Yesenia hummed as she scrubbed Gerenet-Shr’s bathtub. Breaking silence while cleaning was against Sophia’s rules, but Yesenia was done with those rules. She didn’t want to be an assassin. Gerenet-Shr didn’t need an assassin. He needed a maid, and she had no issue with being his maid.

  Still, Yesenia pulled out the trace detector and ran it over the bathtub, looking for any traces of anything. Nothing. No Gerenet-Shr hairs. No Natt hairs. No Yesenia hairs falling while she cleaned. Nothing, not even a skin cell. Perfect.

  Keeping low and out of the mirror’s line of sight—because “a seen assassin is a dead assassin”—Yesenia made her way over to the sink. She ran the scanner. Gerenet-Shr and Natt were everywhere. She put the scanner away and began working. The sink and bath always came first, then came the floors. When she was done, no trace of a human would be found in the room.

  Someone knocked at the door.

  “Yani!” Yesenia muttered, then relaxed. Sophia wouldn’t knock; she would just barge in.

  “Yaz? You in there?”

  “Belinia?” Yesenia got up and walked to the door. Her friend was waiting in Gerenet-Shr’s bedroom. “What is it?”

  “Do you have a minute?”

  “Yeah, Gerenet-Shr isn’t supposed to be back for another couple of hours. Need help with something?”

  “Umm…Banca’s looking for you.”

  Yesenia frowned. “I’m busy.”

  She turned to head back to cleaning the bathroom, but Belinia grabbed her arm. “Yaz, wait! She said she wants to apologize.”

  “Tell her I’m busy.” Yesenia shook her arm free, went back into the bathroom, and closed the door. She didn’t hide her reflection from the mirror this time as she returned to the sink. Yesenia began her deep clean.

  After all the complaining Belinia had done over Banca at the beginning of the year, her tune had completely changed. Belinia was now in love with the girl. Yesenia couldn’t blame Belinia for liking Banca as much as she did. Yesenia herself thought of Banca as a good friend, but she was still angry after what Banca had said the night before.

  She understood that Banca couldn’t come into Gerenet-Shr’s room while he wasn’t around, but the fact that Banca had sent Belinia to call Yesenia to her annoyed her. It was like Banca was putting herself back on her pedestal.

  Someone knocked at the door again, only this time from the audience room, not the bedroom. Yesenia didn’t pause her scrubbing. “Tell her she can wait.”

  “Yesenia, please?”

  It was Banca.

  Yesenia’s hand froze, then resumed. “I’m busy.”

  “Can I talk to you tonight, then?”

  “I don’t know, I still have some Yani left over that I need to eat.”

  Banca was silent.

  Yesenia’s hand slowed so she could hear if Banca was saying something, then got angry at herself and began scrubbing normally again. It was nice that Banca wanted to apologize, but Yesenia wasn’t ready for it yet. Not only did she not want to hear it while she was working, but she also wasn’t mentally ready for it yet.

  Banca had called her Islae. She knew Banca knew who she had been, but it felt like a threat. Calling her by her dead name, a name that was supposed to be forgotten. No one in 2-E would remember her. There were no parents waiting for her back in the camps. The only person who might have spared a thought for Islae would have been Xav.

  Eat Yani, Islae.

  Those words had hurt.

  Finished with the sink, Yesenia moved on to the toilet and the floor. All of it was spotless. Using a fresh cloth, Yesenia opened the door into the bedroom and closed off the bathroom: a perfectly cleaned crime scene.

  She might not have wanted to be an assassin, but she couldn’t just ignore everything. Sophia was annoying to deal with. Yesenia felt it was best to pretend and do what she was told.

  Going into the servants’ corridor, Yesenia found Gerenet-Shr and Natt’s laundered clothes, left by Hopina. It turned out that Hopina, one of the girls Belinia had first brought to Yesenia’s room, was one of Class E’s laundry maids, which was the main reason for the girl’s less-than-friendly disposition.

  As Yesenia took the clothes and carried them over to the wardrobe, she felt for the pink-haired girl. Hopina had almost no chance of being claimed by a graduating noble. While someone might fall in love with a faceless chef’s cooking and claim them for their staff, no one ever said, “My, these uniforms are so nicely washed and ironed.”

  The only time a laundry maid was noticed was when the uniforms weren’t nicely washed and ironed. As always, Yesenia checked both Gerenet-Shr’s and Natt’s clothes as she put them in the wardrobe. As much as Hopina hated the work and her fate of still being a laundry maid, the girl was skilled.

  Laundry maids did their best to get promoted to a room maid, but Hopina was on her second cycle as a laundry maid. If she were tasked with it for a third time, it would be a death knell on her chances of ever being claimed. She would be too old.

  “Maybe Gerenet-Shr or Natt could help her,” Yesenia muttered to herself. She’d not cared for the girl after their initial meeting, but neither of them had been in a good place at that time. Yesenia had just come into Basque’s service, and Hopina was resentful that an outsider got a position she’d been denied.

  However, as Hopina was Gerenet-Shr’s laundry maid, among others, Yesenia had gotten to know her better and was more fond of her now. She wanted to help her out if she could.

  “Maybe I should worry about myself,” she said as she closed the last dresser drawer. Gerenet-Shr couldn’t take her with him, and she had nowhere to go after he left.

  After giving the room one more look over, she went into the audience room. Banca stood in the doorway.

  Yesenia frowned. “What are you doing in here? Why aren’t you in class?”

  “I—”

  “No, wait. I don’t care. I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

  “Yesenia, please!” Banca took a step forward, then moved her foot back.

  “It’s not so fun when people don’t listen, is it?”

  “I’m sorry. I was a complete Yani, and I’m sorry.”

  Yesenia looked at her. She looked sincere, but…. “I said later. Can’t you even respect that?”

  “Actually, you said after you finished eating the Yani I told you to eat. I thought maybe I could help with that, as I’ve got a mouthful of Yani right now.”

  Yesenia smiled, then straightened her face. “I still don’t want to talk to you.”

  “Ever again?”

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  “No, just right now.”

  “Gerenet-Shr said he would take us.”

  “Take us?” Yesenia furrowed her brow.

  “Yeah, to the camps.”

  Her eyes went wide. “Are you crazy?! Do you think I meant that? I never want to go back there!”

  “But—”

  “And you already got Gerenet-Shr’s permission? What’s wrong with you?”

  An alert went off in Yesenia’s interface. Natt just passed through the dorm hall’s door.

  “Yesenia—”

  “Natt’s coming. You need to leave.”

  “Natt’s coming?”

  Yesenia cursed the girl for being slow. She thought about grabbing Banca and taking her into the servants’ corridor with her, but decided against it. She wanted to see what Banca would do, so she ducked out of the room alone and turned on the room mic.

  The main door opened and closed. “Banca? What are you doing here?” Despite the harshness of her words, Natt’s voice was kind.

  “I…You left. Why didn’t you watch the fight?”

  “Does it bother you that I didn’t?” The sound of Natt sitting on the sofa came through the speaker.

  “You didn’t care who won?”

  “I just…didn’t see how it would change anything.” Natt sounded tired.

  “I won the first round.”

  The sofa crunched as Natt readjusted herself on it. “Well done.”

  “She destroyed me the second.”

  “And the third?”

  Banca’s response wasn’t instant. “I forfeited.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because you’re right. The fight didn’t change anything. It just proved that I haven’t changed. I landed the first blows, and Reianna asked if I missed hurting her.”

  Natt didn’t say anything.

  Banca’s voice trembled as she said, “I…I don’t want to hurt her, Natt.”

  “Then don’t.”

  “But…it’s her fault…”

  For the second time in as many days, Yesenia listened to Banca cry. She felt like she was doing something wrong, listening in on such a private conversation, especially since Banca was her friend, but it was her job. This was where she was supposed to be.

  The two women were mostly silent. Occasionally, Banca would sob.

  “The strangest thing is, I don’t think I hate her,” Banca said. “Last night, I got in a fight with my friend. She told me things I didn’t want to hear.”

  Yesenia’s heart skipped a beat. Did Banca know she was listening? No. From what other maids said, nobles didn’t realize that servants heard everything. Back when she was in Class E, Yesenia hadn’t realized it, either.

  “I…I hurt her. I said horrible, mean things. I tried apologizing to her, but…she won’t even talk to me. Is hurting people all I’m good at?”

  “No.”

  Yesenia wanted to laugh. If there was someone Banca might have hurt more than Reianna, it was Natt, the very person consoling her.

  “Banca, do you remember when you were seven and I took you out to the city?”

  There was a pause in the conversation. While Yesenia could hear everything, she couldn’t see anything.

  “Well, I told your father that I was taking you dress shopping. Instead, we went to one of the laborer neighborhoods to hand out food. You had so much fun. All the kids were so in love with you. You were so kind and sweet.

  “Every time I went back, they asked about you until I fell. I bet if you went back to that neighborhood, they’d still be singing your praises.”

  Yesenia had a hard time picturing Banca handing out food.

  “I remember…” Banca’s voice was so quiet that it came through as a whisper.

  “You feel bad for what you did to Reianna. You are a good person at heart, your fa—you just…forgot for a while.”

  Silence came through the door until Banca finally whispered, “Thanks.”

  The hallway door opened and closed, then Natt let out a long sigh. “Yesenia?”

  Yesenia responded to the summons and stepped into the room. She bowed and said, “At your service, Madam Natt.”

  “I’m not noble. Just call me Natt.”

  “You’re the one she fought with, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “What did you say?”

  “I was displeased about how angry she was with you and Miss Reianna. I pointed out that Miss Reianna had no need to do her any favors, that she didn’t understand the repercussions, and that Banca was receiving karma.”

  Natt raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize you are religious.”

  “Unlike Miss Banca, I am well aware that I am not a good person. I do not harbor any pretense that the only reason I try to be good to others is because I want good returned to me. So, when I give counsel, like what I gave Miss Banca, I do not sugarcoat things.”

  “I see. Now, do you want to tell me how that winds up getting her to ask Basque to take you and her to the camps?” Natt’s voice was sharp. The softness with which she had spoken to Banca was gone.

  “I objected to her treatment of you. I told her she should be grateful that you spared her from the camps. I told her I would gladly take her there. I did not expect her to take my offer seriously.”

  Natt rubbed her eyes. “Well, she did, and Basque, the lovable fool, has agreed to take the both of you.”

  “I am just as displeased as you are. It was my intention to never return there.”

  Natt sighed again.

  “I survived there for thirteen years. Miss Banca will be fine for a month.”

  “Maybe I should go, too.”

  One of the first things Sophia had taught Yesenia was how to remain rigid when speaking to the people she served. It took all her willpower not to react to Natt’s monumentally stupid idea. “I don’t think that’s wise,” Yesenia said.

  “Oh?”

  “Yes.”

  “Care to expand on that?”

  “Despite the soft tones that she spoke with just now, she will still resent your presence if you go with us.”

  Natt leaned forward and put her face in her hands.

  “Miss Banca is changing. You are correct. There is a fundamental goodness in her. That is why she is able to forgive Miss Reianna. That is why she will be able to forgive you eventually.”

  “What should I do?” Natt muttered into her hands, then rubbed them down her face.

  Yesenia understood that the question was rhetorical, but she answered it anyway. “Come to the camps two weeks after we’ve been there.”

  “What?”

  “Give Miss Banca time to see, to experience the camps, then come.”

  “Do you think it would help?”

  “First Sergeant Yuellen Frasman,” Yesenia said.

  “Who is that?” Natt asked when Yesenia didn’t continue.

  “That’s the name of the city guard who brought me in from the camps. I do not believe I will ever see him again, and he could be the most vile human on the planet, but I will forever love him because he’s the one who took me out of the camps.”

  “That kind of feels like a cheap ploy.”

  Yesenia held back her shrug. “It’s your call.”

  Natt slumped back and looked at Yesenia for half a second. “How old are you?”

  “I’m not sure, ma’am.”

  “How long ago was your interface fever?”

  “That’s when people get really sick, right?”

  “Yes, it should happen when you’re eleven or twelve.”

  “That happened to me almost two years before I entered Dyntril.”

  “So, you’re probably fifteen?”

  “Thereabouts, yes.”

  Sitting up, Natt gestured at the chair across from her. “Would you like to come sit?”

  Yesenia didn’t budge. She kept her gaze on Natt’s legs, but not so low that she couldn’t see the lily-haired woman’s expressions. “I’m still on duty.”

  Natt snorted. “Sophia sure trains you girls something fierce.”

  Yesenia didn’t answer.

  “You’re very clever for your age.”

  “Ma’am?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t feel like I’m talking to a fifteen-year-old. You’ve got more insight than half the nobles I know, and who are double your age.”

  “The camps aren’t forgiving to the dumb and slow.”

  “I don’t suppose they would be.”

  Once more, the conversation petered to a stop. Natt stared at Yesenia, and Yesenia stared at Natt’s legs.

  “As smart as you are, though, you’re wrong about one thing.”

  “What’s that, ma’am?”

  “You are a good person. Very good.”

  Yesenia wanted to object, but it wasn’t her place to object to her savior and master’s lover. “Thank you.”

  Once more, they resumed their staring game. Since Natt called her in, Yesenia couldn’t leave until Natt dismissed her, and the other woman didn’t seem to have an inclination to do so.

  At last, Natt sighed and said, “Thank you for your counsel. I will think about it. Can you…” She took a deep breath, not a sigh, but the breath of someone nervous about making a request. “Can you go be with Banca for now? Spare her some of your wisdom?”

  “My shift isn’t over yet.”

  “That’s fine. I’m dismissing you for the day.”

  “What about dinner?”

  “I’ll take Basque out again.”

  Yesenia still wasn’t ready to hear Banca out, but once again, she wasn’t in a position to ignore the command. “Understood, ma’am.” Yesenia bowed and went into the servants’ corridor. Ready or not, she was going to get Banca’s apology.