“I can’t see what anyone has to gain from the summit explosion or the war they are all calling for,” Gulalai said. “My father doesn’t wish to go to war, either, but if it is what the rest of the zillas have agreed upon, my father won’t refuse his allies. And I believe B’rung is the same.”

“Whereas Jardum and Teerza do seem a bit enthusiastic for war, don’t they?”

“Theoretically, Teerza and Jardum should be in the clear, since their walis passed,” Gulalai responded. “They couldn’t have planned the summit explosion as grounds for war because it was their own who were injured.”

“Theoretically,” Durkhanai agreed, waving for more tea. “But isn’t the enemy usually the one in plain sight?”

Which made her think: what made her so sure Gulalai and the Kurra zilla were innocent? Their wali had been injured, yes, but not killed. And Gulalai was making a great show of being her friend.

“A fair point,” Gulalai said. “But Teerza was heading the summit. Why attack their own meeting, in their own homeland?”

“Teerza is also conservative, and I know they have problems with some of the Badshah’s rulings,” Durkhanai added. “But they’re the strongest military zilla. If they wanted to fight, they would skip this negotiation nonsense and go straight to war.”

They would lose, but wars rarely had any purpose other than harm.

“What would be the point of making Marghazar look guilty?” Gulalai stirred her tea pensively. “Despite how much the other zillas might detest Marghazar, you are still the strongest zilla. We surely hoped to eventually convince your grandfather to join us, once we were all united. It is why the ambassadors have just been negotiating simple things, like goods or more accessibility—we’re taking advantage of the three months we are here.”

“And even then, on the request of Marghazar,” Durkhanai said. “It was the Badshah who offered to accept ambassadors in order to gain time to prove our innocence and appease the other zillas.”

“The ambassador from B’rung, Palwasha-sahiba, is a bit elusive . . . I can’t get a good read on her. But I don’t know where this leaves us.” Gulailai rubbed her temples. “I have a headache.”

They looked at one another and sighed. They were going in circles with no true evidence. Their biscuit supply had long since dwindled, and the warmth of the morning was thickening with afternoon.

“It definitely wasn’t Marghazar,” Durkhanai said. “That much I know.”

“And it definitely wasn’t Kurra,” Gulalai added. “That much I know.”

“I believe you, but Gulalai, tell me this: how can I trust you?” Durkhanai asked. It was just the two of them in Durkhanai’s sunroom. She regarded Gulalai closely, staring into her warm brown eyes.