It's not that Merda isn't loyal to Altarrin and it's not that he isn't loyal to Altarrin it's just that–
At this point Ketar does manage to run into his compulsions, which he had been steering around via something like thinking about how staying on good terms with Carissa served the Empire and the Emperor, and kind of mostly not thinking about Altarrin directly. None of his loyalty compulsions are aimed at Altarrin.
- he is now, abruptly, finding himself having to dive around and navigate them from the other side. Carissa clearly is up to something, but - it's all right, surely, because she's doing it with Altarrin - or at least for Altarrin - and no one can deny that Altarrin serves the Emperor and the Empire, and that sometimes he has secret projects and needs to be able to operate without interference...
(Ketar can do this. The pressure on his compulsions subsides. It's taking a lot of careful stepping but this is really much easier for Thoughtsensers to pull off.)
:She used magic on him that - makes someone cleverer and more thoughtful: he sends to Merda. :Reading between the lines I think she may have done it without asking his permission first, I am not sure why but it seems like he really wouldn't object after the fact, for that. ...She's under compulsions he put on her. I can't check the details myself but I'm very sure she isn't lying about it. They're working on something sensitive and Altarrin doesn't want it spread around: