Chapter 893: Foreign Intervention

By the time Trafalgar returned to the castle district, the aide Kesh had sent ahead of him was nowhere in sight. That bothered him. The man had left the pumping works quickly and had taken the shortest route back toward the castle, which meant Kesh had already decided what he wanted done before Trafalgar even left the second ring.

He signed back into Ithanne's ledger, gave the guard his return time, and spent the next hour in his rooms going through the copy of Meer's authorisation again. Nothing on the page gave him anything new. Kesh's name was still there, and Halvic Meer had still left Meraval three days after Nyssara died.

The important part had been the conversation itself.

Kesh had learned how much Trafalgar knew about Nyssara's final year, and more importantly, he had learned that some of that information could only have come from inside the household archives.

'He's moving already.'

Trafalgar found out how quickly before midday.

Toran came to his rooms shortly before lunch. His assigned observer normally walked in with something mundane to report, but this time he stayed near the door and looked uncomfortable enough that Trafalgar closed the papers on his desk.

"What's happened?"

"People are asking why you came to Meraval."

"They've been asking that since I arrived."

"This is different." Toran rubbed the back of his neck. "They're saying Lord Lyren personally requested you. That he brought a Morgain into the succession because he couldn't act openly against the other heirs."

That information was true, which immediately made Trafalgar pay attention.

"What else are they saying?"

"Lady Nerith spent weeks copying restricted documents from the late Matriarch's archives. By hand." Toran paused. "And people are starting to connect those documents to you."

Trafalgar leaned back slightly.

Very few people knew both parts. Even fewer had any reason to put them together.

"Where did you hear it?"

"One of the administrators downstairs. He heard it from someone attached to the Canal Houses. I don't know where it started."

Trafalgar didn't need the original source anymore.

After Toran left, he went down into the castle himself. The reaction was already visible. Two members of the Ancients who had spoken with him several times during the previous weeks gave him the formal greeting required by courtesy and continued walking.

Near the administrative floor, three representatives of the Canal Houses were talking beside one of the windows. Their conversation stopped when Trafalgar approached, and the oldest of the three turned toward him.

"Lord Morgain."

"Lady Serel."

"Were you brought to Meraval at Lord Lyren's personal request?"

There was little point avoiding a fact that Lyren could confirm in a sentence.

"Yes."

"And have you been using information taken from restricted Myrrhvale archives?"

"I've reviewed information concerning Nyssara's final year."

Serel's expression barely changed. "That wasn't my question."

Trafalgar held her gaze for a moment. "Then yes. Some of the information I received came from those records."

"Thank you."

She left with the other two shortly afterward.

Trafalgar continued toward the lower gallery, thinking through what Kesh had accomplished in only a few hours. Everything circulating through the castle was accurate. Lyren had invited him. Nerith had copied the records. Trafalgar had used information from those records while investigating a succession in which both siblings had an interest.

All Kesh had done was connect the facts.

Now every discovery Trafalgar made against The Tide could be questioned through the same argument. People could claim he was acting for Lyren or Nerith, and neither accusation required anyone to prove that Trafalgar had received an order from either of them.

The timing helped Kesh as much as the rumours did. While Trafalgar answered questions around the castle, the fleet remained responsible for the recovery operation.

Kesh could review records, move personnel and inspect whatever came out of the flooded sector while everyone else argued about whether a Morgain had been brought into Meraval to influence the succession.

Trafalgar reached the lower gallery and found Corvyn waiting near the stairs.

He was alone, which immediately told Trafalgar that he had come to speak rather than make a public scene.

"I've spent the last two hours answering questions about whether my brother brought you here to remove me from my own succession."

"He didn't."

Corvyn's expression remained controlled. "Then explain what he did."

"He believed someone outside Myrrhvale was interfering. He couldn't investigate openly without every faction watching him, so he asked me to come."

"And Nerith?"

"She found records concerning your mother's final year and thought they were important."

"Restricted records?"

"Yes."

Corvyn looked toward the lower levels for a moment before returning his attention to Trafalgar.

"Then look at this from my position. Lyren brings a Morgain into Meraval without explaining the real reason to the other heirs. Nerith spends weeks copying documents none of us can freely access. Those documents reach you, and soon afterward you begin investigating officers attached to The Tide."

"Tide officers are involved in what I've found."

"Kesh supports my claim. Rhavel served under him. The Tide is the strongest part of my faction." Corvyn's voice stayed low. "Whether you intended it or not, every move against them affects me."

Trafalgar could understand the concern. More importantly, Corvyn had come directly to him instead of turning suspicion into a formal accusation.

"If you were standing where I am, what conclusion would you reach?" Corvyn asked. "My brother chooses the investigator. My sister supplies information. The investigator then spends weeks digging through the people supporting me."

"I'd want evidence before deciding they were working together."

"So do I. That's why I'm here."

That answer gave Trafalgar more respect for Corvyn than most of their previous conversations had managed.

"I didn't come here to decide who succeeds Nyssara," Trafalgar said. "Lyren has never asked me to damage your faction, and Nerith has never asked me to remove you."

Corvyn studied him. "Can you stop involving yourself in the succession from this point onward?"

"No."

The answer came easily because Trafalgar already knew what stopping meant. Kesh would control the recovery, the surviving records and every official report produced from the flooded sector.

Corvyn's jaw tightened, but he didn't raise his voice.

"Then you understand why I'm going to watch what you do from now on."

"I do."

Corvyn gave him a final look before leaving the gallery.

Trafalgar remained near the stairs and watched him disappear around the corner. The conversation at the pumping works made more sense now. Kesh had heard exactly how Trafalgar obtained some of his information, then acted before Trafalgar could decide what to do with the signature.

Within a few hours, the investigation had become tangled with the succession itself.

That gave Kesh what he needed most: time. The fleet still controlled the recovery operation, and anything that survived beneath the water would pass through their hands before Trafalgar ever saw an official report.

If Kesh was involved, he now had days to remove whatever could still connect him to it.