Who is Kellanved's child?

The substance of this entry is taken from this thread on Malazanempire.com. If you disagree with the answer given below, then please discuss it there.

The single reference to Kellanved's child comes in a conversation between Tayschrenn and Shadowthrone, near the end of BH.

"...Neither spoke for a time after that, until the god murmured, 'My poor Wickans...'

'They are not as vulnerable as you fear, Emperor. They will have Nil and Nether. They will have Temul, and when Temul is old, decades from now, he will have a young warrior to teach, whose name shall be Coltaine.' He clasped his hands behind his back, frowning down at the smoke-wreathed city as the first greying of dawn approached. 'If you would fear,' he said, 'fear for your own child.'

'I fear nothing-'

'Liar. You heard Temper step out of Coop's - and you fled.'

'Expedience!'

'Unquestionably....'''

- (BH, UK TPB p.882)

The clear implication of this is that Kellanved's "child" is the Malazan Empire. Tayschrenn looks to the capital, battered and burning, and then turns to the man who forged that Empire and warns him of the danger it faces.

However, people have been known to read the above passage and come to the conclusion that Temper is the "child". The only support for this appears to be the proximity between the references to the child and to Temper. It is very important to note that the subject changes before the mention of Temper, and that he is only brought up as an example of something that Shadowthrone fears, not the child that he should fear for. Shadowthrone certainly does fear Temper, but that's not relevant here.

It is possible that Tayschrenn was referring to a biological child of Kellanved's, but there's no reason to favour that explanation over the obvious interpretation given above. Plus it just seems too "soap opera" for this series. Do you believe that SE is going to start down the road of "No Luke, I am your father!"-level plot twists?

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