"That doesn't matter either," said the old man leading Aron Ka Vail. Markis noted his livery and recognized the marks of Technologists: Karryl Ky Menin's personal household. "There are just some of us," continued the old man, "who want to make sure he's looked after. Now, will you do it?"

Markis nodded and the old man tossed him the purse. "Take him to Darthan. Find Men Darnak's men. They'll know what to do. Treat him well. He deserves at least that," he said and turned away without another word. Markis watched him disappear across the fields into the gloom toward his estate.

Markis turned back to his father, the questions still tumbling in his head. Aron Ka Vail was an old man. Whatever ordeal he'd been through had taken its toll. Markis had no idea what revealing his ident.i.ty might do. It was better not to risk it. Not yet, especially after all that had already pa.s.sed.

"Here," he said, guiding Aron's hand to his walking stick. "Lean on this. Let me help you back to the fire."

Aron frowned, as if puzzling over something, but then a cough racked his frame, and he doubled over, leaning his weight on the staff. Markis rushed to place his hand on the old man's shoulder.

"Are you all right?" he said.

"No," said Aron. "I am not. I will never be all right again. Not after this." He coughed again. "The Prophet fills our lives with cruel jokes. See, how it works? My misfortune makes you better off."

"I don't..."

"If this hadn't happened to me, you wouldn't have this job."

Slowly the old man straightened, Markis's hand still on his shoulder. Aron reached out with one hand, pawing at the air, and then making contact with Markis's arm. He felt up the arm until he found his shoulder. Markis swallowed back his horror. It was suddenly clear. His father couldn't see. He bit his lip, struggling to maintain control of his voice.

"Come. This way. We'll get you to Darthan."

"Darthan!" Aron gave a hollow laugh. "No, boy. Just take me somewhere where I can die. I just need somewhere I can end this b.l.o.o.d.y misery in peace."

"No, master," said Markis. "I've been paid to take you to Darthan, and that's where we'll go." He applied gentle pressure to the old man's shoulder, steering him forward.

Aron took one hesitant step, then another, leaning his weight heavily on the walking stick.

"You know," said Aron as they made painful progress across the ground and up the base of the hill. "The Prophet knows how to play with us. It's a cruel joke. You remind me of someone. It's something in your voice." Again, he gave a short hard laugh. "The Prophet's just reminding me how well I treated my own. No better than this. No better than this. And now, when I can no longer take it back, I would give everything to be able to do so."

The old man stumbled, and Markis caught him. He placed an arm around his father's shoulder to help guide him up the hill.

"I'm sure it will be all right," he said gently. "Once we get to Darthan "

"Didn't you hear me, boy? Just take me somewhere where I can die in peace. The Prophet can't do any more. There's nothing left. Nothing."

"Come on," said Markis. "We'll look after you, that's for sure. I'm sorry I haven't even got no padder to take you there, but maybe we can find one. We'll get you there. You'll see."

He caught himself, but the last words had already left his lips. Would the old man see? Markis just didn't know. Aron Ka Vail seemed not to have noticed.

Thirty.

Karin stepped into the broad reception room, seeing Jarid sitting waiting for her. He looked up as she entered, meeting her eyes and holding the look.

"It is done," she said. "We have all we need."

Jarid simply nodded, never letting his gaze lose contact as she crossed the room.

"Have you seen Edvin?" she asked.

Jarid shook his head.

"Edvin?" she called, and then to herself: "Where is that man?" She walked briskly to the doors at the end of the chamber and threw them open. "Edvin?" She gave a sigh of exasperation as she rejoined Jarid, pausing only to straighten a cushion on the way past one of the chairs.

They didn't have long to wait. Within moments, Edvin stepped into the room and stood to one side waiting. He glanced at Jarid, but his expression betrayed nothing.

"Lady?" he said.

"Where is Yosset?"

"There is something you should know about your husband," said Edvin. Jarid sat forward.

"Well, what is it?" said Karin, sitting as she did so.

Edvin hesitated. "I don't know what it is, but something in him has changed."

"Explain." She cast a glance at Jarid as Edvin continued.

"When I gave him the news, he simply smiled, as if the news actually pleased him. I informed him about the treachery of Guildmaster Ka Vail and he laughed. He accused me of being a fool." He paused to clear his throat. "I went on to tell him how Master Ka Vail here had acted with honor to defend the Guilds and he said I was an idiot. He said..." He paused again. "He said that Master Ka Vail was the traitor and he'd get his reward accordingly. That the Prophet would see to it. And then he threw me out."

Karin narrowed her eyes. "Did he just? Go and find him, Edvin. I want to see him now. Here."

Edvin nodded and looking slightly uncomfortable, withdrew.

As soon as Edvin had left, Karin stood and beckoned to Jarid.

"This is not good," she said. "And now I have to deal with the coward." She urged him closer. He stepped near to her and she looked directly into his eyes.

"You know, Jarid," she said quietly. "There are cowards and there are men." She lifted one hand and traced her fingers gently down his cheek. "I know which I would rather have." She paused to let the meaning sink in. "And very soon now, I will have no further need of Yosset Clier, my brave and wonderful husband. If anything were to happen to him..."

Jarid held her gaze, barely moving, just the slightest tremble as the ends of her fingers met the edge of his lips and she withdrew her hand. Quickly she turned away.

"You should go," she said. "Before anything...before Yosset gets here. For the moment, I need to deal with him myself. We need to inform Ky Menin to speed up his preparations. If Yosset is wavering, then we have to make sure of things as quickly as we can. I will have to take charge of preparing the men myself."

She turned quickly, pausing meaningfully before taking a step forward and moving in close to him. "Hurry, Jarid," she said in a low voice. "Go. Find Karryl and warn him. I will see you soon." She leaned in closer and gently brushed his cheek with her lips.

Jarid's eyes widened just a fraction, he swallowed and then nodded. Quickly he turned on his heel and just as quickly was out the door and gone. She looked after him, watching the door leading to the outside for a few moments, thoughtfully, and then moved to sit and wait for her husband. She didn't have long to wait. It only seemed like seconds after Jarid had left, that Yosset appeared through the door at the other end of the room.

"So, Karin," he said. "Welcome home my loving wife. I hear there's been a little trouble over at Ky Menin's."

"Sit down, Yosset. You're enough of a fat halfwit without working at being one."

Clier nodded sweetly and smiled, doing just as he was bidden, folding his hands in front of him as he sat, the smile still firmly in place. "So, what can I do for you?"

"We have been betrayed, Yosset. Betrayed by that old fool Aron Ka Vail."

Clier continued to smile sweetly. "So I hear, my love."

"And there are rumors of trouble elsewhere. I think we're in for trouble. We need to prepare."

"I have heard that much as well," he said. "Did you have a nice time with the Ka Vail boy?"

"Don't be an idiot. What has that got to do with anything?"

Clier nodded slowly. "Don't think I'm a complete fool, Karin," he said. "Just because I hold my tongue, doesn't mean that I'm blind. How exactly has Ka Vail betrayed you? What, by lending a.s.sistance to your father?" He leaned forward. "You tell me what const.i.tutes betrayal, Karin. We're talking about your father here, not just some Guild functionary. This is Princ.i.p.al Men Darnak, the man who brought you into the world, who cared for you, who looked after you, who saw to your well-being after your mother was gone. Who is the one doing the betraying?

"You were always ambitious, and that suited me, but you seem to have lost any sense of what is right and wrong now. I could overlook some things before, but now? Your father, your brother, Guildmaster Ka Vail -- what next?" He stood and walked to the back of the chair he had been sitting on. He rested his plump hands on the back. "There is a limit, Karin. There is a limit and the natural order of things will be maintained. The Prophet's will sees to that."

"You are a fool, Yosset," she said and laughed. "Hold to your superst.i.tions and that religious nonsense if you want, but it won't do any good. The only reason things happen is because people make them happen, belief or not."

"You're wrong, Karin. And I'm starting to be afraid of what you've become."

She got to her feet. "Better to be what I am than a sniveling fat cretin like you. By the Prophet, I don't know how I've put up with you for all these years. We do what we have to do, you useless slug. We need to restore order."

"There will be no order if you're involved."

"Shut up, Yosset and sit down. We need to talk about what happens next."

"You simply refuse to listen, don't you?"

"Didn't you hear me?"

Clier sighed. His shoulders slumped. He moved back around to the front of the chair and sat heavily. Karin looked across at him with satisfaction.

"See, you can't even fight your own battles," she said. "You're not a man. You're a useless wretch. There's no way I can rely on you. And because of that, I'm going to be forced to take extra precautions."

"So," said Clier, finally, a tone of resignation in his voice. "What do you want me to do?"

"Well, with Roge gone, and with Aron out of the way..."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, I don't know. Karryl had some new toy. He used it to get the information out of Ka Vail. It seemed to affect him more than Karryl expected. Anyway, they finally threw him out. He was useless. I can't see him taking any action against us now."

"What do you mean -- useless?" said Yosset.

"Well, I don't think he could see, for a start. Whatever it's done to him, he's merely a hollow replica of what he was. I really don't know if he'll recover. He was a mess." She waved a hand. "But that's unimportant. I need you to do something. As I said, with Roge and Ka Vail no longer in the way to upset things, there's only one choice. I need to be closer to Karryl. He has the only significant power base left in the equation. With him and me together, there is nothing that can stop us. And you know Karryl -- he still has a few surprises for the bleeding ma.s.ses yet."

Clier was frowning across at her. "You really don't feel anything, do you?"

"And what should I feel, Yosset? Remorse? Or satisfaction that those who have acted against us have been punished?"

He simply shook his head.

"So, pay attention," she said. "We need to call the Guild leaders together. We need to let them know what's happening and then plan how we are going to take care of the current situation. Ky Menin has some plans, but we have to convince all of the Guilds to act together. I need you to send out the call for a gathering, jointly with Karryl. That will bring them in. From there, it should be an easy matter to steer things in the way we want. You can take control of Primary Production fully, and from there..."

"What do you mean, I can take control of Primary Production?"

"Well, Ka Vail's out of the picture. The older Ka Vail boy is nowhere, and Jarid, well, he's just that -- a boy. With my help, he won't be any trouble at all."

Yosset leaned forward a worried expression on his face. "So what about the Ka Vail boy? How can we be sure of him?"

Karin simply smiled. "Oh, don't worry about that, my dear husband. It was Jarid Ka Vail that informed us about his father's activities in the first place. He left Ky Menin's estates so that Karryl could work on the old man with no clear chance of recrimination. No, we don't have any concern there. The young man's just hungry enough to do exactly what we want. You just leave him to me."

Yosset Clier sat back in his chair, his jaw set, his eyes narrowed again.

"Is he now?" he said quietly.

"So," said Karin, barely noticing his expression. "I suggest you get moving on preparing the meeting. We'll use the building here. That way we won't have to travel and it will give that little extra air of authority. The old man might be out of the picture, but we can still use him, or at least his memory, if we have to."

Thirty-One.

Tarlain stood upon the steps of the Guild building in Bortruz, flanked on either side by two tall Kallathik. He'd thought it important to have them here, though there'd been one or two moments while they'd been mounting the steps where he thought that the whole structure was at risk of collapse. He needn't have worried, for though the ajura wood steps had creaked and groaned under the Kallathik weight, they'd borne the strain. He looked out over the a.s.sembled faces, waiting, choosing his moment. At first, only one or two of the local townspeople had gathered, but word swiftly spread. It wasn't often that something this unusual happened in a place like Bortruz.

The Kallathik stood motionless. If he had not known better, even Tarlain could have mistaken them for totems. The slightest flick of one of their tails told him they were watching, communicating between themselves in that silent way he didn't understand.

He looked around at the crowd again, checking his words until the last few stragglers joined the back of the group. Did he have any right to ask for their support? It had to be right. He had a duty as Men Darnak, as a Guildsmen to make things right. If he let the Kallathik action go unchecked, only bad could come of it.

Judging that the moment was right, he lifted the spear he held, high above his head.

"Do you see this?" he said clearly. "Do you know what it means?"

A couple of the crowd frowned. One or two looked at each other blankly. There was the dull buzz of voices from the back.

"This," said Tarlain, "is the mark of a coming storm. A storm bigger than anything the Season can throw at us. Bigger than anything the Twins can throw at us." He shook the spear for emphasis, feeling the weight of the polished wood, then cast it down, so it fell in the mud at the foot of the stairs.

"What's your point, Tarlain Men Darnak?" said a voice from the middle of the crowd.

"Did you hear that?" said Tarlain. "You heard the name. Tarlain Men Darnak. You know who I am. But do you know who these are?" He gestured to either side at the motionless Kallathik. "These are the owners of this land, this place, this world. We are nothing more than guests in their place, thrown here by an act of the Prophet. We survive here because of their grace, no other reason."

"I've heard enough," said a man at the back and started to walk away. A brief mutter started to follow him.

"You there!" yelled Tarlain. "Stay where you are!"