Page 70 of Pretense

It was a vague description, but the hair color and face shape matched the head editor.

Edmund hurried to his desk. The papers on his desk were in the same stacks, but they were neater than when he had left them. Several of the drawers had been pushed all the way in when he had left them open just a crack.

The file on Mongavaria was on top. Something about it sparked a memory, and Edmund opened it, re-reading a few of the pages.

His gaze caught on one of the messages received at the Mongavarian palace from a military outpost high in the Whitehurst Mountains that separated Mongavaria from Escarland. The wording, the patterns in the writing, how had he not seen it before?

“Edmund.” Jalissa’s voice startled him, her tone scolding.

Only then he realized he was swearing out loud. In elvish.

“Sorry.” Edmund drew in a deep breath, then frowned at her. She stood between Averett and Julien. “The guards allowed you back here?”

Averett shrugged. “I vouched for her. And Julien promised that he would make sure she avoided things she shouldn’t see.”

Edmund shook himself. It wasn’t important right now. Even though she was a foreign princess, she was not the only, or worst, mistake the guards had made that day. “Averett, stay here with Jalissa. Julien, come with me.”

Neither of his brothers argued with his orders. Edmund strode out of the room and down the hall to the steel door that guarded the sealed room where the Intelligence Office kept all the files they had gathered over the years.

The door was locked, but when Edmund inspected it, faint scratches marred the edge of the keyhole. Signs that someone had attempted to pick—or successfully picked—the lock.

“He was here.” Edmund drew his key from a pocket and inserted it. When he turned it, he felt the pressure of the lock unbolted. “Since this was locked, I don’t think he’s still inside. But stay alert.”

Julien nodded, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Edmund heaved the door open. Inside, rows upon rows of wooden cabinets lined the room, filled with tall, thin drawers labeled with paper slips tucked into brass holders.

With Julien trailing after him, Edmund walked down each of the rows, looking for signs that something had been disturbed.

In the section on Mongavaria, one of the drawers was not pushed back all the way, but Edmund couldn’t find any other signs of tampering.

When he reached the section on Tarenhiel, he opened the drawer labeled with the dates when he had been a spy there.

The drawer was empty. Completely empty.

Edmund had to bite back more elvish curses.

“That drawer isn’t supposed to be empty, is it?” Julien shuffled closer behind him.

“No.” Edmund slammed the drawer closed and stalked from the room. How was he going to face Jalissa when he explained to Averett what was missing?

Edmund took the time to re-lock the room, then returned to the offices where Jalissa and Averett waited.

There was no way to sugarcoat it. Edmund faced Averett, unable to look at Jalissa. “The Sentinel is a front for a Mongavarian spy ring.”

“What?” Averett’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

Behind Averett, Rick and the other two analysts gaped. Edmund would have dismissed them, but this would effect the entire Escarlish spying operation in Mongavaria.

“Yes. They’ve been passing messages through the newspaper.” Edmund reached over to tap the file on his desk.

“And the counterfeiting?” Averett crossed his arms, starting to pace. “Why draw attention to themselves with it?”

“Except that they were smart. They only circulated some of their money in cities away from Aldon, drawing our attention from their real source.” Edmund scowled, staring down at the files on his desk. “I suspect that the counterfeiting was their initial plan to try to disrupt the Escarlish economy and force us to become more dependent on them. This spy ring began operating right around the time the Mongavarian prince first asked about a marriage alliance with Essie. With their spies sabotaging the Escarlish economy and their prince using Essie to get his fingers into Escarlish politics, Mongavaria would have been in a position to influence Escarland as they saw fit.”

It was the kind of sway they had exerted over Nevaria, up until the recent annexation. To some degree, Escarland had, until recently, been dependent on Mongavaria. Escarland had needed Mongavaria’s seaports. Much of their trade had come from Mongavaria. If Mongavaria had demanded higher prices at their seaports or forced merchants to pay higher tariffs, Escarland hadn’t protested, since they were too busy worrying about a potential war with Tarenhiel.

“But our treaty with Tarenhiel changed all that. Instead of seeking increased trade and a marriage alliance with Mongavaria, we formed the alliance with Tarenhiel.” Averett’s posture stiffened further. “And Mongavaria lost the chance to secure Escarland under its sphere of influence.”

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