“It’s Raesinia. Raes, if you like.”

The woman nodded, following in Raesinia’s wake. “I’m Viera.”

The pantry was a small room off the main hall, its theological function long forgotten. It had no windows, and rows of shelves held any food that wouldn’t bear long storage. There was also a basin and a whetstone, as Raesinia remembered. She pulled them out and demonstrated the long, easy strokes that would sharpen the blade, then let Viera try for herself.

“You came here from the University, right?” Raesinia said as the scrape of metal on stone formed a steady rhythm.

“Yes,” Viera said. “Colonel Marcus kindly came to fetch us when the crowd wanted us on the Spike.”

“Had you been there long?”

“Not long. I came after your revolution.”

“What were you studying?”

Viera gave a brief grin. “Guns. Under Captain Vahkerson.”

“That’s . . . unusual, isn’t it? For a woman.”

“Before this I was studying with an alchemist in Hamvelt. He felt it was beneath him to have a girl as an apprentice, but my father paid him a great deal. Unfortunately, I succeeded in burning down the greater part of his laboratory, so my status was in some dispute at the time of the revolution. When I heard what had happened, I decided to come here.”

Raesinia nodded sympathetically. “I suppose you found out it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Freedom and equality for all and so on.”

“Philosophy and nonsense,” Viera said, her tone implying the two were synonymous. “I came because I heard your women were permitted to fight. At Midvale, and now in the Army of the East.”

“Fight?” Raesinia blinked. “But why come and fight if you didn’t care about the revolution?”

“Because I love to see things explode,” Viera said matter-of-factly. She gave the blade a final pass and held it up to admire her handiwork. “My father says it is a sickness with me, this love, but after the fourth tutor quit he began sending me to alchemists in the hope that I could at least learn to do it safely. I was glad to be able to study with Captain Vahkerson.”

“Oh,” Raesinia said. “What will you do when you get to go home?”

“Begin again, I suppose.” Viera shrugged. “But home is in Vheed, which is a very long way from here, especially in wartime. So meanwhile I make do. Is there news of Captain Vahkerson, do you know?”

Raesinia shook her head. “Nothing that I’ve heard.”

“A pity.” Viera regarded her curiously. “And you? You work with Colonel Marcus?”

“Y . . . yes.” It took Raesinia a moment to remember her cover story. I’m getting sloppy. “I’m a courier, mostly. There’s not enough soldiers left to do everything, so he hired a few civilians.”

“Do you know him well?”

“A little bit, I suppose.”

“He has a wife?”