The Guild Secret (The Dark Ability Book 6) (10 page)

“We have to get the Elvraeth engaged in this,” he said.

“Interesting that you’ve chosen to use the word
we
.”

Setting the sculpture down on the bench, he turned back to Della. “I guess now that I’m guildlord, it has to be me, doesn’t it?”

“The guilds respect you. As something of an outsider, you might not see it, but I can. Others within the guilds as well. The only other person the rest of the guilds respect in a similar fashion is Ephram, and that has mostly to do with the fact that he is of the Alchemist Guild. You have a chance to lead, to bring the guilds together—truly together in a way that they haven’t been in many years—if you’re willing to take on that responsibility. A different sort of alliance than the one you were thinking about with the woman, but no less useful. Remember that when you meet with the council.”

“The council doesn’t want the guilds united.”

Della smiled slightly. “No. Which is why they must be.”

She made her way to the door, slipping open the locks before pausing in the doorway. She cast her gaze around the smithy before settling her eyes on him. Her eyes widened slightly, rolling upward as they did when she attempted a Seeing. It passed quickly and she shivered, stepping back out of the smithy without saying another word, closing the door behind her so that all the locks latched at once.

Rsiran shook himself and took a deep breath. What had she Seen? Did it affect him and those he cared about? And why had there been a brief expression of terror on Della’s face?

T
he palace wall
stretched high over his head, seemingly made of a single sheet of stone. Up close, Rsiran could see small pits in the stone, and moss and thin threads of dry vines ran along the surface. The air had less of the briny scent of the sea this high in the city, carrying less of the stink of fish than in Lower Town, and more of the fresh earthy aroma from the forest, as if the Elvraeth sought to remember the past and the time when their people had lived in the trees.

His hand went to his sword, and he gripped the hilt, a flush creeping up his neck with he realization that he wore it so openly now. Ephram nodded to him with a knowing smile. “You’re of the guild now, Lareth.”

“Still feels strange. All the time that I spent hiding who I was… what I could do…”

“A shame that you did. As much as I wish you’d come to us sooner, had you not experienced the journey that helped you discover and hone your abilities, we’d not have you with us now, helping the guilds, helping Elaeavn.”

Rsiran wasn’t certain
what
would have happened had he come to the guilds sooner. Had he stayed with his father in his apprenticeship, he would have progressed through journeyman, and then eventually to a full smith, maybe even master smith where he would have been eligible to join the guild. Doing so would have required that he ignore the part of him that allowed him to do all that he had. It was likely he never would have managed to learn the full extent of his abilities. The guild thought his abilities unique, but they weren’t unique at all, only through the challenges that he’d faced had he managed to learn what he was capable of doing. If others of the guilds opened themselves up to more exploration, would they develop additional abilities?

“It’s more than the sword,” Rsiran said. Carrying the sword openly was odd enough; only the constables carried swords in Elaeavn, though he now knew that the constables came from the guilds, which gave him the right to carry one. “It’s coming to the palace like this.”

“Through the door?” Ephram asked with a smile.

“There is that.”

“You have kept the newest guildlord from the council as long as possible. Tradition requires us to present new guildlords to the council. In that way, the council of the guilds meets the Elvraeth council.”

Ephram rested a hand on Rsiran’s shoulder. His deep green eyes caught the early morning sunlight, making Rsiran all the more aware of how limited
his
other abilities were. He might carry the Blood of the Watcher, but he had none of the abilities given to his people by the Great Watcher. Everything that Rsiran could do came through the connection to the Elder Trees and the guilds.

“In many ways, we are their equals,” Ephram said.

He’d told Rsiran the same when first suggesting the need to visit the council, but Rsiran knew Ephram didn’t fully believe it. He might speak openly about being equals, but there remained a deference to the Elvraeth, especially when faced with the imminence of going into the palace. Not sneaking in as he had in the past, but invited. Expected.

“Perhaps not to the rest of the Elvraeth,” Ephram went on, “and certainly not to the city, but the council knows the truth of how we must work together. You cannot be scared in front of them. Many on the council have served for years, and two of them are incredibly powerful Seers.”

“They won’t See anything about me,” Rsiran said, though it was more to himself than to Ephram.

“They won’t. Just as they cannot See much from any of the guildlords. It’s almost as if the Elder Trees protect us in that way. They are experienced, though, and use what they
can
See in ways that you and I are not capable of understanding, much like you can use lorcith and heartstone in ways that even
I
do not understand.” He patted Rsiran on the shoulder and dropped his hand. “Do you think yourself able to do what I asked?”

Rsiran took a deep breath, thinking of what Ephram wanted. The council wanted another docile guildlord, which Rsiran wasn’t certain he could be. “Where are the others?”

“The other guildlords will meet us in the council chamber. Were it not your first visit, you wouldn’t have need of me to guide you.”

Ephram made his way toward the wide doors leading into the palace. Once there, he paused a moment and the doors swung open. In all of Rsiran’s time in the city, he had rarely seen the doors to the palace open, and never for more than a moment when servants would come and go. The Elvraeth led a totally sheltered existence, avoiding interacting with the people of the city. When he was younger, that had lent them an air of mystery, but now that he knew what he did about the Elvraeth, and had seen the petty ways they acted, he no longer saw them in the same light. It might be easier for him to face the council now than it would have been had he come up through the guilds, blinded by their misguided reverence.

Rsiran had been to the palace twice before, and both times he’d snuck in, Sliding. When he’d come for Josun the first time, he had barely understood the extent of his abilities, not even knowing how he could
push
on lorcith. The second time, he had been better prepared, but still hadn’t known what all he would be capable of doing just these few months later.

“What is it?” Ephram asked when Rsiran hung back.

He shook his head, getting rid of the memories. “I could Travel to the meeting,” he said, though it was mostly to himself. At least by Traveling, he wouldn’t have to wonder what to expect.

“They might know if you did,” Ephram said.

“How?” If he knew how Venass expected him, he could discover some way to counter it.

“I don’t know. That’s a secret of the Elvraeth. I’m not certain whether you would be able to Travel there or not. The council would have protections in place to prevent it.”

Protections like they had to prevent Sliding? The council thought they could deter him from Sliding using the heartstone laced into the palace, but that hadn’t managed to stop him, especially once he developed a mastery over heartstone.

“Please, Lareth. This won’t be what you think. And Sarah will be there as support.”

The idea that she would be there did comfort him somewhat, even if she hadn’t delivered on the promise to discover what the alchemists knew about shadowsteel.

The halls of the palace were empty. White marble tiles gleamed under the bright light coming through the open door, and reflected the light of the dozens of blue Elvraeth lanterns recessed into the walls. The walls matched the flooring, only there were streaks of dark mixed into the marble. These glowed a faint blue, as well, but likely only to Rsiran. Heartstone. Infused into the marble as a way to prevent Sliding into the palace.

He’d once thought that Sliding had been one of the abilities given to their people by the Great Watcher before he learned that it was one he gained through his connection to the ancient clans. In that respect, he probably shouldn’t be able to Slide and hear the lorcith. They were separate abilities. But then, he shouldn’t be able to detect others Sliding, either.

“Where is everyone?” Rsiran asked in a hushed voice.

“This is the main hall. There are few of the Elvraeth who use this hall. They prefer more privacy than this. They have their rooms in the upper levels.”

“I know.”

Ephram studied him a moment. “Of course. You have been here before. Is that why you have such concern?”

“A part of it,” he admitted.

Ephram led him down the hall, stopping in front of a pair of ornately carved double doors. “The council is on the other side. You will let me enter, and then they will call you in. It is customary for the newest guildlord to join last.”

“I’m not sure that anything I’ve done is really customary,” Rsiran said. “And what I would have the guilds do—”

“That doesn’t change the fact that the Elvraeth would prefer to maintain certain elements of custom. I think that in this, we should be able to accommodate them, don’t you?” Ephram seemed almost to plead with him, but didn’t wait for his answer before he pushed on the doors to enter.

Rsiran debated following him in, but ultimately waited. As he did, he focused on the sense of lorcith and heartstone. Within the doors and walls, and all around him in the palace, there was evidence of lorcith and heartstone, bound together in the alloy. Particularly here, where the walls and even the door surged with the strength of both metals, as if the council thought to exclude those who might Slide into their chambers.

Ephram had asked that he not Travel, but Rsiran didn’t care for surprises, especially not when it came to the Elvraeth. They might not be the same as Josun Elvraeth, but this was the council that had exiled people of their own families, women like Brusus’s mother. What would happen if they decided he shouldn’t be guildlord? Would they banish him as well? Or would they choose a different punishment? He’d already proven that Elvraeth chains couldn’t hold him. And he could Slide past the heartstone.

Regardless of what Ephram said, he needed to know what he might encounter.

Looking up and down the hall, he saw no one nearby. What he intended to do carried risk—especially here. If someone came upon him while he was incapacitated, he could be harmed.

Perhaps it
was
better for him to do as Ephram suggested and wait.

But Rsiran didn’t want to simply stand off to the side and wait for what might come. He wanted to know what was on the other side of the door, and he didn’t want to be caught unprepared. Now that he was no longer terrified of them, he was determined to know what it was that they might want from him.

He stepped into the darkness near the door where the bright light of the heartstone lanterns wouldn’t quite reach. Closing his eyes, he Traveled.

T
he sensation was strange
each time Rsiran Traveled. He felt a kind of separation as his mind lifted from his body. With it came the sense of movement, but none of the colors that he experienced when Sliding, and none of the smells of lorcith or heartstone that he’d grown accustomed to, either.

Rsiran pressed through the door and paused. Ephram believed they would know if he Traveled, and Thom had certainly known, but that didn’t mean that these Elvraeth would be able to detect him quite as well. He held himself back, hovering along the wall, holding close to both the lorcith and the heartstone, thinking that might actually help keep him from being detected.

He saw Ephram first. He stood at the end of a long table, with Sarah on one side, and two others on his other. Sarah wore a long white robe that draped to the ground, and kept her hands slipped into the sleeves. Her long, blonde hair hung below her shoulders. When she glanced over to Ephram, Rsiran noted the way her deep green eyes flicked toward the back of the room. Had she noticed him somehow?

Unlikely that she did. She might be able to detect Sliding, but Rsiran had managed to hide his ability from her when he learned to Slide by
pulling
himself along rather than stepping into the Slide. As far as he knew, she didn’t have any way of detecting him Traveling, but then, he didn’t know enough about Traveling to know whether that was true.

He looked around the table at the other guildlords. He recognized Gersh, a stocky and short miner, who had streaks of black along his face from where metal had lodged into his skin during a mining accident long ago. A slender woman, and short compared to most within Elaeavn, stood next to Gersh. Tia was guildlord of the Travel Guild, and had an intensity about her that Rsiran found intimidating. He had been shocked to learn that Sliders had a guild of their own, but even more surprised that they had a guildlord. Tia was deserving of that title, though he’d only met her a few times since becoming guildlord.

Five Elvraeth sat on the other side of the table. All wore heavy cloaks of fine wool, embroidered with the Elvraeth crest in navy-colored thread. One of them, a man with deep wrinkles at the corners of his green eyes and what appeared to be letters embroidered along his sleeves, flicked his gaze to the door.

“The Smith Guild was fragmented,” Rsiran heard the man say. Wrinkled hands rested atop the armrests of his chair as he somehow managed to look down his nose at the guildlords. “How is it they have chosen a new guildlord.”

“A better question, Naelm, is how we have only come to hear of it now?” The woman’s words reverberated in the air, almost musical. Clothed in a robe similar to Naelm’s, she leaned forward, her aged face worked with worry, the green in her eyes bright. Her pale hair streamed down her back and seemed almost to glow in the light cast by the heartstone lanterns.

“That is a guild matter, Sasha Elvraeth, as you well know.” Tia crossed her arms and thrust her jaw forward.

Naelm Elvraeth leaned back. Rsiran had heard his name mentioned before, and knew from Brusus that he led the council. One of the most powerful Elvraeth, he was the one Rsiran would have to watch.

“A guild matter, but do the guilds no longer value the council’s insight?” Naelm asked. He had a deep and rich voice, and it carried when he spoke, almost bouncing off the walls.

“I think in this matter, the council’s opinion would not have mattered,” Ephram said.

A younger man sitting to Naelm’s left sat upright at that comment. “You forget our role in the rule of the city, guildlord.”

Ephram tilted his head to the side. “Do I? Or is it you, Yongar, who has forgotten what role that you play?”

Rsiran almost ended the Travel, so surprised was he that Ephram actually seemed to rebuke the Elvraeth.

“Interesting choice of words, don’t you think?” Naelm asked.

“Which one?” Ephram said.

“Forgotten.”

“Interesting in that you are responsible for them, or that you have ignored the danger they posed until now?” Sarah asked.

The comment was brash for her, especially when directed at the Elvraeth. Sarah was the youngest of the guildlords—or had been, before Rsiran. And though he’d only been present during a few of their gatherings, she’d always chosen to be relatively quiet around the others. Except for her father. With Ephram, she had been willing to stand up for herself, but then, she had alchemist blood, too. If only she would use it to determine what the guild knew about shadowsteel.

“Careful, guildlord. Your position is tenuous at best,” Sasha said.

“Do not presume to know the will of the guilds,” Ephram said.

“Do you speak for all of them now?” Naelm asked. “Has so much changed that the guilds have unified?”

The other two Elvraeth remained silent. One of the men, a very elderly man with rheumy eyes that barely looked up at the others, rested with his head on his fist. Every so often, his head would bob, as if he struggled to stay awake. Why would the council keep a man so old among them when he could barely stay awake for their meetings? The other Elvraeth was a beautiful younger woman with black hair and blazing green eyes. She rested her hands on the table and drummed her fingers as she did.

“The guilds have always been unified,” Ephram protested.

“The guilds have
never
been unified,” Naelm said. “That is why we have the predicament that we have. Had you managed to coordinate your efforts, there would never have been need for those without your bloodlines to reach the crystals, would there?”

“That no longer matters.” The old man barely moved his head when he spoke, but somehow managed to send his gaze across to each person in the room. Rsiran even managed to feel the weight of it and almost returned to his body. He had listened to enough to know that the guilds were not intimidated by the Elvraeth as he had expected.

Everyone turned to the old man.

“The smith guildlord has held one of the crystals.”

“You don’t know that, Luthan,” Naelm said. “We haven’t been able to See—”

Luthan turned his cloudy gaze on Naelm. “I still See well enough. I might not be able to See
him,
but I can see what has changed. As can you, if you would only shift your focus.”

“He’s here,” the younger Elvraeth said.

Ephram nodded. “As we agreed, I have brought him to the council. He is not like the rest of the smiths. He was not brought up through the guild in the same way that most have been, so you will find him—”

“That is not it,” the woman said. She turned and focused on where Rsiran hovered near the wall. “He is here. Now.”

Ephram’s face blanched.

Rsiran quickly returned to his body, and rather than waiting for the council to summon him into their chamber, he Slid beyond the door—noting a hint of resistance that he barely struggled to overcome—and emerged next to Sarah.

She pressed her lips together and almost frowned, but he saw the glimmer of a smile in the corners of her eyes.

“I am here,” Rsiran said.

Now that he was in the room, he noted that the sculptures along the back wall were lorcith made, and done with exquisite skill. Had they been from a time when the smiths still listened to lorcith? Would he ever reach
that
level of skill?

“Lareth,” Ephram whispered, the agitation plain in his tone. In spite of his firm stance with the Elvraeth, he still remained fearful of them. “I warned you to wait.”

The Elvraeth all started talking at once. Only Luthan did not.

Rather, he stood.

He had a stooped back, but even bent over as he was, it was clear that Luthan had been incredibly tall, even for someone from Elaeavn. He weaved his way around the table, leaning on the back of each chair for support as he did. His eyes seemed to look past Rsiran, as if he attempted a Seeing continuously.

“You are him,” Luthan said.

Rsiran nodded. “I am Rsiran Lareth.” His voice was stronger than he would have expected, and it felt good to be able to speak so openly about himself, and not fear his ability. If nothing else, he would no longer fear what he could do, and who he had become.

“The smith’s son, but also much more,” Luthan said. He reached toward Rsiran with a withered hand and grabbed Rsiran’s arm.

Not knowing what to do, Rsiran stood transfixed. He didn’t fear the man Reading him, not with the heartstone bracelets that he wore, but he didn’t know what else this man might attempt. He
was
Elvraeth, and Rsiran did not trust any of them.

“You have the Blood of the Watcher,” Luthan said. The rest of the Elvraeth had fallen silent, and each stared more at Luthan than at Rsiran.

“My grandfather is Danis Elvraeth,” Rsiran said.

Naelm looked at the others. “Was that name stricken from the Elvraeth?” he asked.

The dark-haired woman nodded slowly. “I believe he was Forgotten.”

Rsiran turned to him with Luthan still clutching his arm. “You might have exiled him, but I can assure you that he is
not
Forgotten.”

“You side with the exiles?” Naelm said.

A surge of anger clouded Rsiran’s face, and he shook his head. “Danis Elvraeth attempted to destroy my family, nearly killed me, and has attacked the city.”

Naelm frowned. “That is no answer.”

“No?” Rsiran asked. “It is all the answer that you will get.” He shook his wrist away from Luthan’s grasp and stepped away from him. “The Forgotten have attacked this city. Venass has attacked this city. And the Elvraeth do nothing, much like you have done nothing for many years, when it’s been well within your power to help.”

“You would allow him to speak to the council this way?” Sasha directed the question at Ephram, but his face remained neutral.

“He doesn’t allow me to do anything,” Rsiran said. “I have done more to protect this city from threats that this council has been ignoring than any of you. I have held one of the great crystals twice. I know how powerful they are. And I am the reason they remain protected.”

Tia actually smiled. It was the first time Rsiran had ever seen her smile. Gersh clenched his jaw. Rsiran hadn’t expected him to do anything different. The miners were nearly as dependent upon the Elvraeth to maintain their wealth as the Smith Guild. The other guilds did not depend on the council for protection. As far as most within the city knew, there was no such thing as a Thenar Guild or a Travel Guild.

Yongar looked at the other Elvraeth, his neck growing increasingly red. “The crystals can only be held once. If this… boy… claims that he has held them twice, then what else has he lied about? The smiths should be advised that he makes claims like this—”

Luthan watched Rsiran, his eyes still seeming to see through him. “I cannot See whether what he says is true.”

As the woman watched Rsiran, he realized that her eyes went distant in the same way that Della’s and Haern’s did when they attempted a Seeing. All of the Elvraeth had the ability to See, only some were more skilled than others. Luthan likely was a powerful Seer, and he had suspected Naelm was as well, but what if this woman had the ability?

“He Travels,” she said.

“I think we all saw how he Slid into the room,” Yongar said. His gaze drifted to Tia, and it was clear from his expression how he viewed Sliding.

“Not Sliding, though he should not have managed to Slide into the chambers as easily as he did, but Travel. A lost Talent.”

Luthan blinked. “Is that how you reached the crystals? If so, that is dangerous, indeed. We thought they were protected from such an ability.”

“Not Traveling,” Rsiran said. “At least, not the first time. The first time, I Slid to them.”

Naelm jerked his head to Ephram. “Your protections are so weak that he could
Slide
to the crystals?”

“I think you will find that when it comes to Mr. Lareth, any protection is bound to be weak. He is… unique… in ways that I’m still not certain of.”

“This is why the guild chose him,” Luthan said.

Ephram shook his head. “They chose him because he is the most competent of the smiths.”

Yongar laughed. “Competent? The boy can barely be twenty! How could he be more skilled than smiths who have worked with metals for twice as long as he’s lived?”

“Because he has not forgotten how to listen to the potential of the lorcith,” Ephram said.

“There’s that word again,” Naelm said.

Ephram cocked his head. “Forgotten? Lareth does have a point, regardless of the angry way that he made it. He
has
been the reason the crystals remain protected. After the last attack, it is even more critical that we have someone with his ability to offer protections. I presume the council would like to keep access to the crystals?”

“What kind of question is that?” Yongar asked.

“The same kind of question you’re asking the guildlord,” Tia responded.

No one spoke for a moment, and then Ephram nodded. “As is custom, we have brought the newest guildlord before the council. I think we have accomplished all that we can today.”

He turned to Rsiran and motioned hurriedly to the door. The other guildlords all followed as Ephram made his way across the tile.

Luthan grabbed Rsiran’s wrist before he had a chance to follow. He leaned in and spoke in a whisper. “The guilds need to come together or everything fails.”

Rsiran stiffened. “The guilds are together.”

“More than they have been in some time,” Luthan said, “but that is still not the same. I See that you can unify them. Perhaps you can do more, but I cannot See you clearly enough for that.”

Luthan released Rsiran’s arm. “Careful. There are those who would prefer that the guilds not be unified. There are those who would prefer the old ways fail, and the guilds lose control over the crystals.”

He leaned on the table and began to weave his way back around to his seat. Rsiran watched him for a moment, and then Slid outside the palace, emerging into the morning sunlight. After his time in the palace, even the sun didn’t feel as warm as it should.