The transporter activated again and Markus stood up straight as he watched to see who it might be. He knew the guard downstairs would not have allowed an unauthorized person upstairs, but he prepared himself for a confrontation anyways. It was always better to assume the worst. Markus relaxed when he saw Nathias’s face materialize into the transporter alcove. A moment later, the Vanguard Major stepped into the living area and took a seat in the chair Dexter had just vacated.
“All is well outside,” he replied.
Pavi nodded. “I appreciate you and your men taking up station around the chalet these last few days, Nathias. I know protection is a boring job and not what you were trained for, but considering everything, the Emperor and I thought it best to alleviate the Protectorate of their responsibility toward Adar until they have a chance to clean things up a bit.”
“We aim to serve, Majesty,” Nathias replied. “But this is only temporary at best. I know you can only spare us from our regular duty for so long. Will he get a Protector eventually?”
Pavi looked thoughtful for a moment, and then he spoke. “Perhaps, but for now, we will leave things are they are until we have a chance to speak to Adar. Ultimately, that will be his choice, but after the events of the last week, I’m not sure he will be so eager to trust someone from the Protectorate that he doesn’t know. I certainly wouldn’t.”
“Well, we are at the Prince’s disposal as long as he needs us, or as long as you can spare us, that is.”
Pavi nodded. “I think this is important enough that other matters can wait a bit. I know Markus and Jamiss are keeping an eye on things up here, but having you and your men outside is a comfort.”
“You really think there will be more trouble?”
Pavi gave a Nathias a long look. “I always expect more trouble.”
Nathias grunted.
Pavi waved at the board ready for a new game. “Want to go a round?”
Nathias frowned as he looked at the triple board. “I’m afraid I’ll have to pass. I only came to give you an update. The night crew is settled in for their shift, so I’m going to retire for a few hours.”
The man stood and made his way to the transport. Nathias gave Markus a nod as he passed. Markus nodded back. That pretty much summed up the handful interactions they’d had over the last few days. Guess he was still mad about Markus not being more cooperative earlier in the week. What else was new?
After the green glow from the transporter had faded away. Pavi spoke up. “There is something I wanted to speak with you about while we are alone.”
Markus swiveled his head back to his father. The man pulled a small silver cube out of his pocket, set it on the second level of the game board, and pressed the top. A pulsing blue radiated from the cube indicating that it was active. Markus stood up a little straighter. A sodi-silencer was a common enough tool used by high ranking nobles and spies as they had conversations they didn’t want to be overheard, but it was a true rarity when his father used them in Markus’s presence.
“Now that Ghar’s finally speaking to me, I told him my suspicions of Zorren’s involvement about what’s been going on here at the College. I gave him the evidence I had showing collusions between Zorren, Miss Vende, and Hame. I also told him of the Fazha Rebellion story that was used to help recruit Protectorate members against Adar, and that I didn’t think Hame was the type to pull off such a crafty plot all by himself.”
A thrill raced through Markus. He’d been feeling like this whole thing had been a failure. He’d been able to out those at the College working against Adar, but still hadn’t gotten evidence against Zorren himself. Would what pavi had be enough?
“And?”
Pavi’s frown told Markus much, but he waited to hear what the old man had to say anyways. “He says that technically the evidence isn’t solid proof that Zorren has done anything to Adar. There was just a conversation between Zorren and Hame at the Palace, and some conversations between Miss Vende and Hame over the network. None of those conversations outright said anything about Zorren working against Adar. Though, it’s certainly damning enough for Hame and Miss Vende coupled with what Dexter’s been able to get out of Pledge Pezeri. Last I heard, Ghar had issued arrest warrants for both Captain Hame and Tessa Vende.”
It was something, but not enough. Hame and Vende were not the true threat against Adar. “What about the ship registry files Jordem used to accuse Adar?”
Pavi shook his head. “Again, no proof they came from Zorren himself. The unity ring that was circulating around the College with the files has not been found. Also the original files their conspiracy theory was based off aren’t that hard to access if you know what you are doing. And while Hame doesn’t have the ability to go digging for restricted files in the Nanite Network, he could have hired someone to do it for him.”
Markus’s fleeting hope took a nose dive. What would it take for the Emperor to take action against his son? He was the real problem. “Zorren is just going to try again, pavi. And next time, we might not see him coming.”
Pavi nodded. “I know. Believe me, I know. Ghar said it wasn’t enough to issue an arrest for Zorren, but it was enough for him to have a conversation with his son.”
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Markus snorted. “A conversation? What the yavit is that supposed to mean?”
Pavi looked thoughtful for a moment “I don’t know. I guess we are just going to have to wait and see, and be on our guard.”
Markus shook his head. “If that bastard gets Adar killed because he can’t act against Zorren, I’m going to…”
“Markus!” His father barked. He was glaring now at his son. “Watch your mouth and I mean it. He is your Emperor and you will give him nothing but your full respect and loyalty. Do you hear me!? I’ve put up with a lot of your shenanigans and angry outbursts over the years, but I will not tolerate any sort of treason from you toward our ruler. I will lock you up myself. Am I making myself abundantly clear, son?”
Markus glared at the other man. His gaze then shifted to the pulsing blue cube. No one could hear them, and yet, pavi was scolding him. Markus just wandered how much of it was because he believed what he said, or was from the lingering guilt of pavi’s own transgressions.
“Well, what about what we did twenty years ago?”
Pavi pursed his lips and looked away. “I thought we agreed not to talk about that.”
Markus paused a moment wondering if he really wanted to tread into the place that had begun Markus’s crusade of anger toward his father all those years ago, but he had questions, things he did not know, and with recent events, he was concerned that maybe their little secret wouldn’t stay secret for much longer. So he plunged forward, even when the urge to clamp his jaw shut and walk away was almost too strong to ignore.
“I was twelve when we made that agreement, and we haven’t talked about it, not once since Aragon, Leeta, and Adar left us on the jungle planet. The first reference to any of that I’ve heard since was in Jorden’s office and him going on about that ridiculous idea that Adar was in league with the Fazha Rebellion. How convincing is that trail you left for Aragon’s ship registry? Obviously, Zorren is poking around. Is he going to find anything that leads back to you?”
Pavi looked pensive for a long moment before he gave a sigh. “I do not know. I did what I could. I knew the ship’s origin and trail would be under a lot of scrutiny, so I had been careful to find one that wouldn’t lead directly to me, even though I have access to whole fleets of them.
“The only difference in the story I told a few days ago is that I was the one to purchase the ship with one of Aragon’s accounts. I’d been trickling money into it for a few months through supposed side contracts he’d been taking while he’d been shut out of the Palace and waiting for the Emperor to give Aragon access to his charge again.
“Originally, I just wanted to make sure Aragon had enough funds to support himself if he did permanently loose Adar as a charge, because I was certain he wouldn’t be taking another one on if that had happened. The Emperor certainly hadn’t paid Aragon’s Protector’s fees once he decided to bring Leeta and Adar to the Palace to live. I, of course, continued to pay them like I had when Adar was under my care, but if Aragon had to give up the bond, he’d loose even that.
“Sure, he’d get a job at the College, but I know the difference in income that is, and it’s obscene the pay cut Protectors have to take when they retire. I wanted to make sure my friend was taken care of. I had never intended for that money to be used to fund his escape from the Empire, but it certainly came in handy when I needed to create a convincing trail for everyone to follow.”
Markus nodded glad to finally have that mystery solved. “Too bad it’s backfired against Adar.”
“Oh, that’s all Zorren’s doing, and it concerns me that he might make this public. It’s bad enough he’s poisoned the waters here at the College. I hope Dexter is right and stomped that rumor out, but Adar’s position as successor hasn’t even been made official yet. A rumor, even if it’s found to be untrue later, could do a lot of damage to him that may be very difficult to repair.
“I have expressed my concern with Ghar about this as well. I have even gone so far as to suggest releasing all the information we have concerning EMQ–227 as public information to get out ahead of what Zorren may very well do, even though I know it might expose my own actions. That is how strong I felt about making that move, but Ghar disagreed. He said the events surrounding Adar’s disappearance, where he’s been since then, and his return is no one’s business but his own.
“He was not keen on the idea of his family affairs being any more public than it has already been, and I can’t say I blame him. But I do worry that Ghar’s reluctance to put focus on past events that were distressing to him, might very well cause major problems in the future.”
Markus shook his head. “And once again he does nothing to help Adar, when he could quite easily. This is exactly why Aragon left the Empire, pavi. The Emperor refused to let Aragon protect Adar after Zorren and the other two brothers attacked him. Now he’s refusing to act against Zorren when there is proof in his past actions and current ones that he wants his brother gone. Yavit, he won’t even put out a public statement that might save Adar from major problems later on.” Markus said. “If he’s wanting to make Adar his successor, he sure has a strange way of showing it.”
“I understand your frustration, son, but there is just so much that can be done. Even when Ghar and I were closest of friends, I could seldom convince Ghar if he had set his mind to something. The best we can do is to provide guidance and perhaps a modicum of safety to Adar, but only if he wants it. As I understand it, Adar has no memory of his time at River Palace?”
Markus shook his head. “No, not a thing. When we met, after I abducted him, he acted as if I was a complete stranger to him. It was unsettling to say the least.”
Pavi gave Markus a puzzled looked. “How did you convince him to hide among the Cadets then?”
Markus shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure. Probably because he realized he didn’t have any other good options. Also, I think he liked the idea of hanging out with the Cadets, though I’m not sure why.”
“Curious.” Pavi was quiet for a time, and then he spoke again. “Well, we will do what we can for Adar, of course, but he’s an adult now, and he may simply not want our help.”
A thought came to Markus, but he wasn’t sure how his father would react, so took a moment to chose his words carefully. “We should at least tell him about the Fazha assassin thing and how the rumor was started.”
Pavi eyed Markus carefully. “I know what else you think we should tell him, and I disagree. Until we know Adar better, we should keep that to ourselves.”
Markus paused. Should he tell pavi what he’d done? That he had revealed to Adar that Markus and his father had met up with Aragon, Leeta, and Adar after the attack? He hadn’t told Adar anything about pavi actually helping them escape the Empire, but it wouldn’t be a far leap to make once Adar put a little thought to it.
Before Markus make up his mind on what to do, the door to Markus’s right opened up. Master Kiev stuck his head out, and said. “He’s awake.”
Relief washed through Markus, not just because Adar was finally awake, but their conversation had been interrupted. He abruptly turned to Kiev to walk through the bedchamber door, but not before he spied his father pressing the top of the cube to stop the pulsing blue, and then slipping it in his coat pocket. The old man stood to follow.