Brother Qown learned this when he attempted to divine Senera’s house. He’d used a lucky guess, based on what he’d deduced about the cottage’s location. If nothing else, he thought her likely to keep a few warm coals in the fireplace. Except when he scried the location, it proved too dark to see. Without thinking, he waved his hand to cast a light spell.

Which showed up inside Senera’s cottage.

As a consequence of that first discovery, Qown made his second: Relos Var was using Senera’s cottage to meet with his vané friend, because at that very second they were paused, frozen in the act of walking through the front door.

Brother Qown shut off the light and ripped his mind away from the divination, back to the lighthouse. He leaned back in his chair, rapid-pulsed from fear. Would they have seen the light? If they did see it, would they know what it meant?

“Are you all right?” Thurvishar asked him.

Brother Qown started to tell him and then shut his mouth, afraid his confession might violate the gaesh. “How much do you know about the vané?” he asked instead.

“Uh … powerful? Immortal? Only, do you mean the Kirpis vané or the Manol vané? The Kirpis vané were ignobly defeated by us, and the Manol vané returned the favor tenfold. Neither likes Quur very much, and who can blame them?”

“They all look very different from one another, don’t they? I mean, you can tell who someone is just through their appearance, yes? They have cloud-curl hair in every possible color?”

“Mostly. But I think we can assume there is some repetition in their aspects. Did you see someone in particular?”

“I don’t know,” Brother Qown admitted. “Does the vané queen have blue hair?”

“Does the vané queen…? You do ask the most interesting questions. One moment, I think I have the answer.” Thurvishar approached a bookshelf in the study, coming back a moment later with a very thin book labeled Royalty of the High Races. “Let’s see … the current queen is Miyane, and yes, she does indeed have blue hair. Cloud curl, but that’s hardly a surprise, since she’s half–Kirpis vané.” He raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

Qown winced. “I can’t tell you.”

“Understood. Well, if you’ve found Queen Miyane, I’m sure someone will want to know, if only because of her husband, King Kelanis. He’s new, so no one knows much about him.”

Brother Qown bit his lip. “Would you mind taking me back to the palace? I should, uh … check on a few things.”

If he hurried, he might even make it back in time to hear Relos Var and the vané queen’s discussion.

“Did you notice a flash?” the woman’s voice asked.