Karin fixed him with a hard look. "Would you expect him to? How many years, how many Seasons did he control the Guilds? Do you think one among so many was going to give him any real trouble? Father always had things firmly within his grasp."
Roge grunted, still unconvinced. "All right, so let's say you're right. What do you suggest we do?"
"Nothing for now, but bear in mind that we need to watch him. Make sure we don't have any discussions with him separately. If you're going to talk to Din Baltir, make sure I'm there. Remember, we have to stand together in this, Roge."
Karin was leaning forward, almost as if eager to enter into a fresh debate with him, ready to pounce on the next thing he might say. He sat back, watching her. "Listen, Karin, do you really doubt that?" he said with a frown.
She too sat back after a moment and then sighed. "No, of course I don't doubt it, but we have to be careful, Roge. I just think you need to be aware of just how careful."
"Yes, yes, I know."
She seemed satisfied. "All right, what about the others?"
"Who for instance?"
"Well ... Yosset has Primary Production pretty well tied up in the areas that count, but there's an element there we have to watch for."
"Who?"
"Aron Ka Vail."
"What about him? He's going to retire soon, isn't he?"
"Yes, it does look like it, but I'm not sure that Yosset is positioned well enough to counter the Ka Vail sons. And besides, as far as we know, that's just rumor for now."
Roge pursed his lips. "Hmm. I wouldn't worry about the older boy. Markis, isn't it?"
Karin nodded. "No, you're right, but it wasn't Markis I was thinking about. It was the other one, Jarid."
"I don't see..."
"What, because Markis is going to take the position? Don't discount the other one. I haven't seen that much of him, but he always struck me as a player. Anyway, Ka Vail hasn't announced any intention of retiring, has he? As I said, it's just rumor." She looked down at her lap, smoothing her clothes over the flat of her thighs, then looked up again. "Ka Vail hasn't retired yet. So, until he does, the sons are an unknown. They're shielded by the presence of the old man. We can't afford to have unknowns either. You and I need to be sure, Roge."
Roge looked out of the window, out over the flat city skyline, thinking. She was right, there were far too many unknowns already. Karin always knew what she wanted, always knew what she had to do to get it. She'd been waiting for this time for years, putting things in place, making alliances, but now...? How could she possibly believe that she could control so many things at once? How could anyone control so many things at once? He liked things to be simple. He knew there was no real hope of that as Principal, but to take it to the extreme that Karin did. And how had Father managed? Roge couldn't imagine that the old man had made everything so complicated.
"Roge?"
"What?" he said, turning back to look at her.
"What are we going to do about the Ka Vail boys?"
"I don't know. I don't know. Why don't you get Yosset to deal with it? You can do that can't you? He's your husband, after all."
"Yes, yes, I know. But it's intricate. The way Primary Production is split makes it harder. The Ka Vail's have control of the mines and factories. Yosset is only involved in agriculture and transport. There are some crossovers, but not as many as you might think. Sometimes it's as if they were completely separate guilds, you know?"
It was Roge's turn to sigh. "Yes, I know that. I'm sure he can do something. The rumors have to be enough of an excuse, don't they? Let him talk to the Ka Vail boys, find out what they're thinking. Then you and I can talk about what we need to do."
She nodded. "Yes, you're right of course. Just sometimes..."
"What?"
"No, nothing. It doesn't matter."
"So ... what else?"
"Technologists."
"Yes."
"Well, what are we going to do there?"
He hated the way she did that, jumping from subject to subject. "What do you mean, what are we going to do? I'll look after it. It's my Guild, Karin."
"Yes I know it is. That doesn't mean we can ignore it."
He felt the resentment rising inside. "I'm not ignoring it."
