His temples throbbing, Ruban closed his eyes. Casia wasn’t playing around. He knew she had to be firm with him, ask the tough questions, so as not to appear biased. And he certainly didn’t expect her to risk her own credibility to spare him discomfort.
But Casia Washi had never done anything by halves. And that was a good quality only so long as there was a TV screen shielding you from all that penetrating intensity.
Still, he couldn’t deny that there was some truth to what she was implying.
The surge in public support for the Vaan alliance had coincided with a sharp drop in the prices of black-market feathers. And it didn’t take a genius to figure out why.
As soon as the alliance was finalized, the market would be flooded with high-quality feathers. Gifted to Vandram by their new allies, the government of Vaan.
Buyers anticipating an imminent surge in the supply of legal, high-quality feathers weren’t going to pay premium prices for the illicit, black-market variety. And if there was no money to be made from unlawfully acquired Aeriel feathers, there’d be no reason for the feather mafia to exist. Drained of resources, they’d fade away automatically. Or, at least, that was the dominant theory circulating currently in government circles.
The feather mafia was being starved out. And this delighted not only the IAW and the Hunter Corps, but also the Ministry of Commerce.
Their revenues had been hit hard by the mafia’s activities, last year. Ruban could understand their desire to hasten the demise of the illicit feather trade.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
What he didn’t understand was why Prahlad Kujur, the commerce minister, felt it necessary to publicize Ruban’s role in that process. What perverse satisfaction did the higher-ups derive, from making his life harder than it had to be?
He cleared his throat. “You tell me, Casia. Whose interests are negatively impacted by this alliance?”
Her brow crinkling, Casia cocked her head. “I…don’t believe I understand what you’re trying to say.”
“There’s a significant upswing in the stock prices of every publicly traded feather refinery in the country, isn’t there?” Ruban asked. “That includes your sister company, Tej Enterprises. If I’m not mistaken.”
Casia’s frown deepened. “There’s nothing surprising about that. The public has good reason to believe that there’ll soon be a lot more Aeriel feathers to refine, if the alliance comes to fruition. A bit of speculation is only to be expected, under the circumstances.”
“Indeed,” Ruban agreed. “Feather refineries of all sizes stand to gain substantially from a potential alliance with Vaan. Which is reflected in the fact that most of them have voiced their support for the alliance, over the last few days.” He paused, offering her a slight, apologetic smile. “With a few notable exceptions, of course.”
Short of beating the point home with a sledgehammer, he’d done everything he could to convey the vital facts.
That WNN’s continued antipathy to the Vaan alliance did not make financial sense. Given that it shared a parent company with one of the largest feather refineries in Ragah. That the alliance posed a real threat to the financial interests of only one group – those that made their money from the illegal feather trade.
And that, if this line of reasoning held water, it followed that those who had the most to lose from the alliance had perpetrated the attack at the intersection. And, possibly, also the attempt on Simani’s life, in order to frame Prince Shwaan for her murder.
Well, that last bit might require some stretching of the imagination. But if there was one thing the armchair analysts and social media pundits didn’t want for, it was imagination. He’d thrown them the seeds of a conspiracy theory, confident in their ability to weave a riveting web of intrigue and absurdity for their followers.
Holding Casia’s gaze, Ruban sat back in his chair. Ready for her next move.