SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant

A message from Caelum wasn’t unusual.

Trafalgar expected them often enough that hearing the man’s voice through the Shadowlink Echo had become another part of his routine. What he didn’t know was what this one would be about. There were enough moving pieces in his life that Caelum could have been contacting him for half a dozen different reasons.

The Echo gave a faint pulse in his palm, and Caelum’s recorded voice filled the garden.

”Young Master, I have a few things to report. Nothing particularly interesting has happened with your family. Rivena remains under supervision, and Lord Valttair is keeping track of the situation. From what I’ve been able to gather, he and Moses have also made some progress of their own.”

Trafalgar stayed quiet, Rhosyn standing beside him as the message continued.

”As for what happened at the mine, they found several passages that had been used and then badly sealed afterward. They’re extensive. Hundreds of kilometres, from the estimates I’ve heard, so whoever built or used them put a considerable amount of time into it.”

Caelum paused briefly before continuing.

”I expect Lord Valttair will raise the matter at the next Council, though that probably won’t happen until House Myrrhvale chooses its new head. Things are still unsettled there, and I doubt anyone wants to call the Great Families together before that’s resolved.”

None of that surprised Trafalgar enough to interrupt his thoughts.

The passages were interesting, especially their size, but Valttair already knew about them. If the man intended to investigate, Trafalgar was perfectly willing to let him spend the manpower until there was something worth hearing.

Caelum’s tone shifted slightly.

”The main reason I’m contacting you is Darian du Thal’zar. He sent word that enough time has passed and he’d like to meet with you again. He says there are several things from the last few years he wants to explain personally, and that he’d rather have a proper conversation with you than continue sending information through intermediaries.”

The message ended there.

The Shadowlink Echo dimmed in Trafalgar’s hand, and for a while he said nothing.

Darian.

It really had been a long time.

Their last serious dealings felt distant even without the years Trafalgar had just lived inside the dimension. Back then, there had been the informationa about the Void, the things Darian had discovered, and the arrangement Trafalgar had carefully forced into place around House Thal’zar.

A great deal had happened since.

’I was going to have to see him eventually.’

Trafalgar was interested in what Darian had accomplished during that time, but there was another question sitting underneath all of it.

Was he still loyal?

Loyal might have been too generous a word, really.

Darian had cooperated because Trafalgar had given him very good reasons to cooperate. Fear had been one of those reasons, and so had the knowledge Trafalgar carried about Lucien. But years changed people, especially when the person in question now stood at the head of one of the Eight Great Families.

Darian could decide he was finished with the arrangement whenever he wanted.

And what exactly could Trafalgar do then?

Start shouting that he’d blackmailed the head of House Thal’zar? Announce that Darian had killed his own brother, Lucien because a decision he took long ago, and hope the situation somehow improved afterward?

That truth was dangerous precisely because almost nobody knew it.

Darian knew.

His sister knew.

Trafalgar knew.

Turning it into public knowledge could light the fuse on another war between Great Families, and the balance between the Eight had already been damaged enough.

’I need to speak with his sister too.’

Trafalgar hadn’t forgotten her part in any of it. He had no idea what she thought of the arrangement after all these years, whether anything had changed inside House Thal’zar, or whether finally escaping the pressure of the Morgains and Sylvanels had allowed them to build something entirely different.

Rhosyn had been watching him think.

”Is there a problem with the head of one of the Eight Great Families wanting to meet you?” she asked. ”You don’t exactly look pleased about it.”

”There’s no problem yet.” Trafalgar closed his fingers slightly around the Echo. ”I wanted to see Darian again anyway. I’ve told you before what I had to do to put those pieces in place, and enough time has passed that I need to know whether they’re still where I left them.”

Rhosyn considered that. ”You’re wondering whether he’s still willing to follow the arrangement.”

”More or less. I don’t actually have him chained to me by anything solid.” Trafalgar gave a faint shrug. ”A lot of it was fear, circumstance, and the fact that working with me was better than the alternatives he had at the time. He’s much harder to pressure now.”

”And you expected that when you put him there.”

”Of course. I needed someone strong in a useful position, especially when we already knew worse things were coming. Keeping House Thal’zar close made sense then, and it still does now.”

Rhosyn nodded slowly. ”Darian is still a valuable ally. If that relationship can be maintained without creating another problem between the Great Families, keeping him close would be better than letting it disappear.”

”Exactly. Which is why I’m not walking in there without finding out what’s changed first.” Trafalgar looked down at the dark Echo. ”For all I know, the man could decide putting a sword through me the moment I arrive would solve several problems at once.”

Rhosyn gave him a look. ”Do you genuinely think he would?”

”Probably not. But ’probably’ isn’t enough when the other person controls a Great Family.” Trafalgar’s voice stayed casual, though his attention had sharpened. ”If things went badly enough, Morgain and Thal’zar could end up at each other’s throats. That would tear what remains of the balance between the Eight apart.”

”And right now we can’t afford that.”

”No. There are already too many things happening in the background.”

Rhosyn looked toward the castle for a moment before turning back. ”Then I’ll come with you. If nothing happens, I stay out of the conversation. If you’re wrong about Darian, at least you won’t be walking into his territory alone.”

Trafalgar accepted that without much hesitation. ”Fine by me. I’ll bring Barth as well. He’ll be useful, and I’d rather have another person there who knows how to keep his head if things become complicated.”

”Then you should probably answer Caelum before we plan the entire visit without telling him.”

Trafalgar looked at the Shadowlink Echo still resting in his palm.

”Fair point.”

He fed mana into it again, holding the connection until the device shifted into recording.

”Caelum, before I go anywhere, you’ve been keeping a closer eye on Darian and House Thal’zar than I have. Has he done anything unusual lately? Anything that makes you think his position toward us has changed?”

Trafalgar paused for a moment, then added the part that actually mattered.

”And arrange the meeting. Tell Darian I’m willing to see him. Find a time that works and send me the details once you have them.”

He released the mana.

The message disappeared through the connection.

Trafalgar kept the Echo summoned afterward, feeding it a thin stream of mana while he and Rhosyn remained among the roses. Caelum was usually quick when he was available, but there was no guarantee he’d answer immediately.

This time, they waited barely five minutes.

The Shadowlink Echo lit again in Trafalgar’s palm.

Caelum had already replied.