DARK TIDES

POV: Ivory Wells

I was staring at the old photo with trembling hands. Elder Rovin was standing there in the backdrop. Even then, he had been keeping an eye on us. My thoughts were racing. What was the duration of his string pulling?

I almost tripped over my own feet running to find Darrel. He was studying maps in his office.

"Darrel," I exhaled sharply. "You need to see this." His brow furrowed in concern, he looked up. "What's wrong?"

I threw the picture in his face. "Observe. In the backdrop." Darrel saw Rovin, and his eyes grew wide. "How did we miss this?"

"I'm not sure," I murmured, pacing. "However, it completely alters everything. From the beginning, Rovin has been involved."

Darrel combed through his hair with a hand. "We must delve further. Discover how far back this goes."

For the next few hours, we combed through old documents, trying to find any evidence of Rovin's relationship with Callum or my family.

"This way," Darrel gestured to a door. "Rovin was on the council that