Willem looked out across the carnage. If he didn’t understand the gravity of the situation, he might say something like, ‘this is going to be a disaster for my Society of Assured Prosperity.’ But despite all of his insensitivity, even he wouldn’t make light of the fact that seven knights had died in Arend Rook’s rampage.

  “What’ll you do with him?” He asked Galahad, who was standing around and assessing the situation. “Arend, I mean.”

  “He’ll be taken to the capital, where he’ll receive the best treatment possible. Then, I’ll subject him to the same thing that you experienced. The Iron Stomach.” Galahad said. “But… it’s not hard to figure out what happened after we looked around at the scene. Dorothea poisoned herself, like most agents of Avaria.”

  “Why didn’t you secure her immediately?” Willem asked.

  “Because you were accusing the sister of a royal knight, who’s a very powerful aura user and fiercely protective of her,” Galahad said. “At least, that’s the excuse my men gave. But you’re right—there is no excuse.” He looked over at Willem. “You said that the brother probably wasn’t an agent of Avaria?”

  “No.” Willem shook his head. “Just someone being suckered into all of this because he loved his sister a little too much.”

  “That’s what they do,” Galahad said, smoking on his pipe. “Exploit anyone, anything, for any reason at all. Seems like you’ve had a little taste of that yourself.”

  “Seems so,” Willem agreed.

  Galahad looked over. “The king’s granted you amnesty for your collaboration with Avaria because you were unwitting. He encourages you to disclose the name of the person that revealed this to you, but he won’t push.”

  “Highly reasonable,” Willem praised. “I’d definitely use this service again. I’ll rate your work… four out of five stars.”

  “No jokes. Avaria’s got a lot of damn blood on its hands.” Galahad stepped in front of Willem. “Look around you. People dead, because of them. And you want to protect someone that works for them? Really?”

  “People are people,” Willem said. “Enemy, ally—we’re all just people.”

  “Are you out of your damn mind?” Galahad said, stepping closer. “We’re talking about Avarians. They’re not—"

  “Yes,” Willem said stone-facedly. “They’re people. Like you, or like me. The cruelty they perform is something you would, too, if you’d been born there. We’re molded by the society around us, not our own will. If you were transplanted there, I don’t have any doubt you’d be the same way.”

  Galahad blew a puff of smoke into Willem’s face, then stepped away with a shake of his head. “You’re Suzanne’s brother. She’d never forgive me if I tortured the damn information out of you.”

  Silence set in between the two of them.

  “Why do people have to fight?” Willem mused. “Why can’t people just stop being savages for a minute?”

  “Good damn question,” Galahad said. “This isn’t over, Willem. I’ll try and find that person, I promise.”

  “If everyone were more like me, the world would be a less violent place, at least…” Willem said, brushing away his sleeve.

  Galahad sighed.

  ***

  Gustav sat in a bench in the hedge gardens of his friend’s estate, more than a little rattled after what happened. As he did, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned. Willem stood above him, holding a cup. He offered it.

  “Water?” Willem asked.

  Gustav was a little hesitant, but after what they’d experienced, relented and took the cup. “Thanks,” he said.

  “Yeah, sure.” Willem sat down right alongside him. “Not quite the evening either of us were hoping for, I imagine.”

  Gustav shook his head. “I nearly brought my wife, my dog… would’ve been a disaster.”

  “Got a dog?” Willem asked.

  “Yeah. Mr. Clean,” he answered.

  Willem, who’d been mid drink, spit out some of the water in the garden. After that, he continued laughing. “Mr. Clean?” he finally managed.

  Gustav couldn’t help but laugh himself a little. “My kids named him, ages ago. He’s old now. So am I, and so are they.”

  Willem looked at him. “Looks like neither of us have the time to stand around waiting for the world to happen.”

  Gustav looked over. “No. No, we don’t.”

  They listened to the creaking of the crickets. The bugs seemed ignorant of what had happened.

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  “Look.” Willem shifted. “I respect what you’ve been trying to do. The things that you’ve done? I like to think that they’re something I would’ve gone for, had I been in your shoes.”

  “But you’re not in my shoes,” Gustav said firmly.

  “We can share shoes,” Willem said, and Gustav cocked his head back uneasily. “The shoe is big enough for both of us.”

  “You’ve lost me,” Gustav said.

  Willem leaned so far to the edge of the bench he nearly fell off it. “Alright, hear me out. I’m sure that you can see just as well as I can see what the guilds do to innovation in the city.” He raised his hand up and clenched it hard. “They dry it up. It’s not welcome, not wanted. Innovation is absolutely useless to them. They want all things to stay as they are for the rest of their life, picking up the scraps that their fathers made all the way back in the ancient times.” Willem clapped his hands together. “You can see it, right?”

  “There are livelihoods to protect,” Gustav said. “People feeding their family, same as I am.”

  “And the serfs, slaving away. The literal slaves, in fact, in Avaria and elsewhere. Where do they fit in?” Willem put his hands on his lap. “If we innovate, improve… sure, I won’t deny a few people get tossed around in the short term. But that’s the short term. And I will take care of the people whose business I affect. I will. Severance, whatever, you name it.”

  Gustav nodded. “I heard about that. You paid out Robert’s employees. Not something I would’ve done.”

  Willem smiled. “So… you were playing the moral card when you’re even less saintly than I am?”

  “That’s not the point,” Gustav said. “What are you really asking me for, here? To give it up, surrender to you, because life is short?”

  “You know soap,” Willem said. “You know it like the back of your hand. Me? I know efficiency. I know business. I was the one to catch you with your hand in the cookie jar, trying to manipulate the market for your benefit. Yeah, we could enter a grueling war. Or… or…” Willem scooted closer. “We could be partners.”

  “Partners,” Gustav repeated.

  “Do you need a definition?” Willem asked. “Yes, partners. People that work together, instead of one working for the other. We merge our businesses into one.”

  “How does that work?” Gustav asked, puzzled.

  “You take your soaperies.” Willem held up one fist. “You take what I purchased around town recently.” He held up another fist. “You squash them together, mix them up just right… and bam.” He combined his fists together and moved his fingers about erratically. “You’ve got a merger. Merger of equals.”

  “Meaning?” Gustav pressed.

  “One big family. One big company. One mean, lean, soaping machine, well-poised to expand exponentially.” He tapped Gustav’s leg. “You and I, we’d rule the roost. Fifty-fifty partners, roughly. Or… split up as needed, I suppose.”

  Gustav stewed on that for a moment. “So… we’d both combine the stakes of our own, respective businesses,” he summarized. “To form something new, that we both own.”

  “Correct,” Willem said, with a shrewd smile.

  Gustav looked skeptical. “Some of the soapers that I know are not just going to go along with this.”

  “Then we get the ones we can, we give them a share in the business, and we carry on our merry way,” Willem summarized. “The ones that don’t will either come around, or get pushed out.”

  Gustav still looked uneasy. “I’d be backstabbing a lot of my guild.”

  “Facestabbing, really,” Willem said. “If you’d like, I could stab them in the face for you. Metaphorically, I should add, before you think the worst of me. In the long term, this will be better for everyone.”

  Gustav stood up and walked around the garden, this matter of the recent fight barely a presence in his mind anymore.

  “I’m sure you’ve seen it,” Willem said, watching him as he walked. “All of the visionless men running those guilds. Holding people back, holding everything back. You can see the future, can’t you? I mean… you have to. You’re a smart guy. Everything that you were doing was very similar to what I’d have done. You see where the road’s going.”

  “So let’s trample the people standing in the path?” Gustav said.

  “You’re thinking too little of human ingenuity,” Willem said, standing up with Gustav. “People will adapt. They’re amazing at it. No matter what comes, people will find a way to get by. And I promise you—our way, everyone will be better off. That’s just the way of the world.”

  Gustav looked at Willem. “I think I’m starting to get a handle on who you are. You remind me of someone I knew. Someone that was always advocating for war. That we should take the fight to Avaria, trample them down, establish ourselves there. You know what he always told me? That it was for the greater good.”

  “And maybe I’d have been like that person once,” Willem said. “But that was war. People died out there. Losing your job? That’s not at all comparable to losing your life. People can complain and weep all they want… but in the end, they’ll be better off. People seem to forget that fact.”

  “I don’t know that I’m ready to do this,” Gustav said.

  “Alright,” Willem nodded. “Then let me outline the alternative. Live the rest of your life making soap for the same profits that your father made. Sell them for the same reasons that your father did, to the children of the people that your father told them to. Stay trapped in a little pool, while a river called the future carries the rest of us out to the ocean.”

  Gustav lowered his head, unable to respond as Willem gave voice to thoughts that he had long entertained.

  “To reiterate—lots of wealth and a little guilt, or the same wealth and no guilt.” Willem held his hands out. “What are you thinking? How is this going to play?”

  Gustav stepped around the garden, kicking around the idea in his head.

  “Your wife’s anniversary… is it coming up? Your children’s birthday? Hell, your dog’s?” Willem stepped forward. “Are you going to stick your neck out for people that would probably toss you under the bus for the same opportunity?”

  Gustav looked at Willem. “You’re saying you’ll go to them?”

  “Well yeah,” Willem laughed. “I’m committed. I’m doing this regardless. But you’re excellent at what you do, and I’d really like to have you on my side as an ally.”

  “You’re quite horrible,” Gustav said.

  Willem laughed. “I’ve heard it said. But, hey… a lot better to kill a man financially than physically. I’m sure you’d agree, especially after tonight.”

  Gustav held out his hand. “Come meet my wife for dinner tomorrow. After that… we’ll talk.”

  Willem took his hand, shaking it firmly. “You’re going to live a very long, happy life, Gustav. I’ll bet everything on that.”