“The support trainees should be along in a moment,” Baselanthus said.

Tanax looked impatient, but the sound of running feet from the corridor outside was clearly audible. A girl shot by the door at a dead sprint, grabbing the edge of the doorway to arrest her momentum. She swung herself into the room, breathing hard, and staggered in front of the desk, almost colliding with Tanax. Her bow was so deep she nearly banged her head on the unmetal.

“Sorry …” she gasped. “Running … stairs … sorry …”

“Arcanist-Trainee Bequaria,” Baselanthus said, with only the faintest smile. “We try to maintain a bit of decorum here, you know.”

“Sorry. I mean. Apologies, Kyriliarch. Kyriliarchs.” She straightened up, took a deep breath, and bowed again. “I didn’t want to be late.”

“Admirable,” Prodominus rumbled. “Why don’t you introduce yourself to your team?”

“Right!” She turned to face Maya and Tanax. “Apologies, Agathia. I’m Bequaria. You can call me Beq.”

Maya felt her cheeks go hot. It was the girl she’d seen in the baths her first day here. She was dressed informally, in a leather vest and trousers, both studded with dozens of little pockets. What Maya had taken for ordinary spectacles were some kind of arcana, with small glowing beads and gold knobs set around the rim and several sets of lenses one in front of the other. Her green hair was bound up in a long, complicated braid.

“It’s an honor to be working with you,” Beq said with another bow.

“Agathios Tanax will be leading the team, with Agathios Maya acting as his second,” Nicomidi said.

“An honor,” Tanax drawled.

“An honor,” Maya echoed, not daring to look Beq in the eye. She was certain, in that moment, that all her private thoughts were written on her face.

“Now all we need is the scout,” Nicomidi said.

“Scout-Trainee Varo, reporting as ordered,” said a voice by the door. Another boy was standing there, so quietly that Maya hadn’t noticed him. He had light brown skin and thin features, with his head shaved as clean as polished brass. He bowed to the Kyriliarchs, then to Maya and the others. “Scouts is only if you’re being polite, though. We’re spies, really.”

That got a laugh from Prodominus, and Maya ventured a smile.

“Honored,” Tanax said. He seemed to be growing as impatient as his master. “Good to have you on the team.”

“You’ll come to change your mind on that point, I’m sure,” Varo said. “But I suspect you’re stuck with me, so I’ll do my best.”

“The assignment, Basel?” Nicomidi said.

“Of course.” Baselanthus nodded. “Agathios Tanax, the Council hereby charges you to travel to the village of Litnin, on the northern border. We have received credible reports that a group of smugglers operating out of Grace have been using Litnin as a way station to move products into the Republic, including dangerous dhak and unsanctioned arcana.”