beams overhead, one leg tucked up against his chest, watching them with a distinct twinkle in his eyes. “Fei. How long have you been up there?”
“A while,” he admitted candidly. With agility that would put a monkey to shame, he put a hand on the beam and swung himself off and to the floor with barely more than a thump. Her Saoleord skulker didn’t look at all fazed to have been caught hanging about in the ceiling, every black hair in place, slanted dark eyes meeting hers easily. His habit of perching in obscure places had only gotten worse since Rune, the bad influence, had come into the guild.
Really, at this point, she’d be more surprised to find the man sitting on an actual chair.
Blowing out a breath, she waved a hand, encouraging him. “Well, let’s have it. Where do you think we should go?”
“Saoleord.”
She and Conli both froze. Saoleord? The city that no one ever visited and only natives could find? Granted, Fei was from there, so he could find it easily, but in the seven years he had been with her, he’d never once suggested going back himself or taking the guild with him.
“Why?” Conli asked slowly, blue eyes studying Fei’s face.
Fei seemed to take a breath before admitting quietly, “Because I think we’ll need help very soon.”
Siobhan didn’t need to ask what he meant by that, not in a way. Ever since they’d returned from Wynngaard six months ago, the economy in Orin had worsened. The trade monopoly between the three guilds in Robarge and Wynngaard had certainly raised the capital to fix the Grey Bridges but at the same time, it had done a devastating turn to Orin. People hadn’t been doing well over there to begin with, but now…well, most of the continent was on the verge of complete destitution. Everyone was watching Orin carefully with baited breath, waiting to see what they would do next. No one doubted that they would do something. When you pushed a person that far into a corner, they’d react one way or another.
Siobhan had spoken to Guildmaster Darrens on several occasions about this, trying to reason with him, but it had all come to naught. She didn’t have the power or persuasion to make the man change his mind, and even if she did, she’d have to convince the other guilds that were a part of this agreement as well.
So yes, she understood very well why Fei was worried. What she didn’t see was how going to Saoleord would help. “Fei, I’m lost. Why would you want to go home?”
He hesitated for a long moment before speaking, and even then, he was obviously choosing his words carefully. “Before I left home, I was being trained under a master historian. I was to take his place when he retired.”
She and Conli shared a startled look. This was the first time that Fei had mentioned anything about his past. A historian?
“It’s why I left, in a way,” Fei admitted wryly. “I was not suited to sitting about for long periods of time when I was young. I wanted to see more of the world with my own eyes, not simply read about it.”
Now that, that made perfect sense to her. Even now Fei couldn’t manage to sit still for more than an hour. Well, unless he was sneaking up on somebody. “Go on.”
“But I still learned much of the history of the world before I left. I have seen this pattern before. The last time that one country was pushed into an economical depression by another country, it led to war.”
Her blood froze. “War?”
“Can a war even be possible?” Conli objected. “A skirmish I could see; one guild or one city attacking another is very possible. But to have a war, an actual war as you mean it, you’d have to get several main guilds to cooperate enough to fight on a united front. We can barely get them to agree on trade agreements.”
Fei shook his head, mouth set in a grim line. “Orin is desperate. They will band together to pillage and loot, if nothing else. I tell you, the history that I learned showed this exact set of events happening over and over again. We are primed for war but we are not ready for it. If Orin pulls together an army and marches against us, they can destroy us city by city without anyone being able to stop them.”