Tohu gave the order without raising his voice.
"Take a thin agent. No banner, no formal challenge; brush the outer edge of Sera's coverage, confirm the residual mark, and tell me which of the nine is carrying it clearest. If her people push, leave; I am not paying for a fight I have not chosen yet."
The being who received the order was a slender, grey-edged operative called Sael. He knew when a task was about information and when it was about pride, having worked the spaces between Houses for long enough. This was information. He bowed once and went.
Raleth watched him go then glanced to Tohu. "You could still ignore the whole thing."
"I could," Tohu said. "Then Sera keeps a live fragment of my early work under her hand and I learn of it from someone less polite later. No. Better a controlled touch now than a surprised later."
He turned back to the storm valley as if the matter was already half-finished.
