“He didn’t lose me,” Jainan said. Kiem tried to shoot him a sideways apologetic look, but against all odds, Jainan was obviously trying to suppress a smile as he looked down at her. “I conveniently located myself in a classified military facility, which you must admit is hard to misplace.”

Kiem’s mother snorted. “Could say that.” Her face crumpled into something even sterner, like continental collision happening on an accelerated timescale.

“Heard about Fenrik. Kingfisher. Bad business all around.”

“Have you heard what’s going to happen?” Kiem said.

“Word is they’re retiring him,” his mother said shortly. “Might bring me back to Iskat.”

“Ah,” Kiem said. He tried and failed to process how he felt about having his mother back on-planet. “Good?”

“Thean,” his mother said, examining Jainan. “Hm. I hear on the grapevine

you’re handy with a quarterstaff.”

Jainan inclined his head. “I do my best.”

“You’ll have to show me.” Kiem’s mother folded her arms and stared at Kiem. “Hear you hijacked a shuttle.”

Kiem felt tongue-tied and lumbering and cowardly, as he usually did when confronted with his mother’s judgment. “It was for a good cause.”

General Tegnar reached up a hand and unexpectedly clapped him on the shoulder. “Bet it was. Good show. Your Thean must be a good influence. Kiem wouldn’t even shoot at a target when we sent him to camp,” she added to Jainan.

“Hope you can light a fire under him. Needs some backbone. Some ambition.”

Her tone at the end turned hopeful.

“I don’t think he needs to join the army to prove any sort of backbone, ma’am,” Jainan said gravely. “And I don’t believe you seriously think he’s going to.”

“Sharp. Oh, well,” she said philosophically. “This diplomacy thing isn’t bad.

Soon have you out in the system representing us. Military attaché.” She swept a look up and down him, winced, and appeared to reconsider. “Cultural attaché.”

Kiem felt slightly like a pebble under the exhaust of a shuttle that had just launched. He managed a cultural-attaché sort of bow, but she wasn’t looking at him. “Oh, there’s the Fifth Division. Must talk. Jainan, come and find me tomorrow about the quarterstaff.”

She gave them both a nod and strode off. Kiem let out an explosive breath, half frustration and half laughter. “Could have gone worse,” he said. “Sorry about that.”

The smile was still playing around Jainan’s mouth as he watched her cross the room. “I see what you meant about her,” he said. “She’s not very like you.”

“I understand her about as much as I understand the Emperor, ” Kiem said.

“Did I tell you Vaile’s trying to make me a diplomat? I’m hoping I can quietly slide out of it.”

There was a flash of something curious in the glance Jainan gave him. “Yes, you wouldn’t enjoy that at all,” he said. “Imagine you trying to cope with meeting people, talking to people, persuading people to agree on things…”