“You don’t know anything about what I approve of,” Maya said as they took another turn. “What’s your problem with me, anyway?”

“Problem?” He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t—”

“Save it,” Maya hissed. “Varo said it’s always like this when two centarchs from opposite factions are on the same team. Is that it?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know.”

“I’m not pretending anything.”

The music thrilled faster, and Tanax drew her closer for a quicker step. He kept his voice low.

“My problem,” he said, “is that this was supposed to be the end of my apprenticeship. My chance to get my cognomen. And instead I wind up babysitting an agathios who’s never been away from her master before.”

“That’s not fair. I—”

“And don’t think I don’t know why. Everyone knows Baselanthus and the Pragmatics would do anything to inconvenience my master, and he and Jaedia are still close, for all she professes to be neutral. If our mission fails, Nicomidi will be embarrassed.” He bent closer. “I will not let that happen, whatever you do. Some of us are more interested in defending humanity than scoring political victories.”

“If it fails?” Maya was momentarily speechless. Her mind raced as they went through the steps by rote.

Jaedia warned me that he might try to sabotage this mission. Either Tanax was a very good actor—and she knew he wasn’t that—or he hadn’t been let in on any such plan. He’s worried about me? It explained, a bit, why he’d been so cold from the very start. He might have tried talking to me about it, though.

The music ended with a flourish, and the couples separated, bowing to one another. Maya followed suit, belatedly, and her gaze met her fellow agathios’s. Tanax’s eyes were narrowed, in suspicion or curiosity.

“Wonderful!” Raskos glided up, throwing an effusive arm around each of their shoulders. “Now. Who’s up for a drink?”

*

Much later, she was sitting on the grass, trying to guess if the lamps overhead were really spinning. Probably not, Maya decided. It was more likely she was spinning instead.

She wasn’t clear on how much later it was. Night came early to Deepfire, surrounded as it was by mountains, and the dux’s servants had lit the lamps hanging from beams crisscrossing the courtyard not long after the festivities had begun. There had indeed been food, in bewildering variety and quantity, tiny portions of candied meats and honeyed fruit and little bits of who knew what that added up to Maya feeling like she’d swallowed a couple of bricks. Other servants had brought flutes of light, bubbly wine, followed by small cups of dark, thick stuff that smelled like molasses and tasted like fire. Maya had started waving them off a little too late, which was probably a contributor to the spinning.