Chapter 848: The Plan

Lyren left them shortly after bringing them back to the residential wing.

He had other things to deal with inside the castle and, now that Trafalgar and Rhosyn had been formally recognised as observers, there was little reason for him to stay around them. If anything, being seen constantly beside the two outsiders he'd personally brought into Meraval would only make people ask more questions.

Trafalgar waited until Lyren disappeared around the far end of the corridor before turning toward Rhosyn.

"Come inside for a bit. We need to talk about how we're going to handle this place before we start walking around tomorrow."

"Yeah, that's probably best."

Trafalgar opened the door and held it while she stepped into his room.

Rhosyn had already seen most of it while leaving her things next door. Their rooms were almost identical: a large bed, a sitting area near the window, several pieces of expensive furniture, and a private bathroom through another door. Blue and silver still dominated everything, because apparently House Myrrhvale had decided two colours were enough for an entire civilisation.

Trafalgar entered behind her and closed the door.

Rhosyn took one of the chairs near the window while Trafalgar stayed standing for a moment, listening to the corridor outside. He couldn't hear anyone nearby, though that didn't mean much in a castle filled with people whose abilities he knew nothing about.

"We should assume people are going to watch us," he said. "Especially me. A Morgain showing up during their succession is already enough to get attention, and Lyren being the one who invited me makes it worse."

Rhosyn rested one arm against the chair. "Which means what we talked about earlier matters even more now. If we're together every time you speak to someone, people will start treating us like one observer instead of two."

"We arrived together, so that part's easy enough to explain. Lyren invited me, Nerith invited you, and he brought both of us here at the same time because it was convenient."

"But once we're inside the city, we shouldn't spend every hour beside each other."

Trafalgar nodded. "Publicly, we split up when it makes sense. We can still meet whenever there's a reason for it, but I'd rather nobody gets used to seeing you attached to my side."

Rhosyn thought about it for a moment. "Then we should probably avoid meeting in the same place every night too. Your room is fine today because we've only just arrived, but eventually somebody is going to notice patterns."

"You're getting really good at this, you know?"

"I've spent a long time around people with secrets."

"Fair point."

Trafalgar finally sat opposite her.

"The biggest problem is Ithanne's rules. I can ask questions, talk to people, watch whatever they let me watch, and report anything I find. The second I start forcing things, I'm fucked."

Rhosyn's expression barely changed. "And if someone catches you doing something that looks like you're helping Nerith directly, they'll have exactly what they need to accuse House Morgain of interfering."

"Right. Which means I can't be the person sneaking through buildings or following people around Meraval."

"That'll be me."

"Mostly."

Rhosyn looked at him. "Mostly?"

"I'm still going to do things myself if I have to. I'm not sitting in this castle waiting for you to bring me every answer."

"I didn't expect you to." Rhosyn leaned back slightly. "Then what are we actually doing first?"

Trafalgar had already been thinking about that since Lyren explained the succession in Velkaris.

"We will meet the important people first."

"All of them?"

"As many as we reasonably can. Lyren already gave me the board, but that was his version of it. I want to see these people myself before I decide who's dangerous and who's only loud."

Rhosyn gave a small nod for him to continue.

"There's Nerith first. Lyren wants her to take the position, so obviously we need to know what she's actually like. If I'm risking my neck helping him clear a path for her, I'd rather find out early if she's worth the trouble."

"And the others?"

"Corvyn and whoever's around him. The Tide matters because they control the fleet and a lot of the guard, and the Admiral sounds like the kind of man I'd rather see in person before making assumptions about him."

Trafalgar counted the next group on his fingers.

"Then the Ancients. Ondrek especially. If they're supporting Vaelis because he's First Heir and don't give a shit about the accusations against him, I want to know how far that goes."

Rhosyn's eyes narrowed slightly. "And the Canal Houses."

"Probably the most useful people in the city if Lyren's right. They haven't chosen anyone yet, which means everybody is going to be trying to buy them one way or another."

"You included."

Trafalgar gave her a flat look. "I'd prefer persuade."

"Of course."

"Sounds much nicer."

Rhosyn almost smiled, then returned to the point. "What about Vaelis?"

"I want to see him too, but I'm not walking up to the man on my first day and asking whether he murdered his mother."

"Probably wise."

"Give me at least two days before I ruin everything."

That got an actual quiet laugh out of her.

Trafalgar leaned forward, resting his arms against his knees. "Tomorrow we will start looking around. We see the city properly, meet whoever Lyren can arrange without making it obvious he's giving us a tour of his enemies, and figure out where everyone stands."

"And while they're watching you?"

"You watch everything else."

Rhosyn nodded slowly. "People around them. Guards. Servants. Who interrupts conversations, who gets ignored, who can walk into places without being stopped. Things like that."

"Yeah. Lyren gave us the names. I want to know who actually has power."

There was a difference, and both of them knew it. Titles were useful. So were armies, money, access, fear, loyalty, and the ability to make people move without ever raising your voice.

Rhosyn looked toward the closed door.

"We should probably be careful about speaking openly in these rooms too."

"I've been thinking the same thing. We don't know what kind of formations they have inside the walls, and I'd rather not discover later that half this conversation was recorded."

"So after tonight?"

"Anything important, we find somewhere better. Or we keep it vague enough that hearing us doesn't help."

Rhosyn accepted that. "Then tomorrow we separate when we can, learn the city, and start meeting the people Lyren told us about. If either of us finds something strange, we don't act immediately unless there's no other choice."

"Bring it to the other first."

"And don't get caught."

Trafalgar nodded. "That seems to be the main rule around here."

They spent a little longer going through the obvious things: routes through the castle, how often they should check on each other, what counted as enough danger to abandon the observer act entirely, and the fact that Rhosyn's dimensional abilities remained their best way out if Meraval suddenly became hostile.

Eventually, there wasn't much more to decide until they'd actually seen the city.

Rhosyn stood from the chair.

"I'll let you speak to them."

Trafalgar knew immediately who she meant.

"Yeah. I promised I'd contact them as soon as we got settled."

"They'll be waiting."

"Mayla definitely will."

Rhosyn headed toward the door, then stopped with her hand near the handle.

"We'll figure this out, Trafalgar. Just don't forget that we have time. We don't need every answer tomorrow."

Trafalgar looked at her. "Coming from you, that's surprisingly reasonable."

"I can take it back."

"Go to your room."

Rhosyn gave him one last look before leaving, and Trafalgar closed the door behind her.

The room became much quieter once he was alone.

He crossed back toward the bed, sat on its edge, and raised one hand. Mana gathered across his palm before the familiar shape of the Shadowlink Echo formed above it.

This one wasn't connected to Caelum.

Trafalgar looked at it for a moment before activating it.

He had promised the girls he'd call when he arrived. And it was time to keep that promise.