Torran was surprisingly good company, and the silence between us was far more comfortable than I’d expected. I let the sun and crisp air unknot some of my tension before I turned my mind back to the matter at hand.

Unfortunately, I was here to do a job. I mentally sighed and bid my relaxing walk farewell. As long as Torran was here, I might as well get some answers.

I glanced at my silent companion. “Did Nilo find anything new while you were away?”

“Nothing useful.”

Which was not the same as nothing. I didn’t know what it was going to take for Torran to trust me, but at this rate I needed to stop mentally spending that second payment because we wouldn’t find the ring in eight months, never mind eight weeks.

I stopped and turned to him. “Why did you really bring me and my team all the way to Valovia?”

He froze and met my eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I thought you were reticent about the details because we were still in human space, and you didn’t want the information leaked. But we’re standing on your planet, on your property, deep in Valovian space, and you still aren’t giving me enough information to actually do the job you hired me for. So what is your objective?”

Torran ran a hand down his face, and it was such a familiar, weary expression that my heart cracked open a little more. Whatever else was going on, he truly was worried.

“I am bound by a web of oaths,” he finally said. “Navigating them is . . . difficult.”

“Someone doesn’t want you talking about the theft even now?” He didn’t deny it, and he’d already said he was the head of his household. Who else would want to silence him? I took a stab in the dark. “Is it the empress?”

The merest flicker of his expression was all the answer I got, but it was enough. “Kee, I need you to look into General Fletcher’s connection to Empress Nepru,” I said subvocally over the comm. “I think she’s preventing him from telling us about the theft.”

“On it,” Kee confirmed.

“Why would the empress care about a family ring?” Eli asked.

“Losing it makes one of her top generals look weak,” Lexi said. “If she’s facing opposition, this could be fuel for the rebels.”

“Maybe they’re having an affair and something else that would incriminate her was stolen at the same time,” Anja said. Her voice was bitter.

My heart jolted a little at the thought. The empress was undeniably beautiful, but she was married and nearly old enough to be Torran’s mother. As much as I hated the thought, it was possible.

I tuned out my squad as their theories became increasingly improbable. But an affair—that would explain quite of lot of things. And there was one way to find out.