Mara’s eyebrows rose. “At what cost?” she said. “Arni’s bank would flourish beyond our wildest dreams if war came to Torla. War is expensive. Nations and people go into massive debt. Debt creates loans, and loans make banks rich. You understand, Lovisa? But if the day comes when you see me voting yes on any measure that’s a step on the path to war, I hope you’ll take me to the doctor to have my head checked.”

She turned to her husband, took his hand. “Promise you’ll have me removed from office,” she said to him.

“I promise,” he said. Then he leaned forward and kissed her mouth, right in front of everyone.

—

As dinner was ending, the son of the house came home.

“Ah,” said Mari, entering the dining room, tall and cheerful, bending down to kiss first his father’s cheek, then his mother’s. “I wondered if you were here, Lovisa, when you didn’t show up at dinner in the dormitory.”

“You found me,” said Lovisa.

Then, after dinner, she waited until the boys had pulled Mari into some sort of long and complicated card game, then slipped out on her own.

She needed to think, by herself. And Lovisa was still shy around Mari. Being at his house was a way of being near him without actually having to figure out how to be with him. Lovisa kept getting a sense that Mari wanted something she did not currently want. It would probably come to a conversation, sometime soon. Now, however, felt like the time for waiting. She was being careful.

Anyway, Lovisa needed some fresh air, and the stars above; she needed a long walk, to settle some of her swirling thoughts about the queen’s offer. I could figure this out better if I were standing on a cliff above the sea, she thought, then snorted at herself, knowing Nev would like that she’d had that thought.

As she neared the campus dorms, she saw Nori Orfa on the path ahead, talking to a girl Lovisa recognized as the sister of one of Mari’s friends.

“Oh, hi, Nori,” she said airily as she reached him. “I’m writing a letter to your girlfriend. Any message you’d like me to pass on?”

The poisonous look that crept into Nori’s face was extremely satisfying, because it was ugly. It made the girl with him hesitate, then take a small step back.

Inside the dormitory, Nev’s door was open. Lovisa considered passing on by, but she couldn’t quite. Something drew her to Nev’s doorway, some understanding that even if she couldn’t talk to Nev about the queen’s secret offer specifically, talking to Nev about something else—anything—might still help. Nev had that effect.