Exploitable Weaknesses by Brian Keller (red queen free ebook txt) 📗

Lord Talmet, completing his first assignment as an Adept Assassin, Cooper had researched the family extensively. Since they couldn’t get to the Guild Library, Cooper wanted to put as much information as possible in Birt’s head.

Loryn returned with Dailen just as he’d started to mention Master Vorni’s involvement with Jarell and that’d Vorni had sent word to warn Lord Talmet of an Assassin sent to kill him. The warning itself had, in fact, actually assisted Cooper, but that certainly hadn’t been Vorni’s intent.

Dailen’s eyes were wide, his gaze shifted quickly from place to place, as if he expected to find something dangerous in every shadow. Cooper stood and called out, “Dailen, so good of you to come. I suppose you have been hammering away making tools and such, just waiting for a summons?” Dailen glanced at Cooper and then back to the darkened corners of the room, “I might’ve been waiting for something... not sure it was this though.” Cooper wiped some of the dust from his hands, “I’m not one to refute years of taboo and superstition, but you can relax. The most dangerous thing currently in the Ruins is us.” Dailen relaxed a little but still looked uncertain. Cooper walked towards the door, “Dailen, come with me and show me which building you want restored to house your forge.” Dailen looked flustered, “Which building? My for- what?” Cooper looked at Loryn. She explained, “I haven’t told him anything. I just told him to ‘follow me’.” Cooper shook his head, “Then what took you so long?” She shrugged, “Rukle asked me to back him up when he visited a couple of the Houses. It was a good thing, too. But I’ll leave him to report, I just went in if I heard the right noises.” She paused and smiled, “I expect I know how you’ll spend at least part of your day tomorrow.”

As Cooper walked with Dailen, looking around the nearby structures, he explained the main points of what was planned and added, “We’ll discuss it further when Rukle gets back from making his rounds.” He then blatantly changed the subject, “For the Smithy, we’ll want to consider access, since we’re also looking at commercial applications, not just our ‘in house’ requirements.” Cooper was thinking, “Dailen’s a bright young man, but better that he not feel too overwhelmed at the beginning… Plenty of time to overwhelm him later.”

Once Dailen had the forge site selected and the layout pictured in his head, Cooper explained to him how Utsef had built a draft forge. Dailen commented that in order to use it to work metal, an assistant would still be needed. Instead of working the bellows, they’d be occupied by regularly feeding kindling into the draft chamber. The draft would replace the bellows, but it would take some practice to learn how that heat would compare to the coals found in a forge. Dailen doubted that the heat would be regular and uniform, “but it would probably work well for melting down ingots” which would then free up the actual forge for welding and forming work.

They were still stacking bricks to make the draft forge when Balat interrupted them, “Rukle just got back. We thought you’d want to know.” Cooper leaned back to stretch and gave Balat a wave, “Thanks. We’ll be right there.” He positioned a couple more bricks and Dailen said, “I’ve got the idea. I can finish this up later by myself. We all need to sit down and talk, right?” Cooper nodded, “We do. Everyone needs to know what they must accomplish, but I also want everyone here to have a reasonable understanding of the entire plan. That way, if something doesn’t go quite right, then everyone still has an idea of how to make it as close as possible to what we need.” Dailen raised an eyebrow, “But if anyone gets caught, they know enough to damage everyone…” Cooper was already walking to join the rest of the group. Dailen caught up to hear Cooper’s reply, “An acceptable risk. Besides, if anyone gets caught, we likely won’t have enough people to see it through, anyway.”

Naro and Balat had scavenged some boards and scraps, and had used those to block the largest of the gaps and cracks in the walls. This allowed them to keep a small fire, rather than having to maintain a large one. Cooper and Dailen joined the rest of the group and seated themselves in a circle around the fire.

Cooper looked at Rukle, “You start.” Rukle tightened his lips as he sighed, “A couple of House Fathers threatened to harm me if I didn’t leave. You told me not to press too hard, so I left. I had the impression that they are supporting each other, cooperating. Another House Father actually pulled a knife. He was dead before Loryn even knew what was happening, but she came in quick when she heard a couple of the kids shouting. In all, eight Houses are ‘with us’. All five in the Waterfront and three in Batter’s Field. Those House Fathers said they’d expected someone sooner, and frankly they almost seemed relieved to see me. The two remaining Houses in Batter’s Field will need another visit, and there’s four others in the Dregs that I haven’t been to yet.” Cooper’s expression hadn’t changed and he’d made no move to interrupt. He was silent for several seconds, then took a breath and spoke, “We’ll go visit those two Houses before dawn tomorrow. You pick which one we visit first. I’d prefer we get there before the kids leave for the day. I want everyone to see us and hear what we have to say. Loryn, you come along but wait outside as you did today. Afterward, go with Rukle to the Dregs.” Loryn wrinkled her nose but acknowledged her task. Cooper emphasized the point, “The Dregs is where we’re likely to find the most resistance. They’re also of the least