I scrunched my eyes shut in horror. If she was here...
“Forgive me, Melaena,” a familiar voice said. High Councilor Garyth. “My worries for my family and myself overtook me.”
Melaena sighed. “Have a seat, Garyth, and tell me exactly what happened.”
A rustle and a creak, then Garyth said, “Someone searched my study.”
I winced, my heart drumming harder.
“How can you be sure? Perhaps your daughter or a maid moved a few things around?”
“My daughter is not allowed in my study, and the maid doesn’t clean there unless I’m present. The papers in a secretcompartment in my desk were disheveled in such a way that someone must’ve put them back in a hurry.”
By the Abyss, did he have to have such an eye for detail? I had been as careful as I could manage under the circumstances.
“But nothing was missing?” Melaena asked.
“Nothing, and everything is encoded, but... but if someone saw the insignia or cracked the code... I’m a dead man. My family as well.”
My stomach twisted at the utter certainty and hopelessness in his voice. Surely Father wouldn’t execute Garyth’s wife and child if they knew nothing of his traitorous sympathies?
But he would. He had done it to others.
Bile rose in my throat, but I swallowed it and the memories back down.
“Do you have enough to condemn him?” Melaena asked.
My brow pinched. Condemn who? My father?
“Not yet. Dracles has been blocking my attempts to gather more information. His gods-damn soldiers patrol the entirety of the river, and getting close to the mine has been impossible. He’s definitely hiding something.”
Melaena and Garyth continued speaking in hushed murmurs that I couldn’t make out.
Did he mean the Medria River? It was the largest river in Rellmira and ran west to east from Twaryn, splitting north to the small mining town of Calimber and south to Aquinon. I didn’t know much about the Calimber mine itself, other than that it was where Father’s precious sunstone was carved out of a cave deep in the cliffs.
He protected it more fiercely than his own family—that was no secret. But why would he keep Garyth—his Master of Commerce—from the river and the mine, which were his purview as overseer of Rellmira’s trade resources?
I shook my head. None of this made sense. Perhaps that was why Renwell had wanted me to sneak into Garyth’s study—he suspected Garyth was doing some spying of his own.
But for what purpose? Was Garyth gathering information and supporters to overthrow Father? Why would he even want to bring back the People’s Council, if that was his goal?
After all, they were largely to blame for the Pravaran rebellion getting out of control, forcing Father to take extreme measures.
If the council had simply calmed the angry masses in Pravara, instead of insisting that Father give in to their demands of overturning multiple laws involving taxes, food quotas, and army conscriptions, so many lives would’ve been saved.
Was Aiden also mixed up in this conspiracy?
My fingers clenched in frustration. I hated having so few threads of what felt like a much larger story. Regardless, I needed to tell Renwell what I’d heard. If I could ever find a way to contact him.
“But when?” Garyth’s voice grew louder. “We can do nothing if he doesn’t succeed. And quickly. If Renwell and his dogs start baying for my blood, it will crush what little hope I’ve managed to inspire in the others. Those gods-damned executions after the rebellion were a crippling blow.”
Julian.I bit my lip, fighting back the wretched memory. Who was Garyth waiting for?
“Weallfelt the pain of those executions,” Melaena said icily. “And hewillsucceed. In the meantime, how long can you hold off Renwell?”
“Not long if it was him or one of his spies in my study. My family?—”
“—will be protected. Stay the course, Garyth.”
