Kiem felt bubbly and light, more than he’d expected even from the champagne and the relief of sealing the treaty. Jainan was at his side, his silhouette sharp in the deep green of his clan, and a good part of Kiem’s glow came from the certainty that he had the most desirable person in the room right next to him, and everyone was probably jealous. He could be magnanimous in victory. More than that, actually, he felt so bubbly that he had to sit on the impulse to hug nearly everyone he met.

“The toast was probably a bit much,” Jainan murmured. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I can propose toasts if I want,” Kiem said. “Toasting your partner is practically de rigueur. It’s what you do at dinners. Totally unexceptional.”

“That is an absolute lie,” Jainan said. “You are trying to sell me a blatant

untruth.” His hand tightened on Kiem’s arm. “And giving me that smile isn’t going to help you get away with it.”

“I’m not smiling,” Kiem said, but as he said it, he realized he had been, and must have been for a while. “I’m having a good time.”

“I can tell,” Jainan said. There was a thread of something in his voice, everything proper and controlled except this odd—affection? Kiem decided it was affection and felt warm all over. “You may want to steer away from that colonel up ahead,” Jainan added, in a more neutral tone. “She knew Taam. She’s probably read the interview.”

“She won’t say anything,” Kiem said cheerfully, escorting Jainan in a slightly different direction. “Not after you eviscerated that politician who mentioned it.”

“I was polite.”

“You froze him dead,” Kiem said. “I felt the temperature drop and I wasn’t even the one you were staring at.”

“Well, you somehow steamrollered him into volunteering for the Municipal By-Laws Subcommittee.”

“He clearly doesn’t have enough to do, if he’s going around reading interviews in newslogs. Someone’s got to … by-law those municipals. And everyone says it’s the committee nobody wants to be on.”

Jainan stifled a laugh, trying to disguise it as a cough. “You’re incorrigible.

You’re abusing the system.”

“Very badly,” Kiem agreed. He recognized Ressid on the other side of the room, but since there were dozens of people between them, Ressid only gave them an acknowledging wave. Kiem and Jainan stopped to greet the Thean Ambassador and a small circle of dignitaries; Prince Vaile was also there, fashionable in a dress made of some floating, mist-gray Galactic fabric. She seemed to be hatching something with the Ambassador.

“Your Grace!” the Ambassador said, with more pleasantness than Kiem had ever seen him display. “Good news. We’ve secured the Kingfisher operation for you.”

“Excuse me?” Jainan said.