"The scarier question is how he's convincing all these girls to sleep with him," Mireen says. "He's not that cute."

"So, what do we think about the scary blonde girl?" Ambrose asks. He pulls his rounded glasses from his face and gives them a wipe on his black aspirant uniform. "I actually am leaning toward trusting her. And we saw she can handle herself in a fight. Akaron didn't sense anything off about her, either."

"I still think five is better than four," Mireen says. "Brunhild seems loyal to Beck, at least. I think we can trust her."

"And what happens when Beck moves on and sleeps with a few other girls before the Crucible? Can we trust Brunhild not to go on a violent rampage and rip us all limb from limb?"

"Hmm," Ambrose says. "We just need to get Beck to promise to keep his dick in his pants. Or at least only release it for Brunhild."

I chuckle. "Yeah. Good luck with that."

"Good luck with what?" Beck asks as he returns to the room.

"We can't use her as a fifth," I say. "The moment you get bored and sleep with another girl, she'll turn on us."

"Brunhild is very open-minded about that sort of thing. On our way out, she asked how you were in bed, Nessa. I think she has come around on you. Honestly, I think she's planning to make a move on you. Or maybe she wants me to make a move on you? I wasn’t sure which it was."

Mireen nudges me. "You could be Brunhild’s big assed girl toy on the side."

"First of all, my ass isn't that big."

Beck pulls a face.

"What?"

"I mean... it's impressive. I'll leave it there."

Ambrose looks like he's trying very hard to stay out of the conversation.

"Believe it or not," I say, annoyance touching my voice. "I'm a lot more worried about surviving the Crucible than what you and Brunhild think about my body, Beck. So I need to know if you think we can actually trust her not to try to get us killed."

"Brunhild could have killed me already if she wanted. I let her tie my hands to the bedpost all the time. I'm completely defenseless. Naked. A little scared. Very aroused. But⁠—"

"That's plenty of input, Beck," I say, holding up a hand to stop him before he mentally scars me. "Thanks."

Beck shrugs. "I'll just say this. She’s got the strongest grip I’ve ever seen. And not just in her hands."

"Ugh," Mireen says, holding up both hands. "Didn't ask, Beck."

"I'd rather know I can trust everyone in our group,” I say. “Even if she's strong."

"Very strong. Full body," Beck adds.

"Even if she's strong," I repeat, trying to pretend I didn't hear him. "She's a question mark. I'm not sure it's worth the risk."

"Does this have something to do with Voss?" Mireen asks slowly.