Calder’s throat was growing tight, so he cleared it. “Do you have anything lined up yet?”
“I have a few leads. Failing that, I don’t mind looking outside the Guilds. There’s been a new delivery company making a fortune since the Emperor’s death, may his soul fly free, and I’m sure they could use a man who’s used to checking the contents of boxes against a master list.”
Though he felt foolish for doing so, Calder had to clear his throat again. “You know, I wasn’t going to leave any of you behind. I can make you a position in the Palace.”
Petal looked down, but Andel continued meeting his gaze.
“Once the treaty is signed,” the quartermaster said, “you won’t need us anymore.”
That was not at all true, but Calder couldn’t find the right words to say so.
Andel spoke gently, but relentlessly. “This is a good thing. The world is calming down. If the Guilds don’t make peace, you won’t ever get the chance to be a real leader. And now is the perfect time. The conflict between the Guilds has so far spilled very little blood, and it hasn’t become an all-out war like we all predicted. We’ve dodged the worst outcome, but it means we have to find something to do with our lives.”
Calder blinked rapidly to avoid tears. “I am…sorry to see you go. Both of you.”
Petal teared up to match him.
“It’s not like we’re saying good-bye forever,” Andel said reasonably. “We’re all sticking around the Capital, and if you’ve proven anything today, it’s that you can snatch us from our beds whenever you feel like it. Just like usual.”
A loud scraping sound drew Calder’s attention, and he looked over to Foster. The man had grabbed a long-handled brush and was enthusiastically scrubbing the inside of the cannon.
“How about you, Foster?” Calder asked. “Are you going anywhere?”
He had almost asked, “Are you leaving me too?”
“I’m retired,” the old man barked.
“You’ve technically been retired the entire time I’ve known you, but that hasn’t stopped you from collecting your pay.”
“That’s what I’m saying. I’m retired, and it’s not like I have anywhere to go. Might as well stick around.”
Foster staying with him did keep a little wind in Calder’s sails. It buoyed him enough to give him the strength to say, “I’m sorry for interrupting your morning, everyone. The Guards will escort you wherever you wish to go.”
Andel walked forward immediately, but he stopped on his way over to the railing and rested a hand on Calder’s shoulder. “We’re not gone yet. Call on us if you need to.”
Petal was up next. She tried to say something, but she didn’t seem to be able to get the words out.
Finally, she threw her arms around his neck and wept into his shoulder. His own eyes fogged up before she released him and followed Andel down the ladder and to the longboat waiting below.
With the exception of a lone Guard, that left him and Foster alone on the deck.
The air was filled with the sound of the gunner scraping away at the cannon.
“What am I doing, Foster?” Calder asked at last.
Foster grunted as he pulled the brush out. “What do you want to do, Captain?”
It wasn’t like Foster to answer a question with a question unless he was making a point. He was never shy about sharing his opinion.
“I want to show everyone that I can do the job.”
Foster braced the brush against the deck, leaning on it like a cane as he caught his breath. “That’s the thing, though. You can’t do the job.”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence, Mister Foster.” Calder should have known better than to go to Foster for advice.
“I’m not going to polish you up where you don’t deserve it. You know I’ve got no extra love for the Emperor. If you ask me, he did something great by protecting everyone from the Elders, then he stuck around for an extra two thousand years because he couldn’t trust anyone else’s hand at the wheel. But if you’re trying to fill the man’s shoes, you should at least learn from him.”
“Little late for that.”
“Don’t play dumb with me, boy. I’ll knock that crown off your head.”
Though Calder now had access to most of the Emperor’s belongings, he had actively avoided Reading them. For one thing, the Emperor left behind a weight and intensity of Intent in his most prized belongings. The longer Calder was around them, the more it felt like they were…pushing into his head. It was disturbing.
For another thing, Calder hated the man.
Walking around in his ancient armor, Calder continually felt the Emperor’s thoughts forcing their way into his own. It made him feel polluted. Defiled.
“I’ve got time, Foster. I’ll settle into it.”
The gunner barked a laugh and swung the cannon-brush around to point into Calder’s face. “All right, when you find a solution to the Great Elders tearing the sky in half, you send for me.”
Calder’s eyes moved against his will to seek out the black crack in the morning sky.
Foster chuckled. “Good luck.”
When Calder returned to the Imperial Palace, General Teach and Baldezar Kern were waiting for him at the gate.
The Head of the Imperial Guard stood scowling with her arms crossed, her freshly polished red-and-black armor gleaming in the noonday sun. The Champion held a wooden rocking-horse under one arm and a crumpled paper sack in the other hand.
“You’ve been informed that the Independents agreed to our meeting?” Teach asked briskly.
“Of course. I was told last night.”
A messenger had awakened him after midnight and delivered him the letter accepting the peace accords, which had been sealed by all the Independent Guild Heads and two of the three Regents, penned by the hand of a Witness. It was as official as anything could be.
The meeting was to take place in two weeks, which the fastest either side could reasonably make it. They both wanted to resolve the Guild conflict as quickly as possible before any more of the Empire crumbled around them.
“Good,” Teach said. “That leaves us to determine the specifics of the meeting.”
He noticed they weren’t letting him any farther into the Palace.
“What specifics?” Calder asked, walking forward to see if Teach would let him by.
She didn’t. She’d cornered him here, and she wasn’t about to let him out of whatever lecture she had prepared.
“Attendance and location.” She held out a small piece of paper. “The Guild Heads have met, and this is what we decided.”
Calder eyed Kern before taking the paper. He didn’t see why the Head Champion needed to be here, especially as the man seemed fully concentrated on not shattering the rocking-horse between his elbow and ribs.
The paper was divided in two. Across the top were written the names Azea and Calazan Farstrider. Twin heads of the Witness Guild.
On the left were the names of all three Regents and the Heads of the four Independent Guilds: the alchemists, Consultants, Greenwardens, and Luminian Order.
The right side bore the names of the Imperialist Guild Heads, with a circled question mark next to the Magisters. The Magister’s Guild hadn’t appointed a new Head since the death of Mekendi Maxeus, and it was Calder’s personal opinion that they were waiting to see how the conflict between Guilds was resolved before doing so.