“But they can’t possibly believe such a system can continue,” Mari insisted.
“My dear child, that system has continued for century upon century. How do you convince them that it’s going to fail when they can argue that it has yet to fail? It would be like arguing that the sun is not going to rise tomorrow. The sun always rises.”
“The Mechanics Guild must have been different once,” Mari said. “How did we ever get the technology we have? At one time, and for a long time, the Guild must have encouraged trying new things.”
S’san made a frustrated gesture with one hand, as if she were trying to grab an answer out the air. “That’s so, but I have never seen any trace or evidence of that period. All record of it has vanished from the minds and the documentation of Mechanics and commons alike.” She glanced at Alain. “Do the Mages know anything of such a time?”
“No,” Alain said. “I have never heard or read in Mage Guild records any account of a time different from now. As I have told Mari, though, the history we share begins with a strange abruptness, the first cities springing to life as if from nothing. I do not know the meaning of this.”
“You’re also not the first to make note of it, Mage, though I am pleased that you have seen and thought about the issue.” S’san sighed, looking weary. “I never found the answer, and I now suspect no answer is to be found through any available means. My hope for you, Mari, was that you would gain approval or authority to pry open the vaults in the Mechanics Guild headquarters and use the forbidden technical texts in there to jumpstart the Guild.”
Mari had to take a moment to understand that statement. “Open the vaults? How would I ever have the power to open the vaults?”
“If you worked your way up, achieved a high-enough standing and accumulated enough allies—both of which were well within your abilities—then you could have achieved such power.” Professor S’san made an angry gesture this time, her hand slashing through the air. “You weren’t given the opportunity. I was quite upset with you at first, Mari, believing that you had gone tearing off in the wrong direction and burned every bridge out of sheer stubbornness and impulsiveness, but I practice what I preach when it comes to thinking. I looked into everything as best I could, and it became obvious that the Senior Mechanics had also seen your potential, seen it well enough to decide them to eliminate you before you threatened their hold on the Guild, before you threatened to cause the change they now fear more than destruction.”
S’san let out a long, sad sigh. “You were trapped, Mari. I am astounded that you managed to escape with your life. And I am guilty of not anticipating that you would face such perils.”
“You were obviously worried about me,” Mari said quietly, opening her coat to show the pistol she wore.
“You’ve still got it? Good.” S’san shook her head. “I wasn’t worried enough.” Her eyes rested on Alain. “And this is a further complication. Mari, things are very bad with the Guild right now, but fixing the situation is not impossible. You do need to stay out of sight while your friends work on it. However, I don’t know of any way the Guild will ever accept the idea of your companioning with a Mage.”
Mari felt a flare of anger. “He’s not just my companion! I love him! And he loves me!”
“Love?” S’san looked away. “Mari, I don’t doubt your sincerity, and he may use the word, but what does a Mage know of love?”
Alain answered before Mari could. “It means she is my world. It means nothing is more important. It means I will die before I let her be harmed.”
S’san gave Alain one of those demanding looks Mari remembered so well from her classes. “Do you love her enough to leave her, if that is in her best interests?”
“Professor—!” Mari began.
“Let him answer, Mari.”
“My own feelings are not as important as her safety,” Alain said. “That is why I left her at Dorcastle even though I wanted to be with her. To try to protect her.”
Mari turned a triumphant look on S’san. “See, Professor? He knows what it means.”
“Yes, he does,” S’san murmured in a thoughtful voice. “What have you done, Mari? Well, would you leave him?”
“No.”
“The Guild—”
“To blazes with the Guild! I will not leave the man I love to try to make nice with a bunch of Senior Mechanics who have already tried to have me killed!”
S’san looked at Alain again. “How do your Guild leaders feel about all of this, Sir Mage? Mari said you had been threatened with death?”
“That is not quite accurate,” Alain replied dispassionately. “The elders of the Mage Guild do not make threats. Another Mage could easily tell whether the threat was one they intended to follow through on, or simply an attempt to intimidate. The decision must have been made that I am a danger to the Guild, and since then they have tried to kill me more than once. The last attempt involved a Roc.”
“It’s a giant bird that Mages can create,” Mari explained. “Big enough for a person to ride. I know it’s impossible, but I saw it. It tried to kill both of us.”
“A giant bird.” S’san nodded. “I’ve seen a few, Mari. One of those things Mechanics aren’t supposed to admit to seeing. They’re lovely, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, when they’re not trying to kill you. Professor, what was the end game here? You just wanted me to fix the Guild?”
“That’s enough, isn’t it? As the Mechanic Guild’s abilities decline so does its strength, and with that goes the stability of the world. You must have heard about some of the things going on, the commons increasingly restive. Do you want all of Dematr to end up like Tiae? That’s what happens when the Guild leaves commons to their own choices.”
“Are those the only alternatives?” Mari demanded. “Things as they are or else anarchy? Have you ever walked among the commons as if you were one of them, Professor? They’re very unhappy. They hate their overlords, and that means us. Many of the commons I’ve met seem to be decent people, better than the Mechanics Guild leaders, anyway. And the flat-out denial of truth by our Guild is indefensible.”
“Stars above, Mari, what are you thinking?” S’san asked. “I wanted you to strengthen the Guild because the Guild is what holds this world together.”
“The Guild holds the world in chains!” Mari erupted. “We’ve been talking about how trying to keep technology under control is slowly killing the Guild by causing its technology to crumble. Can’t you see the same is true of the wider world? Yes, the Kingdom of Tiae fell apart in a series of civil wars and remains in chaos. But that was because the Guild’s system failed there and the system doesn’t know how to fix it, so Tiae just keeps falling farther into barbarism every year. How long before the same problems start causing the Confederation to crumble, and then the Alliance and someday the Empire? The Guild has tried to keep the entire world the same, unchanging, and the world is choking to death!” She stopped, startled by her own words. “I guess I am a traitor to the Guild now.”
S’san’s voice was troubled. “The Mechanics Guild has done many things I don’t approve of, but this world is the devil we know. Anything else could easily be far worse.”
“Mari, may I speak of the storm to come?” Alain asked.
“Uh…sure,” Mari said, not certain what he meant.
“The storm moves toward us swiftly,” Alain told S’san. “You speak as if the available possibilities include the Mechanics Guild remaining in power. This is not so. Within a few years, order will begin to collapse everywhere. The Mage Guild and the Mechanics Guild will be destroyed along with everything else, unable to stand against the fury of forces pent-up for too long.”