"Sometimes, the best way to achieve a desirable outcome is to take a less than conventional approach." --Tasian general, c. 1110 AE
April 24, 1112 AE
Willow's Edge Inn, Koheno, Shiromori
"My instructions," the Guild Master hissed as Guildsman Aero continued to glower, the defiance in his eyes something he had never seen from one of the Guild, "were perfectly clear. You were not to involve any extra parties, and Lord Kitasaka constitutes such!"Unyielding, Aero shook his head. Where had he found the will? The Guildsmen were bound to his orders for the duration of their service--was Aero's time really drawing to an end? The bonds of the last Guildsman he'd seen leave had not so quickly dissipated, he was sure of it. "Lord Kitasaka is a direct forebear of Princess Marusake--I hardly think he counts as an outsider. Besides, there is a point where a Guildsman must go with his instinct, and mine led me to Kitasaka."
The Guild Master stiffened; he did not care to hear his own teachings thrown back in his face. "As I said, there was to be no other involved--surely this will not work now."
"But it is working," insisted Aero, his brows arched and his eyes simultaneously wide and tired. "If it wasn't, don't you think I would still be following your orders to the word?"Whether compelled or not, he forgot his place; the Guild Master was on his last nerve. "Do you deny my authority then?"
Aero shrugged. "It seems I now have the right to do so if I see fit. Lord Kitasaka had to be involved--he had to find the letters, and he had to tell Princess Marusake. She wouldn't have taken a tip from an anonymous stranger; hearing it from her own grandfather, Kohashi's own father, had a much more profound effect. Trust me when I say she's on her way to Zhian right now."
"And she had better be!" he snapped. She had to be--the fate of the continent depended on it. That kid had to be born.His underling nodded. "She is."
Aero then turned around and strode toward the staircase. The Guild Master scowled; he hadn't given him permission to leave. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"
The other man glanced back at him, though he refused to stop. "I'm going home to my family--where the hell do you think I'm going?"NEXT CHAPTER:
Sorry about yet another short chapter :(
ReplyDeleteNo, Aero, don't go yet! Wait until Maru gets into Aurius's arms before you go ANYWHERE!!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, you've been gone for six years, can't you wait a couple more weeks?
*bites nails* Why do I have a bad feeling about this? Why? Why?
Fortunately, his family is in the same direction as Aurius (little bit of trivia: the girl that Covius and Danitia wanted to set up Aurius with is Aero's eldest daughter). So long as he's there, he can continue to meddle as he sees fit :)
ReplyDeleteBlondie is fine. He can shout me down any day. *chick-a-bow-bow*
ReplyDeleteHow does one become Guild Master? What does he have on his resume? If this whole Maru thing works out, could he lose his job to Aero?
He is pretty good-looking :P
ReplyDeleteAs for how one becomes Guild Master, that will be revealed if not in Ashelia at Dusk, then in the one after that.
If the Maru thing works out, then Aero gets to retire from the Guild and go home, which he definitely wants. He hates the Guild. Being promoted would be a punishment for him.