Colonel Vasante straightened. The lamplight caught harsh lines beside her mouth. “I agree. Which is why I think it’s too early to move more than a handful of Falcons into position in the field.”

“We’re discussing an entire city-state that has broken the Serene Accords.” Baron Leodra’s voice sharpened. “Every vassal city in the Empire is watching what we do. If we don’t decisively answer such an open challenge, others will try to see what they can get away with. If Ardence doesn’t bend the knee swiftly, we need to be ready to respond with overwhelming force.”

“I am aware of the gravity of the situation.” Vasante’s jaw flexed as if she ground Leodra’s objections between her teeth. “My statement stands. A few Falcons will suffice.”

“What can a mere handful of Falcons do?” Baron Leodra scoffed.

“If it’s the right Falcons?” The colonel’s finger fell on an island off the coast of Osta, marked on the map with scorched stone ruins. Celantis. “Just about anything.”

Everyone turned and stared at me.

I wanted, very badly, to duck behind Marcello. But I froze instead, hoping I looked impassive rather than nervous.

“Well?” The doge’s sharp eyes moved between me and Marcello. “Can I count on our fire warlock, if we face a threat to the serenity of the Empire?”

No. If I released Zaira now, I’d count her far more likely to burn a path of ashes across Raverra in a grand resignation from the Falcons than to follow the doge’s orders. But if I said that, it would humiliate Marcello in front of the entire Council of Nine, and jeopardize my own precarious position as an independent Falconer as well. There was no safe answer to his question.

I couldn’t help myself. I looked to my mother.

She wore her Council face, cool and regal. It was a closed door. She couldn’t help me here, not with everyone watching.

Marcello cleared his throat. “Your Serenity.” He bowed, then clasped his hands behind his back. Only I could see his fingers trembling. “Zaira has just begun to settle into the Mews. It’s a delicate time of transition. I don’t recommend deploying any Falcon until they’ve adjusted and completed training.”

The doge’s brows lifted. “Colonel? This is not what you told me.”

Colonel Vasante’s back faced me, stiff as a bayonet. “Warlocks don’t need much training, Your Serenity. They use their power instinctively. Lieutenant Verdi is correct that it’s our normal peacetime procedure to allow Falcons time to settle in, but if war breaks out, her balefire is yours to command.”

“Do you agree, Lieutenant Verdi?” The doge’s tone was mild, but his gaze could have cut stone.

Marcello’s knuckles whitened behind his back. Seconds stretched endlessly by. The colonel rocked back on her heels, adjusting her stance to bring her weight down on Marcello’s toe.