The first meeting of the Thieves Guild Captains under their new Guildmaster was not going well, and Maela couldn't quite blame them. Ralan was racing off to deal with Karch and couldn't attend, and without him there, the Captains were left with nothing but stories of his irresponsibility. To make matters worse, the way he received the Guildmastership was itself insulting to the Guild—it was done as a punishment. Maela gave mild endorsement to Ralan, but she herself felt insulted over how he was named the Guildmaster.

There were ten Thief Captains, and Maela was the Captain of the Flats. It was an important position. Not only did many thieves live in the Flats, but the Knight Tower at the edge of the district was her responsibility. She was the critical person responsible for keeping tabs on the guild charged with eradicating thieves.

Deputy Guildmaster Alard wielded his influence well, however, and as the meeting wound down everyone was at least begrudgingly accepting of Ralan's new role as their Guildmaster. Maela found the entire proceeding amusing. She considered Ralan as nothing more than a figurehead and arguing over him pointless. The real Guildmaster was Alard.

Alard moved on to the practical matter of the unstable political situation in Ness, specifically the threat to the city by the potential assassination of Polo, the Guildmaster Harvest. Alard stood at the end of a long rough-hewn wooden table near the very top of the ancient tower. There were five men on one side and four men and one woman on the other. Raef sat at the opposite side from Alard.

"Calias, you will need to get to Polo and warn him about the assassination risk. He is well-defended against a known enemy, but he doesn't know what he faces in an Outlander. Also, if he were to stop the Outlander, Larsen could still win if Polo were to inadvertently rally the city to Saxe and Larsen's sides due to a collective hatred of the Outlanders."

Maela had anticipated that Calias would get the job, as he was Captain of the Harvest District, but she had serious doubts about him. He was old and well-liked by everyone—the late Guildmaster Pietro had named Calias as a Captain many years earlier—but managing the mood of the Harvest guild members was one thing, getting past Polo's defenses to say the right thing in the right way to warn him of an Outlander assassin was something else entirely.

Maela wanted the mission for the simple reason that she felt she was the only one in the guild who could actually succeed at it. Knowing that she would never be given the job as long as she was Captain of the Flats, Maela decided to use a bit of guild knowledge that Pietro had taught her in a history lesson before he had died: "Isn't that the job for the Blade of the Guildmaster?" Maela asked.

Every face at the table turned to her. "What are you talking about, Maela? There is no such position." It was Kalos, the Captain of the Warehouse District. He was the highest ranking Captain, as he had to oversee the dangerous theft of goods from the Ness Warehouses. He was ferociously loyal to the Thieves Guild, but also had no patience for niceties.

"There is no position now, but it is a traditional guild position. Sneaking in and warning Polo is exactly the type of role the Blade would fill." Maela realized she had to sell two things: The role of the position itself and then her being the one to fill the role.

"Maela, there has not been a Thief Guild Blade for over fifty years. While your logic is correct—this is the kind of mission the Blades would historically fill—we simply have no Blade." Alard's calm, deep voice was meant to close the discussion.

"I don't even know what this Blade position is," Mio, the young Captain of the Plains said.

Alard sighed. "It is a traditional position of the Guilds. It originally was the title of the Guildmaster's personal bodyguard, but it has changed over the centuries into the role of spy or assassin. The Blade of the Guildmaster for the Merchant Guild is who we believe assassinated Pietro." There was a murmur of voices, everyone knew that Pietro had been assassinated, but there was no proof, and his great age made the accusation difficult to believe. Alard held up his hand, "I hear the anger in your muttering, and this is exactly why Pietro eliminated the position when he took over as Guildmaster. Thieves do not assassinate. Nor do we seek vengeance. We take so we can give." We take so we can give. It was the motto of the Thieves Guild, which stole from those with excess to give to those with little.

This is my chance, Maela thought. "But the role of the Blade is not for other guilds to define!" Maela slammed her fist on the table. Marshaling anger against the other guilds was a surefire method to get what she wanted. "We can have a Blade that does good. We can have a Blade that saves those about to be executed, who finds out about the evil that other guilds do," Maela paused for effect and looked around the table at all the faces of her fellow captains. "We can have a Blade that saves those about to be assassinated."

The timing of her comment was perfect. She had linked the lingering pain of Pietro's assassination with the current mission of saving Polo from assassination. The murmurs around the table were positive, and Maela could see lots of nodding heads. She glanced at Alard, who was staring into her eyes in the way that always intimidated her. It was as if he could see directly into her soul. She held his gaze, doing her best to appear both defiant and righteous. Her position was the right one.

Alard nodded his head, but his reply was not what she had hoped to hear. "There is wisdom in your words, Maela, but this is a decision for the Guildmaster." Alard turned back to the others. "Now, let's discuss how we can help Calias in his mission to warn Guildmaster Polo."

"With all due respect, Deputy." Maela stood up. "No one knows more of the Harvest Guild than Captain Calias, but we have all heard his report—Guildmaster Polo has retreated into Harvest House. Even he admitted that he has done such a good job infiltrating the Harvest Guild rank and file that no one there thinks of him as special." She turned to Calias and bowed. "That is what we need from a Guild Captain. His influence within the Harvest Guild is where we need it—with those that live near Harvest House and influence things from their day-to-day conversations." She turned back to Alard. "But it is not what we need from a Blade. We need someone who can mislead, hide, sneak, and divert attention. And—" Maela patted the knife at her hip. "—utilize precise violence when necessary." She didn't humiliate Calias by looking at him. Everyone knew he was too old to do any of the physical things that Maela had mentioned.

No one said anything, and Maela couldn't tell what was going through Alard's mind. She felt strongly he would agree with her, but it appeared he was thinking long and hard over her words. Finally, he spoke up. "Apprentice Raef, what is your opinion of what the Guildmaster would think of us making such a decision without him?"

Raef jerked to attention. He seemed surprised that anyone had called on him. "Um, I don't think he would much care other than that the right decision was being made."

Maela couldn't help but smile. Ralan was reckless and ignorant and maddening, but there was no denying he had a good heart and didn't much stand for proper procedure. She could have hugged Raef at that moment.

"Thank you, Raef. I happen to agree with both you and Captain Maela." He turned to Calias. "Captain Calias, I believe I've done you a disservice by asking you to risk your important and critical role as Captain for a mission that very well may hurt us even if you were successful." Alard crossed his arms and looked out at everyone. "So the question before us is who shall we name to this temporary position of Blade, with the knowledge that this will be a temporary assignment until the Guildmaster returns."

"Give it to Maela, she obviously wants it." The speaker was Rogers, the Captain of the Lower Triangle, and his voice was full of sarcasm and unspoken criticism. He didn't like Maela, and she could never figure out why. The Lower Triangle bordered the Flats, and so she and Rogers had to work together fairly often, but he was always dismissive, if not insulting.

To Maela's concern, Coode, the Captain of the Old Quarter cleared his throat to get attention in preparation for speaking. Coode was the only other Captain who didn't like Maela. He was very powerful in his role as Captain of the Old Quarter. His job was more bureaucratic than the other Captains—he was to make sure that the Old Quarter ran well like a proper city while also remaining outside the attention of the city across the River. Maela had spurned his romantic interest, and he did not take it well, which led to his constant criticism of her.

Before Coode could say anything, however, Alard's booming voice filled the room. "An excellent idea, Captain Rogers. We will make Maela our temporary Guild Blade." Alard uncrossed his arms and softened his voice. "Unfortunately, your good idea has increased your own responsibility. We have no time to find a new Captain of the Flats, so I will add that to your duties until the Guildmaster returns."

Maela admired Alard's political cunning. Coode gave up, knowing anything he said would be dismissed. Beyond shutting down Coode, Alard had also dismissed the criticism of Maela implied in Rogers' tone-of-voice, while making Rogers feel more important by giving him additional responsibilities, and he did it by taking the responsibility away from Maela. To everyone in the room, Alard had just punished Maela and rewarded Rogers. Meanwhile, Maela was left with a position that never existed and may not exist upon the Guildmaster Ralan's return.

It was hard to suppress her smile. Maela had no intention of failing in her mission, and she had no intention of becoming a Captain again. She was and forever would be the Blade of the Guildmaster.