Ashe left at the ninth hour.
She did not announce it. Vane heard her door close and her boots on the stairs and then the lodgings' front door opening and closing with the specific care of someone who did not want to wake the building. He was already awake. He had been awake for a while, sitting at the window with the archive corner visible at the street's far end, the House Yeon flag moving slightly in the morning wind.
He went downstairs.
Kaito was at the small table in the lodgings' common room with tea. He had produced this tea the same way he produced all tea, which was from resources that appeared to be always available to him regardless of location or hour. He looked up when Vane came in and gestured at the second cup already on the table.
Vane sat down.
He drank the tea. It was good. It was always good when Kaito made it.
"She went at the ninth hour," Kaito said.
"Yes."
