Nallo’s amusement at this plain speaking quickly sputtered. “How did you track me down?”

“I didn’t. Tumna did.” Arda nodded toward the raptor, now preening her wing feathers and seeming to ignore them. “She turned up a week ago at Naya Hall and began sweeps of the area, which told me that she’d tracked you. But there are hundreds of laborers brought here with Qin coin to build and dig. So I tracked her, tracking you. I have a proposition for you.”

“So did Marshal Joss. Only his was more like an ultimatum.”

“It does make you wonder how he manages to sweet-talk women into his bed, doesn’t it? I’m just glad I’m not fashioned that way, to be susceptible to his charm.” She smiled, and Nallo blushed as Arda went on. “I don’t care whether you become a reeve or not, Nallo. That’s your business, not mine. But I need my eagles jessed. An unjessed eagle not retired to the wild lands is an unpredictable eagle. Anyway, I need all the reeves I can get. In case you didn’t know, we’re living in troubled times.”

“My husband was murdered by that army.”

“I’m sorry to hear of it. Plenty more will suffer if we can’t act. Here’s my proposition. I don’t care what you choose. Just fly first, and then tell me what you’ve decided.”

Nallo felt every grain of dirt stuck to her sweaty skin. She remembered the spill of dirt on her shoulders as the ceiling gave way. She thought of crouching at the base of a narrow shaft, hoping to be hauled up before the air choked her as it sometimes choked out lamp flames.

She thought of her dreams.

“I have a debt contract,” she said.

“If you choose the reeve hall, the Qin will release you. If you don’t, you can come right back to whatever exciting work you’re doing here.” She studied Nallo closely. “And I must say, we have a better water allowance at the hall. You can get a decent bath. For that matter, on your day off you can fly to Olossi and get a real bath in a real bathhouse. Cold scrub, hot soak, and all.”

Nallo shut her eyes, woozy at the memory of a cold scrub and hot hot water in which to soak away all the angry voices that gnawed.

“Just one flight,” she said, knowing it was a trap. Yet Tumna did sit there waiting for her, the only creature in the world who had actually gone to the trouble to seek her out on purpose.

Despite Tumna’s fearsome reputation, Arda showed no fear of the eagle as she beckoned Nallo closer. “Help me get the harness slung.”

“I’m flying her?”

“Of course. I’ll show you how to rig this.”

“Didn’t she rip off her last reeve’s head?”

“Yes, and disemboweled him, too. He had turned against his reeve’s oath and, besides that, didn’t treat her properly when she was injured. I don’t blame her one bit. Did us a favor, I should think.”