“I don’t love that idea,” said Ferla. “When the time comes, you can stash it in your library. Even better, my study.”

“It would only be for a short time. We don’t have a good place in the house for these kinds of valuables. I think the attic room is best.”

“We’ll discuss it later,” said Ferla. “The issue is unlikely to arise for quite a while. Why are you here, Benni? I don’t believe your future storage problems brought you here from Flag Hill.”

“You’re right,” he said. “I think we should accept an invitation for dinner tonight at the house of Quona Varana.”

“Quona Varana!” said Ferla, her voice resonant with both disbelief and scorn. The Varanas were an important Ledra family—Sara Varana, a Scholar, was currently prime minister, which meant she led Parliament and directed most of the actions of the government’s executive branch. Minta Varana, sister to Quona and Sara, was Winterkeep’s foremost airship engineer. Varane, the gas that kept airships buoyant, was named after their family.

But Quona was something else entirely. In a family of Scholars and inventors, she’d first become a doctor of animal medicine, then decided to live by herself in a house on a cliff above the sea with about a dozen cats. She had no interest in politics. She was a professor in the school of animal medicine at the academy and floated around campus wearing skirts covered with fur.

“Why does that woman keep inviting us to dinner?” said Ferla.

“Who doesn’t invite us to dinner, my dear?”

“Why would you want to go to her house for dinner?”

“Because she also invited the envoy from Estill,” said Benni.

Briefly, Ferla was silent. “Why should I care that Quona invited the Estillan envoy?”

“It might matter,” said Benni.

“To whom?” said Ferla. “Maybe they’re just friends. Maybe he’s a cat fanatic. It’s Quona. Anyway, I just invited our daughter home to dinner tonight, Benni.”

“Lovisa will survive,” said Benni.

“Are you ever going to tell me the real reason you’ve crossed town?” said Ferla, her voice beginning to sharpen. “You’ll never convince me it’s because you want to have dinner with Quona Varana.”

“You’re right, as usual,” said Benni, his voice growing both warmer and quieter. Lovisa shifted uncomfortably, trying to press her ear more firmly against the grate, because something told her that whatever her father said next was going to be the puzzle piece that connected everything.

“I’ve had a letter,” Benni said. “The Queen of Monsea is coming to Winterkeep for a visit.”

This time, Ferla’s silence lasted longer. Lovisa wished she could see her mother’s face. She wondered if it was lit up like her own.

“You don’t say,” said Ferla, surprise in her voice. “When?”

“Now. She’ll be on the sea already. She expects to arrive in three or four weeks.”