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The court is in an uproar. It wouldn’t be so apparent to an outside viewer, but Sathona’s heart beats in tune with the ebb and flow of local politics. She can clearly see unrest in the rush and swirl of the crowd of ministers, the stiff gait of knights changing guard and hushed conversation behind columns. There is something going on, clearly, though she can’t quite put her claw on what exactly. Taox isn’t much help either, only looking at her sternly as she turns her and Xi Ro away at the door.
“We want to wait for Aurash in the harbour,” Xi Ro protests.
Taox doesn’t budge, ushering them further into the hallway with a gesture. “It’s not safe to head out now. Go to the upper floor and wait in the storage room, she will join you there.”
This is a very peculiar request, though Sathona has never been one to outright question Taox’s commands. It’s more of an Aurash thing to do. But now Aurash isn’t here, and Xi Ro is already distracted by her anger, so it falls to Sathona to ask, “Why?”
Taox let her eyes linger on her for a moment too long before speaking. It’s unnerving.
“Because I say so.” She never answers their questions like this. She is their teacher, and a teacher never passes up an opportunity for an explanation. “Now go, and stay there until I come and get you.”
They retreat upstairs obediently (though with considerable offence on Xi Ro’s part), and lock themselves up in the storage. Aurash arrives halfway through their third game of shellpox, sea-wethered and just as confused as the rest of them.
They don’t even finish the round before all hell breaks loose.
It’s only later, when they are fleeing to the harbour, that Sathona realises she couldn’t hear the Helium knights searching other rooms before they barged into theirs. As if they knew exactly which door led to the storage three royal heirs would be hiding in. As if they knew what they were looking for.
She tells this to her sisters as the Osmium Court disappears on the horizon, and that is the beginning of the end.