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“I noticed the fort seems… tense.” Iryana looked between her friends. “Is that just more of the same, or…”

“Mostly,” Pyetar mumbled, polishing his dagger.

“Some of the soldiers are still testing the hierarchy and the boundaries, trying to figure out what they can get away with now,” Vaneshta explained. rubbing warmth into Lidishta’s hands. “Who they can push around.” Vaneshta’s eyes landed on Pepha pointedly. “Some more than others.”

Pepha shrank a little on her bedroll. “It’ll pass. And the general knocks them back into line.” She nodded toward Pyetar. “And sometimes their bedding ends up out in the parade yard, or their laundry comes back with a strange smell. An odd coincidence.” Pepha’s eyes darted over to Mezhimar, who shrugged and held his hands up innocently.

Iryana swallowed a laugh, remembering how Mezhimar got justice last summer. Then she sobered. “And what of the brigade? Have they warmed up any to the alliance?”

“Not exactly,” Pepha admitted.

“I’ve heard some wild theories about you, though, Iri,” Lidishta admitted, seeming more amused than worried.

“What things?” Pyetar demanded. “I haven’t heard anything.”

“You think they’d dare say something in front of you?” Vaneshta asked, brow raised.

Pyetar didn’t seem happy about that, but Iryana squeezed his arm.

“What are they saying?” she asked.

“It’s mostly just arguing over who’s manipulating whom.” Lidishta shrugged, looking pointedly at Pyetar. Like she didn’t want to upset him by giving specifics.

“I want to know.” Pyetar relaxed against his chair. “We need to know what we’re up against.”

Iryana watched him suspiciously. She didn’t trust his feigned calm at all.

“Lidishta really enjoys the rumors,” Vaneshta grumbled. “I find it all nonsense.”

“Knowing what people are thinking is helpful,” Lidishta told Vaneshta before turning back to an expectant Pyetar. “Alright, so there’s the normal stuff. That Iryana is sleeping with you to get you to support helping the clans. That you seduced her for the same reason. That you’re not sleeping together, but you’re afraid she’ll take you out like Karvek, and that’s why you’re cooperating. Some do think this is good and see the clans as trying to make amends. Whatever else people think about her, most talk about Iryana like she’s this warrior queen who will save us all.”

Iryana snorted, but noticed Lidishta seemed to be holding back. “None of that seems wild.”

Lidishta hesitated, glancing at Pyetar with a hint of worry, before locking eyes with Iryana again. “Well, one of the newest theories is that you’re carrying Karvek’s child and Pyetar is working with you out of familial obligation.”

Pyetar was stiff as a board beside her, his forearm muscles bulging beneath her hand where she still held onto him.

“Obviously, that one is ridiculous,” Lidishta added hurriedly.

But everyone at the fort knew how much time she had spent in Karvek’s study, how she’d been invited to some of his gatherings, brought along on missions. How he’d personally taken her oaths and belted her. Thanked her for her help and awarded her in front of the entire brigade.

“We need more firewood.” Pyetar pushed up from the table in a rush. He opened the hatch and dropped himself onto the floor below, not even bothering with the ladder. The room was silent but for the sounds from below, the slide of wood as Pyetar removed the braces and the soft click as he shut the door behind him.

Iryana wanted to go after him, to tell him that particular rumor wasn’t possible, but she couldn’t move. Her body was rigid against the chair, gaze glued to the table in front of her. The water-forging tattoos along her shoulder and neck burned.

Fear won’t control me, Iryana chanted in her mind. She didn’t regret what she’d done. She had no reason to be ashamed. They were her friends. They would understand.

“I did what I had to,” she forced herself to say. “To protect my clan. To get close enough to take him down. But definitely not, uh… pregnant.”

She didn’t bring up the conflicting thoughts that had been marked on her body with the second forging. Gods, she wanted to vomit. She had never been so uncomfortable in her life waiting for them to say something.

“There are different ways to wage war,” Vaneshta said softly. “You took him down, and I’ll be forever grateful.”

The others nodded.

It was Lidishta who thankfully changed the subject, bringing up how she’d run into Shahn the other day and had to backtrack to avoid him. They discussed Iryana’s sisters and how they were doing. She answered questions about the other clans.

When Pyetar returned with an armful of firewood, they were already slipping into their bedrolls. Iryana worried that he would move his, not wanting to sleep next to her, but he crawled into the blankets at her side. They lay still for a moment before Pyetar reached out, silently pulling her against him.