She looked at him for a moment. "It matters because whoever gave you that information is connected to whatever this actually is." Her voice was steady but there was something underneath it that was more serious than her usual almost-bored tone. "And whatever this actually is has Elder Crane's hands on it."
Orion looked at her.
She held his gaze. "I'm not blind, Orion. I've been in this family my whole life. I know what Crane looks like when he's moving pieces." She paused. "I know what Seth looks like when he thinks he's already won."
"How long have you known," he said.
"That something was being arranged against you specifically?" She tilted her head slightly. "Since the morning after the Patriarch reinstated you. The elders don't call quiet meetings for good reasons." Her jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "I've been trying to find the specifics."
"And."
"And you apparently found them first." She looked at the hedgerow again. "By letting them come to you."
