Ariadne put the dishes in the cleaner, needing to stay busy. Kyla still hadn’t said if the Novantae were actually going to let them stay, if they were going to have a new life out from under the shadow of the Empire. Prove your usefulness. Prove your efficiency. Prove you’re not just a waste of time and—

Eris clicked her tongue against her teeth. “The palaces on Tholos, Macella, and Agora have spies, don’t they? I helped—” At Kyla’s guarded expression, Eris broke off. “What’s that look? What haven’t you told us?”

“We believe our operatives within the Three Sisters are dead,” Kyla said shortly. “They’ve been going dark one by one for months. The most recent was just after this shipment.”

Eris froze. “But how—”

“I don’t know, Eris.”

Ariadne flinched. She hated it when people yelled. The Oracle, for all of One’s faults, never yelled. One was cold, with decisions often brutally practical. The Oracle had always stated outbursts were a weakness, yet another flaw within humans that clouded their ability to think, to make decisions.

They can’t control themselves, Ariadne, the echo of the Oracle whispered in her mind. What would they do to you, dear girl? You’re so small, so frail. You can’t program the weakness out of them, no matter how clever the code.

A gentle touch on her arm. Rhea, of course, offering wordless comfort. Ariadne held on to her hand like a lifeline.

“Don’t you dare snap at me, Kyla,” Eris said, jaw tight. When Kyla opened her mouth, Eris interrupted. “And yes, I know that I am being deeply insubordinate. You and Sher sent me and Clo on a mission knowing your spies were likely being compromised and executed. That the same might have happened to us. And you didn’t even bother to mention it.”

Down the table, Clo crossed her arms and glared. “Now, that is a good point.”

Kyla raised her chin. “ITI mission. You knew the risks and you both agreed. I didn’t feel you needed to be aware of the other details.”

“Bullshit.”

Guilt flickered in Kyla’s features, but she said nothing.

“I knew a spy in the Three Sisters,” Rhea said, quietly. “Are they all dead?”

Kyla didn’t need to say anything. Rhea’s head fell. Nyx made the hand gesture to the God of Death and whispered a prayer.

“Juno,” Rhea said, almost a moan.

Ariadne’s gaze snapped up. Juno was one of the Archon’s most favored courtesans. The Madam of the Pleasure Garden.

Ariadne had never met Juno, but she knew the Madam helped protect Rhea. If she had been discovered, she’d have been tortured. Unless she killed herself first. Ariadne wrapped her arms around herself.