Wrong Hypothesis

Gloriana had a fruitful and informative talk with Calabast.

As Ves kept listening in on their conversation with his spiritual ear, he learned a lot of new developments.

He discovered that the Living Prophet and the True Ylvaine Dynasty offered their assistance to the Larkinsons in their time of need. Now, they comprised the majority of the Larkinson Clan's naval personnel as well as a substantial minority of the Avatars and Sentinels!

He found out that Calabast offered substantial concessions in order to convince DIVA to mount a rescue operation. What annoyed Ves the most was that Calabast was acting smug about it because it would largely be him who would be paying the price!

"You scammer!" Ves shouted impotently at Calabast. "Who's side are you on? When you negotiate a deal on my behalf, you're supposed to stand up for me instead of the Hexers!