A House Divided

Chapter 16

Several uneventful days passed, and though Kila kept an eye out for Miss Wyland, she didn't make a repeat appearance. He supposed she was busy with the funeral, and he wondered if she had learned anything more from Captain Stowley. Was the captain right that something was going on? Or had the man's insistence that his father hadn't committed suicide been the protestations of someone devastated by grief, and had he come to understand that refusing to accept the truth wouldn't bring his father back to him?

Kila knew what that kind of denial was like, though he refused to think about it.

Things had been quiet at the station. He had studied everything Burl had given him, and her hostility faded somewhat in the face of his thoughtful questions about House Staerleigh. He took care not to appear too obsequious, but he adopted a tone of respectful admiration whenever he spoke of the House, and Burl responded well to it. Calculation was never comfortable for him, and he hoped it never would be, but experience had taught him that a studied bit of calculation applied well could yield excellent results. Thus far his ploy was working with Burl.

The chief waylaid him again as he was on his way home one night, telling him that she'd heard the Elders of the trade Houses intended to meet and confer.

"Is that out of the ordinary?" he asked her.

"It's not unprecedented, but it is rare," she said, tugging at her bottom lip. "I wouldn't have paid any attention to it were it not for the fact that I've had reports that House Elders from all three Houses have been conducting smaller meetings."

"But that can't be unusual either," he said. "They have common interests. They would need to meet to discuss them."

"Yes, but when business meetings occur they're held at one of the Council Halls. These other meetings have taken place in a variety of locations, as if they're purposely avoiding meeting in the same places twice."

Thinking about what Cianne had told him, Kila asked, "Do you think this has something to do with the succession?"

Fixing him with a shrewd look, the chief said, "It might. The Houses have been consolidating their power for the last several years. They don't intend for their public works to cease with the renovation of our station. They're hatching plans for more community improvements, such as building schools and Healer clinics throughout the city, as well as improving roads and digging more wells to provide people with clean water."

"And those are bad things?" he asked, lifting a brow.

"Of course they aren't. But why now? Why not in the past? Why have the Houses taken such a sudden interest in the common folk of Cearova?"

"To buy collective goodwill," he said, understanding where she was going.

"Exactly. The Houses would love nothing more than to ensure the loyalty of Cearovans, gain their backing."

"Do you think they want to make Cearova a city state?"

"Perhaps. Or perhaps they have no interest in that at all and want only to be guaranteed the autonomy to run the city as they like. There's no indication that they intend to place themselves in direct opposition to any of the candidates for the monarchy, but what they obviously want more than anything is to secure their position."

"You think Toran Stowley could have stood opposed to that?"

"It's possible. Perhaps he was an obstacle House Staerleigh felt it had to remove."

It still didn't add up for Kila. Why would they go to the trouble? Dissension in their ranks might be embarrassing, but he was under the impression that if Toran hadn't agreed with the Elders he had been in the minority. There were no other signs of trouble within House Staerleigh, which from all indications ran with impressive precision. They projected an overall image of harmony and unity, and why shouldn't they? House members enjoyed greater wealth and security than the average Cearovan, even if some of the House members benefited more than others. Membership in a House, no matter how lowly, guaranteed a person some level of influence. Murder seemed like an extreme response to someone who wouldn't have been more than an annoyance.