few months later.Conveniently?Gavansonly brother died in childhood so, with his own death, the line ofsuccession shifted once moreto the eldest son of the nexthighest-ranking royal descendant after Arfen.Riodanquickly perused the pertinent information. He looked up with a jerk,his eyes wide with consternation.Saintsabove! he softly exclaimed. Amirs late consort, Sivarsadda.Then Sivar is now Larals heir!Yes.Quite an interesting family tree I must say, Dylen wryly remarked.Convoluted is more like it, Riodan retorted. Thank Veresmine is morestraightforward.Youthink this is convoluted? Dylen scoffed. It doesnt even comeclose to the Essendris ancestral lines. I only lately discoveredthat most of our cousins are related to Rohyr and me twice or thriceover. Even Reijir and Keiran whom I thought were kin to us onlythrough their sire are cousins through their addaas well.Howis that possible? He was a noble from Qindala in western Khitaira,wasnt he? Yes, but it turns out that hisgrandfather was the half-brother of our grandsire, theArdanJoren through theirfather the Ardis Levares first marriage.Riodanclosed his eyes and rubbed his forehead vexedly. This is giving mea headache, he muttered. After a while, he took a deep breath andlooked at Dylen again. So you suspect Malkon of engineeringGavans accident?Gavanwas reportedly gored by a swylboar after he was thrown from hissteed. HeandMalkon had ridden ahead in pursuit of the beast. They were virtuallyalone when the accident occurred. Easy enough for Malkon to pushGavan off his steed into the swylboars path. And if the boardidnt kill him, he could have finished off Gavan with his huntingpike, which is very similar in size and shape to a swylboar tusk.Dylen paused and frowned thoughtfully. If you think about it, whycouldnt Arfens death have been helped along as well?Riodanstared. He had a seizure, he mused aloud. He died before theroyal physician arrived. You think Malkon poisoned him?Dylenshrugged. Perhaps, but that would have been an extremely big riskto take. The physician might have recognized the symptoms. TheAsmarans are probably the most knowledgeable about poisons in the twocontinents. Besides, Arfen was known to have seizures on occasionthough nothing fatal. Nay, I think it was simpler. The story goesthat he was drinking with Sivar and Malkon in his apartment the nightthe attack happened.Thatisnt common knowledge, Riodan said, shaking his head. Whereyou get your information...Theold fashioned way, Dylen replied. I engage people inconversation. Sooner or later, they talk more freely than is prudent.As I was saying, the three were having a round of drinks when Arfenhad his seizure. Sivar and Malkon carried him to his bed and thenSivar went out to the hall to instruct the servants to fetch thephysician and also to inform Gavan of the incident. Since the attackdidnt appear serious, he didnt go back at once but waited forthe physician to arrive. So it was a shock when they entered thebedroom and found Arfen dead and Malkon attempting to revive him. Orso he claimed. What could have prevented him from smothering Arfenwhile he was alone with him?Andno one suspected anything?Arfenwas already having some difficulty breathing during the seizure. Ifhe was suffocated, his appearance would have been in keeping withsomeone whod been fighting for breath.Didntthey wonder why