Page 98 of Tell Me Why
“I could say the same to you,” Tell answered.
“Very little thanks to you,” Daryll said.
“I’m not a mercenary,” Tell said. “Never represented myself as one.”
“After all the big bad stories about you,” Daryll said. “You cowered and fled.”
Tell looked Daryll in the face without moving.
“I’m bored with the posturing,” he said. “Your house nearly fell because you overestimated your ability to contain information and overestimated your standing within the community. I could have just… left… but I came back because I want to see what you’re going to do about it. Are you going to learn from it and advance, or are you going to lash out and beclown yourself while they make advances at your expense?”
“Says the one who ran away,” Daryll sneered.
“Daryll, they took me,” Tell said, exasperated. “I broke out and Icame back. Are we going to punish them or are you going to whine and play the victim? Are you ready to actuallyactlike you belong with these people?”
Baiting Daryll was just too easy.
Maybe he should have been playing the game more carefully, but Tell had a heat of anger in him that was uncharacteristically difficult to control, and kicking around Daryll felt like it might help.
“They came because of you,” Daryll said. “Because you came waltzing in here and changed everything.”
Tell lifted one eyebrow.
“It’s like you can’t even see the wall coming,” he said. “If you wantpowerand if you wantcontrol, if you wantstature, you have to take risks that are going to bring you above everyone else. I presumed that you had enough awareness of what your enemies weredoingthat you would see something like thiscoming, but apparently I was wrong and you need more hand-holding.”
“You arenothing,” Daryll said. “Some…man… off on his own, can’t do nothing on his own. How dare you walk into my house and think you can talk to me like that?”
“I find that having doors that aren’t broken in does a lot in keeping out that type,” Tell said. “I reiterate. What are you going todoabout it? Are you ready to finally getseriousabout this?”
“Ought to kill you for talking to me like that,” Daryll said. “Send you off with my boys and smile that I’m never going to see you again.”
Tell sighed and stood.
“This was supposed to be an entertainment,” he said. “They took Tina. This has cost me more than you could ever reimburse. And now you’re a laughingstock for all of the people that I was supposed to go sell to, once we got the product stabilized and ready. Did Aleksander and Henning even survive?”
“Went back to work tonight,” Daryll said. “They’regoingto respect me.”
Tell shrugged.
“Saying it extra loud doesn’t make it any more likely,” he said. “If you want respect, you have to demand it in a way that they don’t have a choice. You have to do things they can’t stop, be someone that they can’t avoid.” Tell looked around the office. “I see a man cowering in a hole. I’m going home.”
“You can’t just walk out,” Daryll said. “We had an agreement.”
Tell went to put his hand on the doorknob, a little late. He’d expected Daryll to take longer than that to actually protest to his leaving.
“Are you ready to be serious?” Tell asked, looking over his shoulder. “Actually come at this as not just a business, but as anenterprise?”
“I want revenge,” Daryll said. “They came into my house, took my people, killed some of them. I want them to regret it forever.”
Tell lifted his chin.
“Are you ready tobesomething new, then?” he asked. “I can show you how to do it, but you have to bewilling. There’s no way I can help you if all you want from me is a little bit of technical knowledge and my social contacts.”
Daryll hesitated.
“I’ve come from nothing more than once,” he said. “I’m not afraid. I just don’t like you.”
“Does a king have tolikehis general?” Tell asked. “You just have to acknowledge that I’m the best option you’ve got and work with me. I’m not asking you to wear my friendship bracelet.”
