mumbled. “As soon as the Majat are out of the way, we should have no trouble dealing with the Prince and his ability.”
    “ He who commands the Majat commands the Empire ,” the Reincarnate said quietly.
    Tolos raised his eyebrows. “I beg your pardon, Master?”
    The Reincarnate chuckled. “An old saying, Kaddim. Yet, it couldn’t be more true. The Majat’s political independence, combined with their military strength, has made them a dangerous weapon. Their alliance, if they ever choose to form any, could guarantee victory in any war. Yet, their desire for independence in this case should become their undoing. The strike we are planning will strip the Majat of their power once and for all.”
    “With Our Lord’s will, Cursed Master,” Tolos said.
    The Reincarnate nodded. “Have you delivered the news of Aghat Mai’s treason to the Majat Guild?”
    Tolos bowed. “Yes, Cursed Master.”
    “And I believe you’ve also sent the message to the King from the Conclave?”
    Tolos bowed. “As you instructed, Master.”
    The Reincarnate’s red eyes lit up with a gleam of interest. “Whose head did you send him, Kaddim Tolos?”
    “The Chief Inquisitor, Brother Valdos.”
    “I thought he was one of ours.”
    “He proved... meddlesome, Master. I felt he was too much trouble alive. Besides, Kaddim Farros’s men could handle the inquisition much better. His Power to Kill–”
    “Inquisition is not about killing, Kaddim Tolos. It’s about keeping a man alive for as long as necessary. But these are minor things, of course. We have bigger plots to unfold.”
    “Indeed, Master.”
    “Good. Then, things are in motion. How did the Majat Guildmaster take the news?”
    Tolos