Dex blinked a few times before giving her a slow smile. “Easy is boring. I like it har—”

“I’m going to stop you there,” Andi said quickly, cringing at his dirty delirium. “Time to get up. We’ve slept nearly the whole day away.”

Her stomach growled, making Andi wonder where they might dig up some food. After a night of drinking, the long sleep had fortunately managed to offset the potential for a killer headache, but she was dying to eat anything and everything.

“What’s that?” Dex asked, pointing toward the door. A small piece of paper had been slid under the crack. Andi grabbed it and turned it over. The note was short and direct.

When you wake up, follow the signs to the dining hall.

Ask a guard to com me and I’ll meet you there.

—Soyina

“Want food?” Andi asked after reading the letter aloud.

Dex jumped up, teetering a moment. “Desperately.”

The dining hall wasn’t far from the now-deserted barracks. Everyone was milling through the other corridors, going about their business before the day ended, and the dining hall was almost empty, other than a few patrons drinking coffee in the corner.

Rows and rows of tables lined the room from front to back. Every square inch was used, leaving only narrow walkways between the tables. On the left side of the room was a buffet-style food arrangement. It didn’t look like there was much food left from the midday meal, but Andi didn’t care. She’d eat mud at this point.

But before she dug in—unlike Dex, who was already piling beans onto his plate—she asked the steely-looking guard at the door to com Soyina. When he gave her a stiff nod in reply, she turned to the food table and started loading her plate with a bit of everything.

Crispy golden potatoes, green beans dripping in oil, a slab of some kind of purple meat—its animal origins were a mystery—and a smattering of thick gravy to top it all off. Andi was actually quite shocked by the spread of food before her. She’d anticipated dry, military-type rations, not food fit for a queen.

“Bet you didn’t expect this, did you, Baroness?” Soyina asked as she entered the hall.

Andi quirked a brow. “Not one bit,” she acknowledged honestly.

“We hit the jackpot last week when we captured a ship full of supplies that was en route to Arcardius from Adhira,” Soyina explained. “Usually our dining options are a bit more limited.”

“We’re certainly not complaining,” Andi remarked dryly, gesturing toward Dex, who was shoveling food into his mouth at an alarming rate.