Words Are Unnecessary

Part 2

By Corina Stark

Author’s Note: Okay, please note that time is funky. Other than that, just keep in mind that Anarin has been around for a VERY long time.

The Quarterly Meeting of the Master Council of the Academy of Tanle was actually rather full, this time. Only two of its members were missing—Kaisha and Yurali, Primary Mercenaries, were off on a quest. The other eighteen were, surprisingly, all present. The usual banter between Lyra and Rosh quieted after only a few stern looks, and the meeting was called to order.

“First,” began Kiou, the Chairman, “the city is prosperous and well. We haven’t had a plague since those Azkraelites built their temple, and the reestablishment of the Great Road has helped trade enormously. Our people no longer have to scrimp for a living among the lower classes, and indeed”—he flashed a look to the Primary Assassin—“though taxes are high, some of us are even prospering under these conditions.

“I want to keep it this way.”

Rosh, the Primary Thief, nodded his assent. Most of the others agreed with him, though, as usual, Kolo looked annoyed and Anarin looked oblivious.

“Second, the upcoming election has presented ample opportunities for all of our members to be useful. The year of mourning for our old Regent is almost past, and the candidates are all as corrupt as we expect them to be.” His eyes scanned the room as he spoke, watching for signs of dissent, but most of the Council members were actually paying attention to him. “So, it is with pleasure that I conclude, after the quarterly investigation, that all of the candidates are equally good for out purposes. There is to be no killing of the candidates,” he said, watching the Assassin. Damn that man. How can he be so intelligent and so—so—oblivious? “I repeat, there is to be no killing of the candidates. I can assure you that no matter what they offer you, we will gain it back triplefold if one of them is elected. Please pass this on to your underlings.” The other four assassins at the meeting nodded in accord, but Anarin still hadn’t shown a sign that he even understood what was going on. Not for the first time, he regretted giving the position to someone so unreadable, but Anarin was simply the best assassin in the Guild.

Kiou cleared his throat. “Finally, the report on the recruits. The good news is that, among the usual trash and street rats, we have some real talent in this group. There are four contenders for the class title this quarter—of the others, half should be good for the lower guilds and the other half need to be mindwiped before they are released.” Contrary to popular rumor, the Academy didn’t actually kill those who failed to pass the skill tests. Instead, they were given over to Kolo’s sorcerers, their memories were erased, and they were set loose in Angorost’s sister city of Anduin.

“Who are the four?” asked Lyra, one of the Secondary Mercenaries.

“Let’s see…” Kiou ran through his papers, finding the one he wanted. “We have two thieves, a mercenary, and one promising young assassin. You remember the boy who was caught in Lord Salen’s gardens? He’s one of the thieves. The other is a girl who signed up two months ago and who actually possesses a great amount of talent—she managed to pass the smoke test on the first try. The mercenary is a boy of ten who was trained by his father in the Jykou arts before his parents died in the flood. The assassin is the slave who killed his master with a mirror shard.” Kiou had hoped for some kind of reaction from Anarin—it wasn’t often that talented assassins came into the Guild—but he noticed nothing.

“Unless anyone has any complaints”—which they didn’t—“you can split up into groups.” Kiou smiled to himself as the Council members got into their usual committee formation, smiling at Kolo and the other administrators. At least I won’t have to deal with that—Anarin for another three months. People who could not be read were the only threat to Kiou’s power, so he dealt with them as little as he could.

Okay, so that was short, but I needed to introduce the Council. ^_^ As always, [email protected] if you want to contact me.