As it was nearly winter, Aina’s breath came out in white puffs while she waited with Kohl behind the ship at the edge of the docks near Rose Court. A small getaway boat waited for them, bobbing in the black currents of the river.

But something had gone wrong. Kohl, apparently able to sense trouble before anyone else could see or hear it, was on his feet, two pistols drawn. Aina scrambled up next to him, the anticipation of a fight pushing away the winter chill.

Seconds later, the sound of light footsteps reached her ears, and Mirran leapt off the edge of the second floor of the boat. She rolled on the docks and came to her feet, but several Kaiyanis soldiers and four Diamond Guards protecting the ship were already running toward them. Aina swore. Kohl shook his head and sighed as if this were only a minor inconvenience.

“She’s a dirty thief!” yelled a Kaiyanis man from the deck of the ship, his shaking finger aimed at Mirran.

“Is he one of the diplomats?” Aina whispered. “They were all supposed to be at the Tower.”

“He stayed behind!” Mirran hissed. “He knew I wasn’t with them, so he started shouting for guards.”

Kohl said nothing. He stepped ahead of them and fired two clean shots into the Kaiyanis soldiers’ heads while their weapons were still only half drawn. Mirran leapt between the next two soldiers, dodging Kohl’s bullets, and struck at them with a dagger.

The Diamond Guards converged on Aina. She easily side-stepped Kohl’s next shot, which hit one of the guards, then swept her dagger across the throat of another. Whipping around, she plunged her blade into the stomach of the third guard.

Then, she heard a small gasp and spun around, her own breath clouding in front of her.

The fourth Diamond Guard had caught Mirran and held his diamond-edged dagger at her throat. Kohl took a step back and lifted his hands, looking like a child who’d been caught eating too many sweets while his mother wasn’t looking. Aina might have imagined it, but for the briefest second, his gaze flicked to her.

She was already moving. The guard had forgotten about her, probably assuming his colleagues had taken care of her. In seconds, she was behind him, and flung her blade into the base of his skull. With one final exhale, blood streaming out of the back of his neck, he fell to the ground and Mirran leapt free.

“Come on!” Mirran said, jumping into the moored boat while the Kaiyanis diplomat shouted for backup.

“Wait,” Aina whispered. She raced to the bodies of the guards, searched through their weapon holsters and sheaths, then followed Kohl and Mirran onto the boat with a wide grin on her face.

“So?” Kohl asked Mirran, as if this entire ordeal had been no more eventful than a walk to the market.

From her pockets, brassiere, and shoes, Mirran pulled out different jewels—opal necklaces, sapphire bracelets, emerald rings—and waved them around. The silver light of Isar’s moon caught on each of them and Kohl’s satisfied grin.