Restricted archive section. Response retained with the sealed correspondence above.
To Exarch Aleryn Duskwhisper, Keeper of the Aelorian Archives,
Your letter was received, secured, and read with the care its seal demands. I appreciate the precision with which the matter has been set down, as well as the restraint you have exercised in its presentation. It is, as ever, a comfort to find the Archives in steady hands.
I will not pretend surprise at its contents.
The name Ryvan Ashvale has, for some time, exhibited the particular inconsistencies that tend to accompany constructed identities. One does not spend long in the study of power—arcane or otherwise—without developing a sensitivity to such patterns. The continuity was too clean, the absences too deliberate, and the silences, in certain places, rather more informative than the records themselves.
As for His Highness’s involvement, I will admit only that it resolves more questions than it raises.
It is, I think, to the Crown’s credit that they have chosen to formalize what was previously left unspoken, though I cannot help but find a measure of amusement in the timing. That such knowledge has been carried quietly for so long, only to be delivered now under seal and caution, suggests less a revelation than a decision—one whose motivations I will not presume to dissect in writing.
You may assure Her Radiance and His Highness, should the occasion arise, that their confidence is well placed. The reasoning outlined in your account accords with my own observations. Structures such as the Veiled Current are rarely eliminated; they are displaced, and in displacement often made worse. Containment, however inelegant, remains the more reliable instrument.
That said, for the sake of appearances—and I agree that appearances, in this matter, retain their importance—it would be best that this exchange be regarded as the beginning of my awareness, rather than its continuation. There is little to be gained in complicating the narrative further than it already is.
You may consider the contents of your letter understood, retained, and confined to the limits you have described. No record will be made beyond this reply, and no discussion will be entered into without necessity.
I trust this satisfies both the letter and the intent of the Crown’s request.
With respect for your office, and appreciation for your discretion,
Archmage Caglastro