Chapter 823: Meeting with Darian [II]

Before Darian could continue, the door opened again. Varek returned carrying a wide tray with several cups, a pot of something warm, and a small assortment of pastries, and he wasn't alone this time. A woman walked in behind him.

Trafalgar recognized her almost immediately. Maris, Darian's older sister. It had been years since he had last seen her, and he hadn't expected her to appear in the middle of this meeting. More importantly, Maris was one of the few people who knew the truth behind what had happened inside House Thal'zar all those years ago. She had known enough to cause serious problems, and she had chosen to stay quiet.

Darian looked toward her. "You made it. Good timing. We were just about to get to the interesting part."

Maris gave him a brief look before her attention came to rest on Trafalgar, and whatever ease she'd carried through the door went out of her the moment it did.

"And Trafalgar, don't take this the wrong way, but she needs to be here for this part," Darian continued. "What happened affects her as well, and unfortunately, it also has something to do with your family."

That got Trafalgar's attention immediately, though before asking anything he stood. Maris approached with the same measured care he remembered from her, though there was more of it now. She stopped further out than the room required and greeted him with her hands closed together in front of her.

"It's been a long time, Trafalgar du Morgain."

The full name, the way she had used it every time she had ever spoken to him, without exception. "A few years, yeah." Trafalgar offered her a polite nod. "I hope you've been well. Your husband too."

Maris stiffened slightly at the mention of him. The reaction lasted only a moment, but Trafalgar noticed it. "He's well," she answered. "Thank you for asking."

She acknowledged Cynthia and Rhosyn with a nod before taking a seat, choosing the chair that faced him rather than either of the two that would have put him somewhere behind her.

Trafalgar knew exactly where that came from. Maris had worked out years ago what had really happened to the men who stood between her younger brother and that chair, and she had never breathed a word of it to anyone. She had also never once managed to forget it in his presence.

Varek set the tray down and poured the drinks, starting with Darian and Maris. When he reached Trafalgar, Trafalgar raised a hand. "I'm fine, thanks."

Varek nodded and moved on. Trafalgar sat again beside Cynthia, but his attention had already returned entirely to Darian. "What did you mean when you said this involves my family? Has something happened with the Morgains?"

Darian leaned forward slightly, his earlier relaxed manner gone. "There have been disagreements inside House Thal'zar for a while. Mostly over me."

"People still don't accept you as patriarch?"

"Some never did." Darian rubbed one thumb slowly along the arm of his chair. "My father's wives were among the worst. A few of them wanted more influence after his death, and several relatives believed I shouldn't have been the one to inherit the position in the first place."

Trafalgar wasn't particularly surprised by that. Succession inside Great Families was rarely a tidy business, especially when the previous head died badly and half the family believed they deserved a larger piece of what remained.

Darian continued. "Most of it stayed internal. Arguments, pressure, attempts to build support against me. Nothing I couldn't deal with. What surprised me was learning that people from your family had started reaching out to some of them."

Trafalgar's expression changed. "My family?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"At first, I didn't know." Darian glanced toward Varek. "He's the one who noticed something was wrong."

Varek set the last cup down before answering. "I'd been keeping an eye on several members of House Thal'zar who were openly unhappy with Lord Darian. Messages began moving through people who normally had very little reason to speak with them."

"And eventually you traced them."

"Enough of them." Varek nodded. "We found connections leading back toward House Morgain. Your brother Maeron's name appeared more than once, along with a few others around him."

That was considerably more interesting. Trafalgar leaned back, his fingers tapping once against his leg before stopping. "Maeron."

Darian watched him carefully. "You sound surprised."

"I am. He doesn't usually move without a reason."

"That was our assumption too."

Trafalgar turned toward Maris, and she straightened in her chair before he'd finished turning his head. "And you were contacted as well?"

"Eventually." Maris nodded once.

"Directly?"

"No. Your brother never appeared in front of me, and I never received anything carrying his name." She folded her hands neatly in her lap and kept them there, and the cup Varek had poured for her had not moved since it arrived. "Someone approached through an intermediary. The connection to Maeron only became clear afterward."

Trafalgar's gaze went hard. "What did they want?"

Maris glanced toward Darian before answering, the way a person does when they want someone else ready to confirm the account. "At first, they were careful. They asked about the situation inside the family, how much support Darian really had, whether the older branches accepted his rule, and whether I believed things could change."

Cynthia shifted slightly beside Trafalgar. Rhosyn said nothing, though her attention had come to rest completely on Maris now.

Trafalgar asked, "And what did you tell them?"

"Very little."

"Why?"

Maris held his gaze, and it visibly cost her to do it. "Because I knew what they were doing." There was more confidence in her voice than Trafalgar remembered, though it was the sort a person builds on purpose. "They weren't asking out of curiosity. They wanted to know where the cracks were."

Darian picked up from there. "Maris came to me before giving them anything useful. By then, Varek had already found enough for us to know there were several attempts happening at once."

"So Maeron wasn't only speaking to her."

"No." Darian shook his head. "He reached toward my other siblings as well, and at least two of my father's widows. Anyone who had reason to resent me was apparently worth testing."

Trafalgar's expression stayed calm, but his thoughts were moving considerably faster now. None of that sounded accidental. Maeron had been hunting for weak points inside House Thal'zar, and the only question left was why.

Trafalgar looked toward Maris again, and watched her brace for it before he opened his mouth. "And what exactly did my older brother want from you?"