Dreamer's Throne

Ryn was unsure if she was more frustrated with the situation with Parrow or with Garrett's refusal to tell her anything. Ryn directed the carriage back to the inn and spent the entire ride grumbling under her breath, but Garrett paid her no mind. Instead, he closed his eyes and reached out to the many flowers that dotted the city, checking up on their growth and progress. He had a lot to do, but as he sent his attention ahead to the inn, he couldn't help but sigh. His list would have to wait as visitors had arrived to see him.

When he and Ryn finally walked into the inn, there were a dozen people in the great room waiting for them. Five of them were adventurers, led by the guild master himself, Arthur Tellson. The other seven were dressed in simple, nondescript clothing, though the strength they exuded was no less than that of the adventurers. Leading them was Louise, the leader of Silver Song. The two groups weren't quite hostile, but the looks they were giving each other weren't friendly either. Arthur and Louise showed none of the antagonism their subordinates did, and instead were sitting at a table with drinks in hand, chatting casually, as if they were old friends. When they saw Garrett, both of them stood up and greeted him.

"I trust this isn't a coincidence," Garrett said, looking back and forth between them.

"Actually, it is," Louise said, covering her smile with the fan she carried. Her beautiful eyes peeked at Garrett over top of it as she gestured to Arthur. "I was quite surprised to find Arthur here already, but if I had to guess, it's likely that we're both here for the same thing."

"I don't conduct business in the great room," Garrett said. "Why don't you come back to my office?"

A few minutes later, supplied with a bottle of wine from the cellar, the three of them, plus Ryn, had settled down in the office. Louise and Arthur each took one of the high-backed chairs, while Garrett sat behind his desk. Ryn perched on the windowsill, her eyes scanning back and forth, as she tried to watch both of the people sitting in front of Garrett.

Having seen Ryn pushing Garrett's wheelchair, both Louise and Arthur assumed that she was a guard of some sort, and promptly ignored her. Neither one of them considered Garrett a threat, and so they were completely relaxed as they poured out the wine that Francis had brought in.

Taking a long drink, Arthur smacked his lips and looked at his glass appreciatively.

"That's excellent," he said.

"It's a vintage from Port Reverie," Garrett replied. "I probably have a couple extra bottles if you'd like some."

Grinning, Arthur licked his teeth as he nodded. "That would be wonderful, thank you. The fact that you can get wine from Port Reverie tells me that my trip today is not in vain."

"See, I knew we were here for the same reason," Louise said.

"Then why don't you go first," Arthur replied, gesturing with his glass.

"Thank you, Arthur. You're always such a gentleman." Maintaining her soft smile, Louise looked across the desk at Garrett. "Just like Arthur here, the reason I've come is to discuss with you the passage you control that leads out of the city. Due to the martial law declared previously, most of the smuggling routes out of the city had to be abandoned, and very few of them have been able to start back up. Silver Song deals in all sorts of things, and moving goods in and out of the city is essential for our business. Now that you have ascended to join the Ten Seats, I thought it was a perfect opportunity for our gangs to work together. Of course, we won't take advantage of you, and in exchange for free use of your pathway, we'd be happy to support any resolution you might have in the council, so long as it aligns with our interests, of course."

"Huh, that's funny," Arthur said. "That is exactly the same proposal I was going to make."

"Well, one can never have too many allies," Louise replied, lifting her glass to clink against Arthur's.

The entire time they spoke, Garrett remained completely silent, looking back and forth between them as they carried on their conversation. The fact that he hadn't responded didn't go unnoticed, and after a couple more minutes, Arthur and Louise both fell silent, turning their attention on him, before Arthur spoke up once more.

"We should discuss what we'll be sending and when, to set up a schedule of sorts. It wouldn't do to clog the passage up too much and cause disruptions."

"Exactly," Louise added, still staring directly at Garrett. "After all, both of our gangs have a lot of goods to move."

Still, Garrett didn't speak, his gaze just flicking back and forth between the two of them every few seconds. His expression was serene, despite the fact that both people sitting across from him were in the shaper stage, and their auras had slowly begun to extend around them, filling the room with pressure. Garrett, however, seemed completely unaffected, and it wasn't just him. Ryn, who was sitting behind him on the windowsill, her eyes narrowed as she stared coldly at the two gang leaders, also seemed to be unaffected.

Unable to hide the confusion she felt, Louise peeked at Arthur from the corner of her eyes before putting her almost-empty wine glass down on the desk.

"You seem concerned by something," she said to Garrett. "Does what we've said not seem fair to you? We wouldn't want to be unfair."

"But you do owe us," Arthur added. "After all, we're the ones who nominated you to your seat. Without us, you never would have been in this position."

For the first time since the conversation began, Garrett's expression changed, as a smile spread across his face and filled his eyes. With considerable amusement, he shook his head.

"A favor? You seem to be under a misapprehension. You didn't do me a favor. I did you a favor. If anything, you're the ones who owe me, and not the other way around."

His words caused Arthur to take a deep breath and lean forward, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

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"And how do you figure that?" he asked, a dangerous edge to his voice.

"It's a simple calculation," Garrett replied, completely unfazed. "And it goes like this. I didn't want a seat. Otherwise, Cynen, of the Grave Walkers, would have nominated me. Instead, the two of you needed someone to bear the scrutiny of the other gangs, and wanted to force me into direct conflict with the Ebony Association. You achieved your goal by nominating me to this position, and since I already had enmity with Gero, our clash became inevitable. I have solved your problem for you by taking the pressure off of your gangs. That means you owe me, and not the other way around.

Furious, Arthur grabbed Garrett's desk and rose to his feet. At the same time, Ryn hopped off the windowsill and stood behind Garrett's chair. The only ones who didn't move were Garrett and Louise. Arthur growled as he began to lean over the desk, but before he could say anything, Louise coughed lightly.

"Sit down, Arthur." Her voice wasn't loud, but to Garrett's genuine shock, Arthur restrained himself, taking a deep breath and sitting back down in his chair, his eyes never leaving Garrett's face. The expression that the Mistress of Silver Song normally kept on her face was nowhere to be seen, as she stared at Garrett.

"Those words you just spoke, can you take responsibility for them?" she asked.

"I don't say things I can't take responsibility for," was the calm reply. This caused Louise to smirk.

"Then tell me, what sort of agreement do you think would be acceptable?"

"You pay like everyone else. If you want to move goods, let me know, and I can arrange it. The cost depends on what you're moving, in what quantities, and how quickly you need it delivered. Furthermore, at this point, we only handle a delivery outside of the city, not passage through the swamp. Though, we may add that service soon. As for things coming in, we're happy to coordinate that as well for a fee."

"And here I thought we were friends, Garrett."

Returning Louise's smirk, Garrett shook his head. "What on earth gave you that impression? We both know that you didn't elect us to the ten seats because you had good intentions, but I also don't care what your intentions were. We're more than capable of handling whatever is thrown at us."

"You sure about that?" Arthur interrupted, his glare never wavering. "If we were to decide you were an eyesore, the Grave Walkers wouldn't be able to save you."

"That sounds like a threat to me," Garrett said, returning the Guild Master's intense glare with a calm and slightly disinterested look. "And if you are in fact threatening us, then we'd be happy to take this to the arena."

One of the clear rules of the ten seats was that the ten most powerful gangs were not allowed to have direct conflict between their members. This was to keep a massive gang war from breaking out and bringing the city guards' attention down on everyone. Instead, if one of the ten wanted to solve a conflict with a smaller guild, they were free to do whatever they wanted, but if that conflict was with one of the other ten seat holders, then the only method they had available was a direct challenge through the arena. This limited the ways that the Klein family could be threatened, and Garrett was more than happy to use it to his advantage. After all, everyone in the room knew that if a challenge was issued, it wouldn't be Garrett they were fighting, but instead Cynen, Death's Flame.

Gritting his teeth, Arthur seemed to be struggling to hold back his anger, but a look from Louise kept him silent.

"I would urge you to be careful," Louise said to Garrett. "Just because we can't declare a gang war doesn't mean there aren't ways that you can be hurt. The growth of your gang has been astounding, but plants without deep roots are liable to wither. Had you been willing to help us out a little bit, it would have gone a long way to generating goodwill. Believe me when I say goodwill is everything. A gang can't survive without monster materials or information. It's better to make friends than enemies, something you seem to have failed to grasp. Besides, while the use of your tunnel would have been most convenient, I'm sure there are others who can assist us as well."

"That's exactly right," Arthur said. "Actually, while we're here, in this part of the city, why don't we go and visit Gero and the Ebony Association?"

Feigning surprise, Louise drained the rest of her glass. "I think that's a great idea, Arthur. I'm sure we'll have plenty to talk about."

Seeing both of them stand up, Garrett tapped a button on his desk, and a moment later, Obe arrived to see them out.

"You'll excuse me for not seeing you to the door," Garrett said. "I'm not quite as mobile as I used to be."

The two gang leaders exchanged glances, and then Arthur turned and stalked out. Louise gave Garrett a long look before she left as well, only to find Arthur had stopped in the hallway and was staring in confusion at Francis, who was holding two bottles of wine.

"The boss said these are for you," Francis said, his expression sour.

He shoved them into Arthur's hands, turned, and headed for the kitchen, grumbling the whole way.

Realizing that these were the two bottles Garrett had offered to him, Arthur just stood in the middle of the hallway, looking at them. It was only when he noticed Louise waiting impatiently behind him that he shook his head and left the inn, with Louise following close behind. Neither of them spoke as they got in their respective carriages and left. Garrett, who was watching through the dream flowers planted outside the building, was rather amused when they headed in different directions, neither one going towards the Ebony Association's territory.

"You know, Dark Raven always said that the best way to keep people from messing with you was to kill a whole bunch of them." It was clear to Garrett that Ryn had had quite enough of being threatened and pushed around, and as patient as he was, he found that he was starting to have the same opinion.

"Just bear it for now," he said.

"You keep saying that, Garrett, but people are starting to talk."

Frowning, Garrett looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"We're supposed to be one of the Ten Seats now, right? One of the ten biggest, most important gangs in the city? But why does it feel like we're always watching what we say, not stepping on anybody else's toes? That's not how a gang is supposed to operate."

Realizing she was beginning to take out her frustration on Garrett, Ryn quickly amended her words.

"I mean, that's what other people are saying, not what I'm saying, but I do understand their frustration."

"As do I," Garrett said. "But what's the alternative? Should we go and kill everybody? If we gathered all of our Awakened together and waged war against the Ebony Association, we could ensure mutual destruction. What would that serve? The best way to fight a war is to win without fighting at all, to preserve as much of the enemy's strength so it can be used to your own benefit. If we were to simply go in and kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, so to speak, we'd be left without a chicken. I'd much rather bide my time and then kill all of the monkeys."

The way Garrett said the last phrase caused Ryn to shiver. Sometimes she forgot just how cold-blooded Garrett could be.

"I guess I'm worrying about the wrong person," she said after a moment of silence. "If you're telling us to wait, you must have a good reason."

"Thank you for your trust, Ryn. I also appreciate you mentioning this to me. It's important, when leading, that everyone be on the same page. Otherwise, you end up with a bunch of people pulling in different directions, making forward progress impossible. One of the greatest roles of a leader is to align everyone under them in a single direction. Only then can you make true progress. You've pointed out something that we do need to be careful about, so I'll redouble my efforts to make sure that everyone is on the same page, and don't worry, soon enough we'll make our move."