“And air to breathe,” Isabelle said, a glimmer of hope lighting in her breast. A fool’s hope, to be sure—fire in a bottle was only a metaphor—but desperate hope was better than none.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’m still not sure how all this works”—she gestured to the everdream—“but if I am to see you in the next life, I look forward to getting to know you.”

“If there is time,” Brunela said sadly.

Isabelle turned her attentions away from the everdream. Leaving that Builder-blessed space was like stepping into a furnace. Her bones felt like sap-filled twigs in a bonfire ready to crack and split. Opening her eyes felt like peeling off scabs.

Her vision was fuzzy, but there could be no doubt that the pale figure asleep in the chair beside Isabelle’s cot was Marie.

“Marie,” Isabelle said, and her voice sounded like someone crushing dried leaves. She reached toward her friend and found her hand bound up in a soft mitten. Had she been scratching herself? Was she too far gone?

She bumped Marie’s arm.

Marie jerked awake and spun. “Isabelle? Are you there?”

“For now,” Isabelle whispered. “How long was I gone?”

“Two days. I feared…” She paused, gathering her wits. “The main points are: We’re on Joubert’s Folly, the Thunderclap is resupplying, and you’ve been relieved of command.”

This stabbed Isabelle’s heart, for it was another place she did not fit in the world, but truly it was far down her list of concerns just now.

“Where’s Jean-Claude?” she asked. Had he been found? Surely he would be here.

“He hasn’t come back,” Marie said. “Once Vrain took command, he cut all your guests out of military communications.”

Isabelle’s soul keened for Jean-Claude, yet she had no time to worry or mourn. And if he was not here, she still needed his cunning and his way of thinking. She took in the room, a stone quadrangle barely bigger than the bed. On a small table stood bottles of medicine and an alchemical lantern. At the far end of the room was a heavy door.

“Where are we exactly?” Isabelle asked.

“Officers’ infirmary,” Marie said. “There’s a guard outside, but he’s bored stupid.”

“Guard?”

“You’re not exactly under arrest, but you’re not exactly not under arrest either.”

“Can you come and go?” Isabelle asked.

“Yes,” Marie said. “As far as anyone is concerned, I’m just your nurse.”

Isabelle cracked a painful smile. “You’re much more than that. I need you to fetch a few things from my trunk.”

“It’s under the cot,” Marie said.

“Good,” Isabelle said. “I also need you to fetch Quill for me.”

“Have I started hearing things, or are you babbling again? Did Isabelle the unsanctified actually ask me to descend on her with clergy in tow?”