Karch was having dinner in his private quarters when a fist pounded on his door. Only one person would dare to intrude on Karch like that—a messenger from Larsen. Karch took his time and wiped the gravy on his plate with a piece of bread. As the door knock became louder and more insistent, he finished eating his bread and wiped his mouth with the napkin.
The knocking had changed to pounding, and Karch had to smile as he placed the napkin on the tray as he stood up. It was a small thing, but making people understand that their urgency didn’t matter to him placed them in the appropriate mindset as to who was in charge. I am, Karch thought.
Opening the door, Karch didn’t even let the messenger speak. With a wave of his hand, he crossed through the door. “I know. I know. Larsen needs to see me.”
Karch had one problem—he hadn’t apologized to Keres yet, and he was unsure how to reply when Larsen asked him if he had. It was possible that Keres would be in the room and gloating as Larsen berated Karch over the lack of apology. Karch would apologize, of course. All other paths led to the dungeon or worse, but he wondered if his delay would cost him.
He knocked on Larsen’s door and entered without invitation, as he always did. To his shock, Larsen was standing and looking out his broad window that oversaw the Lower Quarter. The Craft Guild Tower stood in the distance.
“Sir.” Karch stopped in front of Larsen’s desk and stood at attention, his hands behind his back.
“Tell me what you think of Orion.” Larsen’s voice was calm, and the guildmaster stood motionless, continuing to peer out the window.
He knows I didn’t apologize, and he is going to slowly work his way to a rage, Karch thought. Stifling a sigh, he replied, “He is our most powerful ally.”
“Yes, but I am asking about him as a person. What do you think of him? Is he dangerous? Is he the type to betray his friends? Is he dull-headed and harmless?”
Karch paused. He always considered that there was more to Orion than it appeared. In fact, he had pondered whether Orion was creating some competing plot while playing the role of a bumbling man of the people. One of the concerns his entire time as Deputy was his inability to keep an eye on the Craft Guildmaster, as Larsen commanded that doing so was a waste of time.
Yet Karch knew that Larsen had a specific opinion, and it seemed pointless to counter it. “He is harmless. A simple man with simple goals. His lack of sophistication makes him very popular with everyone, but it makes him a good and predictable ally.”
“Yes. So I thought.” Larsen turned around. “Sit down, Karch. We have a problem.” Larsen walked over and sat down at his desk.
“Orion is a problem?” Karch wondered what Orion had done. Was he truly a formidable opponent and had he made a mistake? Did he tip his hand in some way? Karch entered the room assuming it was Orion’s nephew that would be the problem. Perhaps they were related.
“He marched in here and told me that I had to stop my plans. He outlined that they were doomed to failure, and you will not believe why.”
Karch’s first thought was that Orion wasn’t plotting but had finally understood the stupidity of Larsen’s plan. This is getting interesting. “Not seeing the flaw in your plan myself. I, of course, do not believe it.”
“Exactly. Such comments are nonsensical. Orion is of a mind that the Wretched Quarter is organized and run by thieves. Our mission to drive the Harvest guild members to the Wretched Quarter, rather than making the guild members miserable and open to our message of reconciliation upon Polo’s dismissal, will lead to them being cared for and possibly armed by these thieves.”
Despite his suspicions towards Orion’s motivation, the fact that he was well-known to rage against thieves made Karch consider the possibility that the Guildmaster Craft was simply letting the stress of Larsen’s plan get to him. “He has always hated thieves” was Karch’s simple reply.
“Yes. That was my thought, but there is more to this. Orion acted differently. He commanded me. Me. And he was outlining a specific line of attack against us, with one coming from the Great Bridge and then another from Traders Bridge.” Karch nodded his head. The scenario sounded distinctly possible if the guild members in the Wretched Quarter would organize with the help of the Harvest Guild.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“It was a threat, you idiot.” Larsen’s previous calm demeanor disappeared in a heartbeat. “He has clearly partnered with Polo and is going to rally the Harvest Guild members in the Wretched Quarter against me. He stormed in here, told me of this threat to me and for me to change my plans. Of course, he’s smart enough to know that he can’t threaten me directly, so he uses this mythical thieves guild as the method.”
“So if we don’t abandon our plan to clear the Lower Quarter and overthrow Polo, Orion will lead an attack from the Wretched Quarter while Polo attacks from the Harvest District?” Karch considered the scenario unlikely. Even if Orion was creating a path to power for himself behind the scenes, he would have much more to lose attacking Saxe and Larsen than going against a single Polo.
“Yes. Of course he backpedaled at the end of the meeting, but it was because I was playing dumb and rejecting his comments by using his own words against him. He made it clear earlier, however, that he is dangerous.”
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Larsen’s anger was bubbling beneath the surface, and Karch decided to simply move along, rather than ask more questions and risk Larsen redirecting his anger at Karch. Of course, Karch thought Larsen’s entire plan was doomed for failure with Orion, let alone without him, so there was no sense in arguing over details anyway. “So what should we do?”
Peering at Karch, Larsen replied, “First, I want your counsel. You were not there, of course, but your distance is valuable. What do you think of Orion now that you know of the conversation? When you first arrived, I asked you that, but now I want to know if your opinion has changed.”
Karch was shocked. Larsen appeared to sincerely be asking for input as to whether his own interpretation was correct or not. He had asked for such advice in the past, but never of anything of such import. More like, “should I trust the new chef to cook the eggs the way I like them?”
Karch’s immediate thought was that Orion was speaking the truth. Even if there were no Thieves Guild or organized thief presence across the river, the idea that the disenfranchised Harvest Guild members would organize was reasonable. Yet saying so would be disagreeing with Larsen. The consequences of that could be dire.
“Orion is looking to betray you, of course. I have long expected that he is perhaps more savvy than we have considered.” Larsen stared at Karch long enough that he felt uncomfortable, as if Larsen were weighing the truthfulness of his words.
Finally, Larsen sighed loudly and replied, “Your conclusion is correct, but your perception of his character is wrong.” Karch wondered if Larsen had asked simply to disagree with Karch, there being no correct answer. Larsen shook his head. “I’ve always liked Orion, and he is a good man, but something has happened to him. Whether he is being blackmailed or scared or simply gone insane—it doesn’t matter—he must be dealt with.”
Larsen held up a finger. “We must be discreet, but we must be forceful. Go to Pattis and work with him on assassinating Orion in some fashion that will deflect blame. He is still our ally, so perhaps we can blame Polo. Yes, in fact, that is the perfect plan. Kill Orion and blame Polo.”
Karch knew the words were coming, but they still shocked him. Orion was beloved almost as much as Pietro. His death could reasonably be connected to Polo, so the chances of the plan succeeding weren’t what concerned Karch. It was Larsen’s complete disregard for the power vacuum that would ensue from Orion’s death. The city was already in a de facto civil war, and Orion’s death would seed greater chaos and a greater likelihood that the entire fabric of the city would collapse.
Yet there was no option in that room at that time other than to agree. “As you wish, Guildmaster. I will work with Pattis on this right away. We will make sure that Polo is blamed for Orion’s death.”
“It is as it should be.” Larsen pushed his chair back to stand up, and Karch scrambled to his feet. As Larsen walked back to stare out his window, he muttered a “you are dismissed,” but his thoughts already seemed to be focused on the Craft Tower in the distance.
Karch found Pattis arguing with a guild guard captain about clearing the Pit, word had come that the Harvest Guild families had massacred a group of Merchant Guild members out of anger. Karch was not surprised, the Pit was a particularly nasty and dirty section of the Flats. “Just kill them all, Pattis. That appears to be your style, anyway.”
Pattis turned to Karch. “Where in the name of the gods have you been any way? You are supposed to be handling this now that you’re back. I’m not the Deputy Guildmaster!”
“No, you are not,” Karch replied coolly as the guard used Karch’s interruption as an opportunity to escape his argument with Pattis.
“Well, what do you want? I’m busy trying to clean up a mess that I had hoped you would have handled already.”
“Whatever you’re dealing with is unimportant. Larsen has a mission for you, and it’s one that is more appropriate for your… talents.” Karch pointed toward the stairway. “But we need privacy for this discussion. Let us speak in your office.”
Purposefully bumping into Karch as he walked by, Pattis gave Karch a hard stare as he started toward his office. He acts like a child, Karch thought.
Pattis walked over and plopped onto his couch. “I’m starting not to like you, Karch. You’re nowhere to be found except when you need to order me around.”
“I’m not ordering you around, Larsen is.” Before Pattis could reply, Karch added, “And you never liked me.”
Smiling, Pattis replied, “That’s true. So, what is this new job?”
“You are to assassinate Orion and make it look like Polo’s Blade did the job.”
Pattis sat up straight. “Oooh, that is interesting.” Rubbing his hands together, he added, “I have a few ideas already.”
“Very good.” Karch paused, wondering if it was worthwhile to ask if Pattis was concerned about the consequences.
“Is there a time frame?”
“It’s Larsen. You’ve already taken too long.”
Pattis smiled again. “That’s true.”
“Larsen will want you to report to me when you finish.”
“Of course.”
Pattis sat quietly, so Karch just turned and started toward the door. He paused at the threshold. Everything screamed to him that he was helping build his own gallows. He knew that Larsen’s plan was a disaster, but with Orion around there was some hope that Karch could salvage something out of the wreckage. Now with Orion being removed, Karch could see nothing but chaos and death, with anyone at a senior level in the Merchant Guild ending up hanging from a rope.
He turned to Pattis. “Pattis, what do you think will happen once Orion is dead?”
Pattis looked surprised that Karch had asked him a serious question. After a moment, he replied, “I don’t care. I have a job to do. I do the job, and good things happen. Simple as that.”
Karch nodded. “Yes. Simple as that.”
He walked out and started down the staircase. He didn’t have any good options, but he at least had options. It would not be long before he wouldn’t have any.
At the stables, Karch called up a guild carriage, an open one that was more for speed than diplomacy or protection. “Where to, sir?”
Karch crawled up in the back, behind the drive. “The Knight Tower. Quickly.”
“Yes, sir.”
The carriage made its way down Merchant Avenue and then around Craft Tower. Karch could still smell the burning wood in the air. The carriage was taking the road that ran along the Wall all the way to the Knight Tower. It was longer than going straight through the Flats, but it would be faster with fewer intersections and stops. And, of course, avoided the chaos.
The carriage was fast, and Karch’s blue cape billowed out behind him. Unclasping it from around his shoulders, he rolled it up into a ball and placed it on the seat next to him.
As he rode past, the sound of metal crashing against metal and screams of pain and anger came from his left. It was the Pit, and Karch could imagine the Harvest Guild members being dragged from their wretched homes and slaughtered in the streets. Polo will not be forgiving, Karch thought, and that was one of the reasons for his journey.
The carriage stopped at the Knight Tower, and Karch climbed out. From behind him, the driver shouted out, “Sir, you’ve forgotten your guild colors!” but Karch ignored him, continuing to the Knight Tower with a grim look on his face.
Left behind, his blue cloak flapped in the wind.