by Brian Keller
Guildmaster Worthan grew silent. It was several long seconds before he spoke again. When he did, he faced Cooper fully and his voice was filled with disappointment, “I wish to hear from Felis and his group after they return from Jarell’s residence before making any decision regarding your punishment. Once we review their findings, I will need to confer with a few key Masters as we consider what will be done with you. I will say this: until further notice, from me, you will not venture outside the walls of the Guild. Not under any circumstances. Your instructors, if not already here in attendance, will be informed of your restriction. If you disobey me in this, your life will be forfeit.” He paused briefly, then finished with, “Leave us.”
Chapter 2
As Cooper left the chamber he was thinking, “Well, this is the second time I’ve walked out of that room feeling thankful just to be alive.” A soft footstep behind him caused him to turn. He half expected to see Master Vorni closing the distance between them and was surprised to find Master Loril walking toward him. Cooper let his head droop and shoulders sag. He almost would’ve preferred it to be Master Vorni. Master Loril merely said, “Walk with me.” After several steps Master Loril spoke again, “There are few within the Guild who know Master Worthan’s role beyond that of being the instructor for first year students and manager of the Scribes. I daresay that failure to maintain control of that secret would not serve you well.” Cooper nodded, “I expected that much. If it was something the Guild wanted known, it would be.” Master Loril nodded in response, “I figured you’d understand that, but wanted it said just the same.” He paused for a moment, then continued, “He knows why you did the things you did. Felis told him of your earlier suspicions, but somehow omitted the fact that it involved Jarell’s man.” Cooper raised his head, “Felis didn’t know about that part.” He lowered his head again, “I already made myself look foolish in front of Felis once because I didn’t think things through. I wasn’t about to bring some unfounded suspicions to him. Especially when they might involve a Master or a member of his household. And I wasn’t going to drag some friends along with me again, not after last time. But I had to do something!” Cooper’s voice had taken on an insistent tone. He truly wanted someone to understand him, and his motives. He respected Master Loril, and he was more accessible than most. Cooper felt confident that Utsef would understand completely. Master Loril was considering what Cooper had said and then replied, “You obviously performed well in the forest. It’s no small matter to impress Utsef.” Cooper jerked his head up in surprise. It wasn’t the first time he wondered whether Master Loril had some unlikely Talent. Master Loril continued speaking, seemingly oblivious of Cooper’s surprise, “And all reports regarding your conduct in Kalistos City and during your return trip describe you favorably…” Cooper interjected, “-Having great potential… if I survive, you mean?” Master Loril chuckled, “Not exactly how I would’ve phrased it, but yes.” He chuckled again, “You are still quite young. Sometimes it’s easy for several of us to overlook your age. You reason things out like you’re older than you are, but you’re still a long way from making mature decisions. That’ll come with time... assuming you survive, as you said.” They had almost reached the smithy and Master Loril stopped and faced him, “I have every expectation that when Felis and his group returns, your accusations and suspicions will be confirmed. This, however, will not really improve the position you find yourself in. Consider how things might have gone if you hadn’t succeeded in wounding Jarell. You’d likely be just one more dead Guild kid, and we’d be no closer to knowing the truth. You would’ve died for nothing.” This left Cooper feeling regret that he hadn’t simply exercised his Flow earlier in the fight. Had he accessed his full capacity, he could’ve possibly killed Jarell, rather than wounding him. He might’ve been able to bring this entire situation to an end. He trusted Guildmaster Worthan’s guidance about not using his ability until after he’d Manifested, but as Master Loril started him wondering about how things might’ve gone differently, there was an opposite end to that spectrum as well. Then again, killing Jarell in the third floor of that house probably would’ve created it’s own challenges. Unless Cooper somehow managed to get the body over the rail, lowered down to the street, and brought to the Guildhouse, all without being noticed; he couldn’t see how killing Jarell would’ve prevented some form of punishment. But at least the long-term threat would have been mitigated. Furthermore, the fact that Rayna had been nearby waiting for him, could’ve sent the entire situation either way. Worst case, she’d have killed him for killing Jarell. Best case, even if she helped him, he’d still be dragged in front of the Guild Council. No, he had to admit that no matter how it played out, best case, he’d still be in this predicament. Master Loril certainly had a valid argument.
As Master Loril turned to enter the smithy and Cooper turned away to return to his bay, he heard Master Loril’s voice behind him, “I’d advise you to follow your schedule closely for the time being. I predict you’ll be questioned a few more times in the coming days. If you aren’t easily found, that’ll make things less pleasant for you.” As Cooper walked back to his bay he was contemplating whether there was more than one definition for the word “pleasant”.
As he entered the bay he was greeted by a chorus of jeering roommates. The comments ranged from Trea’s greeting of, “Welcome back, Truant”, to Aden’s, “Glad to see you’re still alive. Where’ve you been?” Kolrem just stood in the back of the room with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring. Cooper shrugged, “I doubt you’d believe me, even if I told you.” Now Kolrem spoke, “Try me.” Cooper sighed and let his shoulders sag in defeat. He’d known this was coming and telling the story was an unavoidable necessity. Unavoidable if he wanted to have any peace, that is. He summarized the last several hours as briefly as possible, just hitting the major points and only elaborating when asked for additional details. Still, it was over an hour later before curiosities were sufficiently satisfied to allow Cooper to lay down. Kolrem followed him to his bunk and asked, “How’d you manage to defeat a Master in combat? You’re fast, but even I can beat you when I access my Talent.” Cooper explained, “He had only one blade, but even then you can see I’ve been cut a bunch of times. I just made sure I protected my vital spots and accepted I’d lose some blood.” Cooper shrugged, “I focused on defense and got lucky.” It wasn’t an outright lie, but it certainly wasn’t the whole truth. Cooper had used his ability to Channel and increased his speed to disarm Jarell. He’d been forbidden to use his ability, but he figured he’d prefer to be alive and face punishment versus the alternative. He expected that was a conversation yet to come, with Master… Guildmaster Worthan, in private. He also was pretty certain that Jarell noticed his acceleration, otherwise he likely wouldn’t have fled. Cooper knew he’d need to inform the Guildmaster about that, as well.
It felt like he’d only just laid his head on his pillow when he was being jostled awake. He heard Lash’s raspy voice through the haze of the recently awakened, “Wake up. Get dressed. Follow me. Hurry up.” As Cooper pulled on his boots he was thinking, “Lash usually isn’t too talkative, but he’s being even more abrupt than usual.” Then he remembered, Lash was part of the search team… “I wonder what they found?” As they walked towards the Council Chamber, Cooper tried asking a few questions, but was only met with a grunt or a guttural, “Quiet. Keep up.” As they reached the doors leading into the chamber Lash put a hand on Cooper’s shoulder and turned to face him, “At Master Jarell’s home, one of the Thief Adepts died. The other was injured, severely. Rayna’s injured too, but not so badly. The traps were lethal. I won’t say more, but I think you should know that much before you go in there.” Lash took a breath and set his shoulders firmly, “Not everyone believes your version of the story, but for what it’s worth, I do.” Cooper was reeling from the sudden blast of information and couldn’t help wishing Lash had told him all this as they’d first left the bay. Cooper supposed the Assassin had been mentally
wrestling over whether to tell him anything at all and had finally made the decision. Cooper figured, “Better late, than never”, and braced himself as they opened the doors.
The first thing he noticed was that there was a crowd on the dais. In his experience, it was normally left empty and illuminated to maximize its imposing effect. Miss Camilla and two other healers had their heads down, working over the supine forms of Rayna and one other who must be the Thief Adept that Lash had spoken of. A few people looked up when Cooper entered the chamber but most kept their attention on the two injured guild members. Master Vorni was one who looked up and Cooper saw his expression change from curiosity regarding who had just entered to recognition and hate. Cooper wondered what he had done to garner such a strong response from the man. Perhaps he simply had an overdeveloped love for the system of rules, and disliked any that broke them, but that seemed at odds with who they all were. Doubtless, successful Assassins had rules, but so few were unbreakable. It all came down to circumstances.
Cooper realized that he suddenly felt alone, adrift. He wondered at the strange sensation, “Why should I feel that way? I am surrounded by people I know.” He walked over to where Miss Camilla was kneeling down over the Thief. As he approached she sat erect with her eyes closed, she let her head hang as she slowly turned her head from side to side, “He’s gone. We tried, but there’s just too much damage. He had too much going wrong all at once.” She turned to face Lash, “How did it happen?” Lash’s voice always sounded like he’d been struck in the throat too many times. If not for the fact that everyone in the room had become silent in order to hear the reply, Cooper doubted Lash’s voice would’ve been heard at all. Lash’s eyes were downcast as he spoke, “The traps were lethal. Poisoned needles. Exploding bottles and jars filled with shards of metal and more poison. What’s even worse, I don’t understand why. There was hardly anything to protect.” One of the other older men spoke, “What do you mean? ‘Nothing to protect’?” Lash shook his head, “I didn’t say “nothing”, but if Jarell was holding the total cash assets of the Guild, we’re all in bigger trouble than we thought. I doubt the gold and gems contained in the vault is enough to cover our operating expenses for a year.” Lash took a breath and let it out slowly, “The dozen people who’ve been sent to retrieve it won’t have any difficulties bringing it all back in one trip. In fact, a few of them will likely have their hands free to guard the rest of them.” This announcement brought an immediate buzz of discussion. Lash had to speak louder to be heard over the others in the room, “We’ll likely recover just as much value by collecting all his furnishings and artwork. It appears he has surrounded himself with luxuries at our expense, and indulged himself at every opportunity. I’ve seldom seen such a well-stocked collection of wines.” It was at this moment that Master Worthan entered and as his presence stilled most conversation, his reply was easily heard, “I have just seen to the cremation of one of our own. Forgive my absence.” He turned to face Lash, “Jarell collected wine with my permission. It was compensation for the prodigious task with which he was entrusted. It appears, however, that he took many more liberties with our funds than was originally agreed.” Master Worthan scanned the room to see who was in attendance, and once satisfied he made a further announcement, “With regard to Mister Cooper’s flagrant and willful disregard for Guild rules and policies he will be punished for leaving the grounds without authority, for posing as a Courier, and endangering fellow Guild members sent to retrieve him. He is absolved of any accusations concerning his confrontation with Jarell, our former Master of Coin. I believe it would be difficult to accuse Mister Cooper of fighting a fellow Guild member, when it seems obvious that Jarell has essentially left our ranks some time ago.” Master Worthan waited in silence for any who might wish to dispute his decree. There were none, though Master Vorni looked like he was dealing with some internal struggle. His discomfort seemed to increase as Master Worthan turned his attention to Vorni and issued further instructions, “I would like Jarell found and brought to us. Alive, if at all possible. I’ll leave the details of the search efforts in your capable hands.” He turned and faced the assembled Masters and spoke again, “Our “Interim” protocols are still in effect. We are still facing a substantial threat. Undoubtedly there are still others in the city with instructions to attack us. Additionally, the Lord General has not relaxed his localized application of martial law. We shall need to manage these circumstances with carefully measured responses. It is difficult to determine whether our situation is the result of coordinated actions, or simply a combination of escalating events. We should proceed under the assumption that we are the subject of an elaborate plan, though in all truth the scent of blood will draw predators, no additional planning would be needed.”
The Guildmaster turned to one of the Masters. As he gestured towards the body of the Thief Adept, he asked, “Master Hefli, this young man is one of yours?” The man nodded, “He was, sir. Demetri was good at his job. He’ll be missed. I’ll see that he’s handled properly.” Master Worthan nodded and he turned and gestured Cooper toward him, then he again faced the assembled members, “Once we’ve recovered our remaining wealth, I’ll need three Masters to send me one trusted Adept each, to perform an accounting of our assets. Once we have that accomplished, I’ll assume duties as Master of Coin until a new one is appointed. Please consider amongst yourselves and identify a suitable candidate quickly. I have no desire to add to my considerable responsibilities, especially since we already have so much going on at this time.” He turned to Cooper and spoke quietly, “Come with me.”
Chapter 3
It was still well before breakfast, so the Copyist’s Room, which doubled as Master Worthan’s classroom for first-year students, was empty. As soon as Master Worthan had seated himself he turned his gaze on Cooper. It was not a pleasant experience. “Master Jarell, unbeknownst to many, is a very capable fighter. You claim to have fought him and lived.” As Cooper took in a breath to speak, the old man held up a hand to silence him. “I believe you. Just as I believe you could not have survived, and certainly couldn’t have forced him to flee unless you Channeled. Hmm?” Cooper looked down at his feet as he shuffled them, “If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be alive to accept my punishment.” He paused as he looked up and met Master Worthan’s gaze, “My greatest regret at this moment is not using it earlier in the fight. If I had, perhaps Jarell would now be dead and his continued threat behind us.” Master Worthan appeared to accept his logic, but it was just as obvious that he didn’t approve of the circumstances, “He is still a threat, true. But I now fear he is not our greatest threat.” Cooper immediately asked, “Sir, if he isn’t, then who is? Surely not the Lord General?” Master Worthan shook his head, “Suspicion. Fear. For Jarell to have been this effective, he has not acted alone. He had help. Your earlier suspicions, and my own fears, are now proven correct. The question that remains, is how far has the rot penetrated our ranks? Once we begin to suspect each other, petty jealousies will surface, accusations will begin to fly freely. Soon we will need to form a special council to deal with the internal threat. All the while, we are still being pressed from outside our walls. Yes, I fear that the discovery and subsequent exposure of Jarell’s betrayal is just as damaging as his actions have been.” Cooper had nothing to add but couldn’t help but agree, now that he understood. He simply nodded. Master Worthan gave Cooper a sidelong glance as he added, “In the short term for you, however, I’d recommend giving Master Vorni a wide berth. There are few as good as he is at keeping the Assassins in line, but he tends to hold onto things… like grudges.” Cooper shifted awkwardly, shuffling his feet. He’d only met Master Vorni twice and he came away feeling relieved that he’d survived both of those encounters. If Master Worthan had correctly described Master Vorni, he might need to think of some way to repair the situation; especially if he were to become a full-fledged Assassin in the coming years.
