Thirty-Two
One by one, the Guild dignitaries filed into the broad hall. One by one, they took their seats. Though there was no formal placement
assigned, the natural hierarchy that worked within the Guilds manifested in
their choice of seating. This large
wooden barn, set aside from the main cluster of buildings on the old Men Darnak
estates had many times served the purpose for both impromptu and formal
meetings of the upper echelons of the Guild functionaries. Karin stood off to one side, close to Karryl Ky Menin, watching as they moved to their places, low
conversations stirring amongst them. She
had only the slightest tinge of nervousness.
Ever since word of Tarlain’s activities had reached them, there was no
question. She knew what she had to
say. She knew what she had to do. She only prayed that these, the men who made
the Guilds work, would give her the audience to do it.
The Guild leaders had come
from all the surrounding estates, in buggies and wagons and on the backs of
padders, heeding the urgent call to Guild business sent out by Karryl. In the front row sat her husband, watching
her with narrowed eyes. Three places
down from him, was Jarid Ka Vail. She
had that one, she knew, and she suppressed the slight smile that threatened to
creep onto her face. There would be time
for that later. Plenty
of time.
Torches lined the walls,
flooding the space with warm flickering light, and three high-backed chairs
lined the wooden podium to the hall’s front.
A long, low table sat in front of the chairs, forming a subtle barrier
between those that sat on the stage and those below. Just briefly, she was reminded of the meeting
in the Guild halls back in Yarik when her father had delivered his final
announcement. Well, this time it would
be different. Just how
different remained to be seen.
She scanned the faces, trying to judge whether everyone was here. A low buzz washed across the open space,
losing itself in the empty vaults of the high-roofed structure. She glanced at Karryl, standing impassively,
his hands folded in front of him, waiting for the noise to settle down.
Finally, the noise level
dropped and the fifty or so Guild functionaries started to settle. Karryl gave a brief nod and moved toward the
stage, climbing the three short steps, and crossing to stand at the center, in
front of the low table. For once, he had
worn a muted gray, instead of his normal pale cream. If anything, it made him seem more pallid,
waxier. He lifted his hands slowly and
held them, palms forward, for quiet.
“Can I have your attention
please? Thank you all for being here,
for taking the trouble to join us,” he said.
“We have business to conduct this evening. Important business.” He gave a quick glance around the assembled
faces, and then continued speaking.
Karin watched, looking for reaction.
“Storm Season is upon us
now,” continued Karryl. “And there is a
greater storm growing in our midst. We
are entering a time of change. This is
not a change in the seasons, a change in the way we conduct our business day to
day, but a change in the way we need to approach everything we do.”
“We’ve heard this speech
before, Ky Menin. Why have you brought
us here?” It was Aldus Yak Farin, a
Guildmaster from one of the subordinate Guilds.
Karin could not remember which one, and she pressed her lips together
tightly at the lapse. All she remembered
about him was that he was always vocal.
“No, Guildmaster Yak Farin,” said Ky Menin, completely unfazed by the
interruption. “You have not heard this
speech before. If you will let us
proceed, everything will become clear.”
Yak Farin snorted and sat
back in his seat, crossing his arms.
Karin knew the man could be discounted, but it didn’t make this any
easier. One or two heads had turned to
look back at him. Yak Farin met the
looks and snorted again, shaking his head slightly.
“We have important news,”
said Ky Menin, once everyone had settled again.
“Because of that news, I would like Karin Men Darnak to join me up here
to talk to you.”
The reaction was
immediate. A couple of the Guild leaders
got to their feet. Others called
out. Several shook their heads,
muttering.
“Wait,” said Ky Menin,
lifting a hand.
“Why should we?” yelled
someone. “You go too far, Ky Menin. Why should we listen to this?”
For the first time Karin
could remember, Ky Menin seemed to lose his veneer of calm. A flush came to his cheeks and he lifted his
voice over the growing noises of protest.
“You will listen! Or you will
lose everything you have. Is that what
you want? Now please take your seats and
be quiet.”
The uncharacteristic
outburst had its effect. Slowly,
gradually the Guildsmen took their seats.
Ky Menin urged them down with his hands, and when relative calm had been
restored, nodded briefly to Karin. Taking
a deep breath, she crossed to the stage.
She moved to the center, waiting as Ky Menin withdrew to slip behind the
table and take one of the seats. She was
suddenly alone, facing a room full of hostile faces. Another deep breath and she started.
“You all know me. You all knew my father. Every single one of you knew my
brother.” She picked out one or two key
faces and met their eyes. “Storm Season
is with us, but so is a time of change, a time when we have to act. The Kallathik are marching and we must defend
everything that goes to make us strong, to defend everything passed down to us
by the First Families.”
“Trouble with the Kallathik. It’s Storm Season. Tell us something we don’t already
know.” It was Yak Farin. “Why should we listen to you? How can you stand there and talk about what
was handed down by the First Families.”
It was Karin’s turn to lift
a placating hand. “There is something
you don’t know, and more,” she said, unperturbed by the interruption. “The miners have joined with the
Kallathik. And there are others. They are moving against us even now. Some of you may have heard that already. Well we can confirm it’s true.”
There was a stir across the
hall.
“Even now, they are marching
toward these estates, prepared to take from us everything that the Prophet has
granted us, preparing to rip away the very fabric and the order of our
society. You know me. You knew my brother, Roge. If he were here today, he would be the one
standing here before you. But he’s not
here. Nor is my father, Leannis Men
Darnak. We are without a Principal. So, I stand here before you, representing the
family of Men Darnak, representing that tradition that has kept us alive on
this world since the day when the ships first crashed from the sky. Yes, I am Men Darnak. Do you hear that? I am Men Darnak. I am my father’s daughter, and you, all of
you, need to understand what that means.”
“What do you mean the miners
have joined with them?”
“Just what I say,” she
said. “They have taken up weapons, as
have the Kallathik. But that is not
all...” She had them now; she could
sense it. One by one, she looked around
the faces in the hall, pausing at one or two, making the briefest eye contact
with others, but touching each of them with her glance. “They have banded together with the Atavists
as well. There is a combined force
heading our way, led by Tarlain, my younger brother—”
There was a stir across the
hall at the mention of his name, but she spoke over it, driving the words
home. “—and they mean to take us and
everything that is ours, to overthrow our social order. We cannot allow that to happen. By the Prophet and in the name of the First
Families, we cannot allow that to happen.
The very nature of everything we believe in is under threat. We, all of us, must work together to crush
this heresy, to place these fools back in the place they belong. Does not the Prophet tell us that everything
in this world has its place?” She spread
her palms wide, pausing to let the words sink in. “Now. Are you prepared to listen? Are you prepared to act? Are you prepared to do what we must to
restore the proper order to things?
You…” She swept one arm in a wide
gesture. “Have a duty to your Guild,
have a duty to the other Guilds, have a duty to the
Prophet’s teachings and the traditions of the First Families.”
Several of the Guildmasters
were on their feet. “What do we have to
do?” called one.
“How can we fight the
creatures?” said another.
She gestured for them to
resume their places and glanced back at Ky Menin, giving him a brief nod,
before turning back to the audience. She
could not let her satisfaction show. Not
yet. But the daughter of Leannis Men
Darnak finally had the Guilds.
“Each of you has men. Each of you has household staff and members
of your Guilds living on your estates or nearby. We must prepare. Guildmaster Ky Menin
has some plans. He also has one or two
surprises that will help us win this conflict quickly and efficiently. If you are all in agreement, I will defer to
the Guildmaster to share his thoughts, and we can plan together as a
group. Then, make no mistake, we will
fight. We will fight and we will drive
them back to where they came from and we will
restore the proper order.”
Seeing no dissent, she
nodded to Ky Menin, and then stepped around the edge of the low table to take
one of the chairs herself. She looked
out over the faces of the Guild leaders as Ky Menin started to speak. They were absorbed in what he was telling
them, and she sat back, at last letting the sense of victory work within her.
Two of the group had their
attention not on Ky Menin, but on her.
Yosset still watched her and her alone, a slight narrowing of his eyes
still evident. The other face turned toward
her was that of Jarid Ka Vail. She met his
eyes, gave him a long, pointed look and then looked away.
She would deal with Jarid when the
time came, just as she would deal with her husband and with Karryl Ky Menin. Slowly, she
savored the words in her head. Principal
Men Darnak. She gripped the arms of the
chair and bit gently on the inside of her lower lip. Principal Men Darnak. Principal Karin Men Darnak.