“Riposted! Karis Manor is one of the Six Noble Manors in the empire, didn’t you know that? Your intendant surely does. If Karis Manor has a child in the palace, that gives them power to influence the child through its mother. My Manor is deep in the palace, a finger in every sausage and every pie, if you know what I mean.”

“Around here, that’s a saying about who people are having sex with.”

Xilsi snorted. “You’re always good for a laugh. It’s true enough. My grandmother was the favorite consort of the Hibiscus Emperor, in his old age. Everyone says I look just like her.”

“So you’re saying she was a piquant beauty who looked younger than her years?”

Xilsi gave Elen a startled look, then laughed out loud. “If you’re trying to get into my bed, I warn you, I only eat sausage, never pie. Even if it is a troublesome business to not get pregnant. I got pregnant once during training. The medicine the temple healer gave me to get my bleeding to start back up made me weak for months. I had to be sent down to the next year cohort. My family was outraged.”

“At the wardens for sending you back a year?”

“No, at me for getting pregnant. If I didn’t like sex so much, I’d give it up, but here we are.” Her gaze darted to Jirvy and away, as if she did not want to be caught looking.

“I know a few effective ways to prevent pregnancy,” said Elen.

“That’s what the palace physician told me, and look how that worked out.”

“Maybe the palace physicians don’t know everything. My sister was a midwife and herbalist. She spent years figuring out how to help people, especially—”

Especially menials and other lowborn persons who weren’t allowed to say no. As Aoving hadn’t been allowed to say no to Lord Duenn, or to Captain Roel.

“Especially who?”

The explanation felt a bridge too far for highborn Xilsi, so Elen said, “Especially for desperate people. There are all kinds of reasons.”

“I know that feeling! Tell me all.”

The carriage doors slammed shut once the last covered tray of journey food was handed in to the carriage.

“Later,” Xilsi added. “It seems we’re finally off.”

Mounts were brought round for the wardens and an accompanying troop of six sentinels. They set out. Fulmo had no trouble keeping up at a steady lope. His energy seemed inexhaustible. Maybe he did feast on starlight.