Phantasm

“I hadn’t expected to see you again so soon.” Gustave leaned back into his comfortably padded leather armchair. He sipped from the twin of the glass of wine he’d just offered me. “Should I worry that some subterfuge is afoot?”

I smiled and sipped my own wine. “I’m technically still in my grace period, as Aubert — excuse me, Lord Duvost — hasn’t come back from the capital.”

The Iron-workers Guild master had smiled at the start of my sentence, but he frowned at the end of it.

“It’s troubling — it shouldn’t take that long to get confirmation. Either politics is interfering… or his Lordship is finding the pleasures of the city too tempting. Neither possibility bodes well.”

“I suppose,” I said noncommittally. “I’m headed that way in a bit, when I come back, I can pass on any rumours I picked up.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Tiring of the frontier life already?”

“Politics, I’m afraid.” I sighed. “As a representative of the town, I have to see the King to get our Charter confirmed.”

“I’d heard there had been some changes in Talnier,” Gustave observed. “Details have been hard to come by, but it did sound like you were heavily involved.”

“I’ve been doing what I can to improve things,” I admitted. “And now I find myself with some responsibilities.”

“That is how it often goes. So how can this humble tradesman help a town Councillor?”

I snorted at his little joke. “There are iron-workers in Talnier, but there’s no Guild.”

He nodded. “I believe there used to be, but it was wiped out in a monster attack. Since then, there’s been a shortage of workers willing to go up there. We send a lot of finished pieces up there, so I imagine the workers there are too busy to bother banding together.”

“Guilds form when the craftsmen are feeling oppressed,” I said slowly, working it out. ‘With so much demand for gear, and high shipping expenses, they can charge what they like, so they haven’t felt the need to press for better conditions.”

“Quite. Are you thinking of starting a Guild up there?”

“I’m far too busy with my current projects and responsibilities. Actually, I was thinking that you should.”

“Oh, I’m too old to leave here,” he laughed.

“Wasn’t thinking of it,” I agreed. “What I was thinking is that you should send someone you trust to form a branch of this Guild, rather than waiting for an independent one to form naturally.”

“What an odd idea.”

“Is it? I know a lot of merchant houses have branch offices in the different towns they trade between… is there any reason that a Guild has to be limited to one town?”

“I suppose not…” he trailed off, considering the idea. “I’ll need some time to think about this.”

“Take all the time you need,” I allowed. “But here are a few more things for you to consider. Talnier should be fairly safe from monster attacks now, and the Tribes are starting to trade with us. If my — our — Charter gets approved, Talnier is going to start growing. That means more work, but more of it will go to local craftsmen. If you want a hand in that pie, you’ll need to move some of your people upriver.”

“Hmm. You don’t change things by half-measures, do you?”

“Pfft. That is the half-measure. The other thing I want you to think about is the real game changer.”

“I hesitate to ask,” he said, but it was a lie. His nose was practically twitching at the thought of more money.

“The Guild is founded on the notion that there is power in numbers,” I started. “By banding together the craftsmen in one city, you can’t force the Count to do anything, but you can get him to listen.”

“Of course.”

“What if you banded together all the craftsmen in all the cities?” I asked. “Wouldn’t the King have to listen to you then?”

“That’s ridiculous!” he protested. “The other guilds would never agree to subordinate roles.”

“Branch offices are one way of doing this,” I said. “But it’s not the only way. What if the existing guild heads elected a Council — or a leader — of their own?”

“A structure… extending over the current one,” Gustave breathed.

“Allowing for advancement beyond what’s currently possible,” I agreed. “Promotion for Guild masters.”

“Whoever got the role would have to move to Dorsay though,” he said, scowling at the thought.

“Do a council instead, have people take turns for the role… there are lots of options.” I shrugged. “And whoever gets put in charge, you’ll have their ear. They’ll depend on you for your support in the next election.”

“It’s a very interesting idea…” he mused, gazing into the fire.

“I’ll leave you with it,” I said, finishing my wine. “I’ll see myself out.”

“Holy fuck, has the coup started already?” Janie exclaimed when she saw me.

“What? No! What are you saying?” I glanced around and found, to my dismay, that more people than I’d liked were paying attention to our conversation. None were immediately moving towards us with obvious intent to arrest us for treason, so a small mercy there.

“Are you trying to get me killed? Keep your voice down.” I said, urgently but softly. Janie protested, but let me drag her into a slightly more private corner of the bar.

“Sorry, sorry,” Janie laughed. “It's just that the way his Lordship feels about you, I figured the next time I saw you here would be with his head on a pike.”

“Duvost is still in the Capital, so I’m not actually exiled yet,” I explained. That didn’t mean I’d come through the gates openly, of course. Invisibility was just a sensible precaution and saved me a silver on the gate fee. I’d also slipped out of Talnier invisible and ran down by myself. My endurance and speed were even more incredible than the last time I’d tried cross country running when I was Level Three. With the others covering for me, I was hoping to be back before anyone noticed I was gone.

“Not back? Really? That explains why I’m still allowed in the Dungeon then,” she mused.

“You didn’t know?” I asked, amused.

“I don’t really pay attention to what that arsehole is doing,” she dismissed. “But if you didn’t come back to depose him, what are you here for?”

“A couple of things, I hedged. “But I’m here because I want to hire you for a trip.”

“Just as a guard? And where to?”

“No. And Dorsey.”

“Tired of the frontier already? Wait —” her eyes narrowed, “Is this all a plot to get me back in the same city as Aubey?”

I laughed. “Don’t be silly, he’s got nothing — well, very little to do with this. I’m meeting with the King to get Talnier’s new governance structure approved.”

“Talnier’s new— you did do a coup!”

“Nothing of sort. There were some troubles with corrupt rulership… a few things happened. I barely had anything to do with it.”

“And yet here you are,” Janie grinned. “Somehow in charge.”

“I may have put forward a few ideas.”

“Sure, sure. So the job is to escort you to Dorsay and back…”

“And as a guard, while I’m there. We might get access to dungeons — I’m looking into a few leads, so there might be delving as well.”

“Never boring, huh? How long are you gonna be?”

“Well, that’s the thing, I’m going to be waiting on the King’s pleasure, so it could be tomorrow, could be months.”

“Eh… I’m not sure if I can be outside the city for that long. My family…”

“If it goes longer than three weeks, I can send you back with a message for everyone in Talnier. You can check in on the way.” Not that Anchorbury was particularly on the way between Talnier and Dorsay, but running speeds being what they were, it didn’t much matter.

“Hmm… I guess that’s doable. I could sure use the money, now that I’ve got an apprentice to support.”

“Where is Maslin, anyway?” I asked. I had been gratified, and a little surprised, to see he wasn’t in the tavern.

“Oh, he’s studying at my sister’s place.” Janie waved her hand dismissively. She paused for thought. “Is it going to be alright to bring him along?”

I grimaced. “I wouldn’t be having this conversation if I didn’t think there would be some risks, but I don’t think any of the people I’m worried about are going to go after a kid.”

“And just who are you worried about?”

“Duvost. The King. Nobles, generally.”

“Ew.” Janie made a face. “Much as I hate to say something good about that lot, you’re right that they wouldn’t go after a kid. Even the worst of them would think him beneath them.”

“Cutter will be coming as well unless Felicia figures out a long-term sedative.”

“Aw, an orphan reunion! I’m feeling really good about this!”

“That’s it! I quit!” Janie exclaimed as the women descended on her. I laughed, hopefully not too cruelly.

“Come on Janie, show a little spine! You can’t get a dress made without a fitting.”

“All the more reason to not wear a dress in the first place!”

“We’re going to the capital, Janie, staying in the palace, even. We need to look respectable.”

“The palace? Really?” For the first time since I’d met her, Janie looked a little intimidated.

“Well… I’m pretty sure it's the least important part of the palace.” Messages had been exchanged between the Talnier Council and the… Court, for want of a better word. Nothing was to be left to chance so they’d wanted to know the size, method of travel and date of arrival for our delegation. In return, we’d been informed of where we were supposed to show up.

“Even so, that doesn’t mean I have to be dressed for a ball,” Janie grumbled.

“You will not be wearing this dress to a ball!” Didiane exclaimed. “If you somehow have to attend one, you’ll wear servants' clothing or get your Lady to provide something suitable, rather than slander my reputation.”

“A proper ball gown takes longer, is more expensive, and probably won’t be needed,” I agreed. “Dorsay has enough nobles to fill the ballrooms, they don’t need to make up the numbers with commoners like here. This is just for walking around the palace with me.”

“A waste of time, in my opinion,” Didiane said. “Even dressed properly, her vulgar class will show. Whatever possessed you to put tattoos on your neck?”

“We can cover them with a high collar, right?” I hastily intervened before Janie took offence.

“I suppose. And long sleeves.” Didiane glanced at Janie’s arms in disdain.

“I’d still prefer my armour,” Janie said, visibly controlling herself.

“I’ll mention to the King that he should change the dress code,” I joked. “But really, you need to stop complaining about free clothes.”

Didiane finished up her measurements and Janie was free to go… for now.

“Since you’re going to be in town, you can get another fitting when it’s done,” I said.

“I’m not coming up to Talnier with you?” Janie asked in dismay.

“Nope! I’m heading out before sunset, you’ll need to take a boat up with all the extra clothing in…

“One week,” Didiane stated firmly. “That’s the best I can do.”

“Right, with the trip time, that gives us three days before we have to leave for the city — so don’t dawdle. Or get into a fight with Didiane.”

Janie sighed dramatically. “So I’m just a courier now. And a clotheshorse.”

I raised an eyebrow. “If you want to save me the cost of a boat and courier the clothes up, that would be great. But since I’m sure you’d prefer to sit on your arse all the way up the river, I don’t think you get to call yourself a courier.”

“Fine,” Janie sulked. “I think I preferred it when we were down in the dungeon.

“Of course you did,” I said. “Everything was on fire.”