“Don’t be,” Xilarion said, and for the first time, he smiled slightly. “You have done me and the guild a service.”
He poured more tea while I tried to work out what he was saying. From everything that I’d learned about the guild, this made no sense. This was a place of rigid discipline, where the rules were vitally important. The Ember Cavern was a precious resource to be guarded and nurtured, something I hadn’t appreciated until Nydarth told me not to take the Fire Core. Everything I had done seemed to run counter to Xilarion’s goals. So, what was I missing?
“I don’t understand,” I admitted reluctantly.
“Then, you should cultivate a better understanding of politics,” Xilarion said. “Swordplay and Augmenting will help you survive in the wild, but other skills are needed to survive in civilization.”
“Oh, I know politics,” I said. “Just not the politics of this place. The only thing I can think of is that this is about the clans.”
“Go on.”
“Something about the Wysaro. They’re the biggest clan in this region, lots of initiates here have the name, and even more seem to respect Hamon. Is there a conflict between the guild and the clan?”
“Let us say that there is a conflict between their interests. Jiven Wysaro is an expansionist, constantly looking to increase his power at the expense of smaller clans. If he were closer to the heart of the empire, that would mean political maneuvering and using financial power to force land sales. Down here in the southern borders, he can take a more direct approach. By fighting monsters and barbarians, he can claim land previously lost to the empire, making it his own and winning great acclaim. That means that some turn a blind eye when he uses the same military might to fight his neighbors, seize their lands, and force them to bow the knee to him.
“Many members of the Radiant Dragon Guild are also members of Clan Wysaro. This has been the way for centuries. They need a fire guild to train them in Augmenting. We need recruits from the clans. In most places, the duty of those recruits is to the guild for as long as they are here. Only once that service is complete do many return to their clan, while some give up that allegiance to serve their guild forever. It gives the guilds strength and prevents any one clan from challenging the emperor’s authority. But Jiven Wysaro does not play by those rules. Initiates from his clan are regularly called away from the guild to join him in his thuggery, then return, expecting that we will keep teaching them.”
“Can’t you say no?”
“Forcing initiates to choose between their clan and their guild would be unwise. Jiven’s success has granted his people pride and prestige. It is attractive to those of a fiery disposition, like most fire Augmenters, meaning that their instinctive loyalty is to him. And so his rise harms the guild, his neighbors, and this whole part of the empire.”
“Why doesn’t the emperor intervene?”
“I once served Emperor Talekon as a general. He is a good man, but beholden to the power the clans can give him. He chooses to believe that Jiven’s good work outweighs his harm. It is an easy position to take from the distance of the imperial throne room.”
“But you saw through that and came here to fix things?”
“The other way around. After I abandoned military matters to follow the Path of Peace, I came to take over the guild my great-grandfather had once led. I knew that it was dwindling and in need of much work to regain its former honor. Once I arrived, I saw how much its decline came from the resurgence of the Wysaro. I am here on a personal path, but it is in harmony with the needs of the empire.”
“But how does my disobedience help?”
Xilarion stood, went to the window, and gestured for me to follow. From up here in the tower, we could see across the courtyard, down the hills, to the towns and farms beyond.
In the courtyard, initiates were training with wooden weapons. Small bands formed and reformed in a swirling melee as they fought for dominance with both weapons and magic. The largest group followed Hamon as he ushered commands. Where he led, they followed.
“Hamon Wysaro is a powerful influence in my guild,” Xilarion said. “As is the shadow of his father. Their glamor draws the loyalty of those torn between clan and guild. Most people are not inspired by causes but by the people they admire, their beliefs and actions following from that. Jiven Wysaro inspires.
“Who do I have to counter with, to keep Augmenters here once their initiation is complete? A few eccentrics and wild ones might follow Rutmonlir, though most of them prefer life on their own. A handful of scholars stay to work with Master Kyu, a true legend in her field but not much of a warrior. Faryn’s woodcraft has little appeal to fire Augmenters, I am a soldier who no longer fights, and so the list goes on…”
He let his words trail off. His expression was sad, as if he looked out at a world of lost opportunities, a dream that was failing to come true around him. This was not a man who would ever give up, but neither was he one who was winning.
“You think that I could be an inspiration?” I asked.
“Actions like yours show that life in the guild can be as heroic and exciting as life in the clans. Look.”
He pointed to one side of the melee in the courtyard. There, I saw Vesma and Kegohr. My first reaction was worry that my friends hadn’t been given a chance to rest. But then, I noticed the knot of initiates gathering around them, a small but determined alternative to Hamon’s faction, and I smiled.
“That would not have happened a month ago,” Xilarion said.
