Diamond takes a sip of cremoline and stares at a spot between her feet. The carpeting here is velvet, plush, a galaxy of luminescent pinpricks adorning the fibers. They’re in civvies for the party, and the golden mesh of her captain’s overshirt drapes over the tension in her shoulders and core as she leans forward. Misery sits very still to listen, waiting for Diamond to let loose the troubles lodged in her psyche and held there for years.

“I have to thank you,” her captain finally says. “But I don’t know how.”

“You don’t have to thank me.” Her patience draws from ministerial wells. “We are all vessels of a greater will. All of us have a part to play.”

“Many of us are called, but not all of us answer.” Guilt plays over Diamond’s face. “I— You know, I’ve lingered on this station so long. Failing every psych test they threw at me. I could tell that they were eager to have me back into the fray. The Church, for certain. The Throne, too, strangely; I think they thought I would be a good tool in the negotiations. But I didn’t want to return to active duty. I was glad, each time I failed.” She looks at Misery, despondent, waiting to be chastised. “Isn’t that awful? Such a cowardly thought?”

“But you were active. You helped with the raids.”

“That was nothing. I think they expected more of a war hero.”

She downs another quarter of the canister; Misery watches her throat bob, fascinated. “It’s not nothing to those who live here. You’ve probably saved them more times than they can count. Whether they know it or not.”

Diamond meets her gaze, finally, and in the knit of her brows is the great conflict that plays out in her: the desire to be forgiven, versus the desire to be punished. She’s lived in guilt so long she’s forgotten how not to. “The psychs kept saying my talents would be of better use elsewhere. And you know, they weren’t wrong. But I was—I’m weak. I couldn’t go back to the battlefield, not after what had happened.”

Misery presses upon that tenderness. “What did happen? It was never made clear to us.”

“You … I suppose myths travel differently through the duchies. What did you hear, from the outskirts? Indulge my curiosity.”