Azrail told them on the morning of the next day.
He waited until Raena was on her second cup and therefore past the phase where surprising news made her throw things. He waited until Huifen had finished breakfast and was in that briefly calm state she sometimes reached between one shock and the next. He waited until Xuanyin had finished her sword forms in the expanded practice space at the rear of the chariot, and Valencia had completed whatever fate calculations she ran every morning before she was willing to talk to the world at large.
Then he pulled up the holographic display from the central table, let it spread to full size, and said: "We're going to the Velith Dominion."
The silence that followed had several distinct layers to it. Raena put her cup down slowly. Valencia's eyes went gold for exactly two seconds.
Huifen said, with genuine incomprehension: "The what?"
