The Thieves Guild,
by Jake Kerr.
Episode 11:
Blame.
It took all of Karch's willpower not to rush off the dais and command the Merchant Guild guards
to hunt down Raylan and toss him in the dungeons.
But Lassen snapped at him to stand still and be quiet when
Karch brought up the idea. So he clenched and unclenched his fists behind
his back as he stood at attention, staring at the back of Lassen's head as
the banquet progressed with awkward silences between courses and the various votes on
lesser guild business.
Karch knew that Lassen could barely restrain his fury.
Polo, the old guildmaster harvest, took every opportunity to mock the
result of the vote, commenting at one point after agreeing to a vote on a minor
issue...
"We don't need the wisdom of the guildmaster thief to do the right thing here."
While Polo laughed, Lassen was punching his own leg under the table.
Karch just gritted his teeth.
Halfway through the meal, he couldn't wait any longer.
He leaned forward and whispered into Lassen's ear.
Sir, don't you think we should grab your brother before he can cause any more mischief?
Lassen turned, a scowl on his face.
And what, pray tell, would that mischief entail, Karch?
He's already ruined the plan I've been working on for over a year.
Lassen's eyes narrowed.
Or should I say, you have ruined the plan I have been working on for over a year?
As this was your idea.
Karch considered his words before he spoke them. He had to be careful.
Lassen was obviously still livid and not thinking straight.
That he was blaming Karch for the failure was obviously wrong, but perhaps not
surprising. As ruthless as Lassen could be, perhaps he still had a soft
spot and couldn't blame his brother.
Uh, sir, I don't know what you are implying, but how could we predict this
outcome?
That we could not predict this is entirely the problem, Karch.
Lassen hissed.
Now shut up and take your position.
It was hard to parse Lassen's intentions, Karch thought as he stepped back
and stood straight. On the one hand, he was expressing nothing but anger and
resignation. But Karch knew him well enough to consider that if there was some
alternative solution, Lassen would jump at it.
The dinner progressed, and Karch thought over their options.
They could hold another vote. While the tradition was to hold the votes at the Founder's Day
banquet, the council could vote at any time.
With Polo and Sax, they had the support to call a special vote.
All they needed was to get rid of Raylan. Raylan.
Karch's brilliant solution to two of their problems turned out to be the biggest problem of
all. But he could fix things. There were ways to change someone's mind, and
Karch was quite effective at many of them.
And if he couldn't change that someone's mind, he could remove them.
He looked down at Lassen. He was unimaginative, a trait that stopped him from
solving the thicket of complications in consolidating his power.
He had Karch for that, and he had done so efficiently and well.
So why should this be any different?
Yes, Karch thought, he would solve the problem one way or
another.
(dramatic music)