Chapter 10 Secrets Unveiled #2
“No. And I fear that might have been a mistake on our end. We never told him when he was little, fearing he might accidentally pass it on. And when he became older, it became clear he wouldn’t share our views.
For him, the guilds, the law and the way things are supposed to be are indisputable.
We tried to teach him what we learned from Voldrik subtly — too subtly.
Don’t get me wrong. I love our son, but he doesn’t see things the way we do. ”
“Okay, but why are you telling me — us — now?” Kraghtol asked with growing confusion, and Torven chuckled.
“Because it’s a valuable lesson, and I think you are in a position to understand.
The guilds are not your friends. They are playing games according to rules they have set up themselves.
Perhaps the structures they built over the course of the last 370 years allowed people to prosper, but only in the way the guilds deemed right.
And every playing piece not willing to take its place has to be removed from the board.
The system is not designed to make you succeed or to make you happy.
If you do or are, it’s just a tolerated side-effect. ”
Valir shook his head, but without conviction.
“That’s… difficult to believe. If the guild administration doesn’t mean to better the life of everyone, what is it there for, then?”
“Power.” Kraghtol took a moment to realize he had answered. “As long as the guilds get to decide, everything is fine. We even talked about that when they admitted me to the school.”
Torven nodded hesitantly.
“Yes. I often wondered if there were ulterior motives beyond that, but if there were, they remain hidden so well they might as well not exist at all.”
He took another drag of his pipe and focused on Kraghtol.
“Regardless, there’s one more lesson in my story. The guilds’ power is not absolute. But you gain little by openly opposing them. What Voldrik did was beat them at their own game. It’s difficult to do so, but not impossible. Consider this: Who wrote the expulsion letter?”
“Dean Quenning. What are you getting at?”
“Why her?”
Valir’s eyes grew wider at Torven’s reply, but Kraghtol was still confused.
“I suppose things like this are her job?”
“Perhaps, but she is not the highest authority of the guild here in Winterstone. And she is not the one you made your contract with, I suppose.”
“No, that’s Mr. Virex, the guild master.”
“So, why wasn’t he the one to throw you out?” Valir interjected, and Torven smiled a thin smile.
“I suppose he was not available? I mean, there’s no reason for him not to do it himself otherwise… except…”
Now realization set in, and Kraghtol continued slowly.
“…except if he would not have been able to. Because… we have a contract.”
Kraghtol tried hard to remember the wording of the contract.
“Which means if I’m not in ‘severe breach’ of the guild laws, he wouldn’t be able to expel me. And Mrs. Urdson already told me she didn’t know any laws forbidding a half-orc from joining the guild. But what about the potion? Isn’t that enough?”
Marla shook her head.
“It’s strictly forbidden to sell or create alchemical mixtures without guild approval. But owning or using one isn’t exactly against the law, just frowned upon. If anything, that could only count as a minor offense.”
“It makes sense if you think about it. If you were in severe breach of the law, the… orderkeeper would have prosecuted you further. But he didn’t.”
Kraghtol did not miss how Torven talked about his son and felt a pinch of pity for the older man.
“No, guild master Thalen Virex would not have been able to expel you. I believe he wouldn’t even be able to let it happen if he consciously knew, although I admit I never fully understood how the whole alchemical contract thing works on that level of detail —”
“It’s about perceived agency. If he believes he could have reasonably prevented it, it would have been against his contract. If they tell him later and there’s nothing he can do to make it right, the backlash will be milder.”
Marla had interjected.
“It’s all very subjective and tricky. Take this explanation, for example.
I know you, Torven, should know the details of how alchemical contracts work.
Mr. el Greylune and Kragh, on the other hand, don’t.
If I weren’t deeply convinced that the expulsion was void, I would have suffered a backlash for sharing alchemical secrets with outsiders now.
But it works at the deepest roots of belief.
You can’t just conveniently lie to yourself to circumvent a contract. ”
Valir sucked in air between his teeth, producing a quiet whistling sound.
“Stars above, your mind is sharp.”
“But wait,” Kraghtol interrupted, his mind already jumping ahead three steps. “Doesn’t that mean that I just have to talk to local guild master Virex? If what you’re saying is true, he would have no choice but to overrule the dean and take back the expulsion.”
Torven nodded.
“Yes, that is exactly what I mean. If you were to talk to Virex, you would beat them at their own game. And that is why the guilds will do everything in their power to prevent you from seeing him. There is no way you will get an appointment.”
“At least not in the official way,” Valir added with an almost amused gleam in his eyes, and Kraghtol wondered if the noble was actually enjoying the chance to defy the rules of society like that. “But I might have a different idea…”
Kraghtol shivered under his borrowed cloak, but it was not from the cold of the early spring night alone.
Now that he stood here, in the dark alley bordering the guild master’s house, the plan didn’t sound so sane after all.
If he couldn’t speak to Thalen Virex using the official channels, he would just have to visit him unofficially.
Marla had known where he lived, and that he wasn’t married or had children, which meant he probably lived alone.
It all sounded logical and easy when Valir explained that his best chance would be to be quick about it.
The longer he waited, the more could go wrong in the meantime.
And so, Kraghtol found himself in front of the house in question just a few hours later, on the same night, trying to persuade himself to go on. It felt just illegal.
The house wasn’t even that big, definitely smaller than he had expected for a man of this rank.
It was in the Commercial Quarter, right next to the production laboratories of the Alchemists’ Guild.
Kraghtol had never been in this part of the guild’s grounds before, but he knew that this was where the potent mixtures, potions and varnishes the guild sold were produced and researched.
There even was a small foundry that bordered the guild master’s house, and Kraghtol vaguely remembered having heard about alchemical metallurgy in one of his lessons, a technique that had only been developed rather recently.
He shook his head. Enough stalling. Steeling himself for the confrontation ahead, he walked up the silent pathway leading to the door and used the door knocker.
The guild master was surely already asleep, so Kraghtol waited impatiently.
When the house remained silent for several minutes, he knocked again, louder this time.
That startled a cat nearby, which ran away with a loud hiss, but, again, nobody answered the door.
Should he just walk away and try again in the morning? No, that was too risky. During the daytime, there might be other guild officials around, which he specifically wanted to avoid. It was possible that the guild master wasn’t at home, but it was the middle of the night. Where else would he be?
His gaze wandered over the plain foundry building right next to the house.
It was a weird placement. Why would Virex have the foundry built right next to where he lived?
The smoke from the furnace had already blackened the side of the house, and during the day, when the foundry was working, it was probably rather loud as well.
Now, however, the building was silent and cold.
And easily climbable. The windows on the ground floor of the house in front of him were sturdy and probably locked.
The ones on the first floor, however, looked easier to open from the outside.
If he climbed the foundry and then just balanced over the small ledge to the next window…
This was illegal. But it wasn’t like he wanted to steal or break anything. He just wanted to talk. If anything, this would only be a minor offense.
The outside of the industrial building was still slick from the rain earlier, and only being able to use one arm properly didn’t help either.
Luckily, Kraghtol was more or less back in his original body, and the strength that came with it.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made it up. The ledge was only one step away now, and Kraghtol was glad to leave behind the ominously creaking metal frame he had used for climbing.
The night was dark, and the soot clinging to the brickwork didn’t make it easier to see. Luckily, the half-orc wasn’t afraid of heights, and so he inched closer and closer to the blackened and blind window, until he had an opportunity to push gently against the frame.
To his surprise, the hinge moved immediately, without even making a sound. Didn’t the window have a bolt? Or had it been left unlocked? Perhaps it was just his half-shadow’s luck, and Virex had forgotten to properly lock this window tonight.
Regardless of the reason, he eased himself into the room behind and breathed out. It was dark in here, especially after he pushed the window closed again, and Kraghtol didn’t dare to move, fearing he might accidentally damage something with his clumsiness. If only he had a candle — wait.