“I think we should be safe to talk in here,” Beq said. “And, yes, a little. It turns out there are a few different codes, and I’ve found at least two in the master archive.”
“And Nicomidi was working with Raskos,” Maya said, leaning forward eagerly.
“Maybe. He writes carefully, even in code.” Beq frowned. “Why are you so sure?”
Maya’s eyes flicked to the door, and she lowered her voice. “Nicomidi came to me in the cell. He wanted me to give evidence to the Council against Jaedia. Offered to get me off the hook. When I wouldn’t do it, he threatened you.”
“Threatened me?” Beq squeaked. “Why?”
“I don’t think he knows what you’re working on,” Maya said. “He just knows that we’re friends, and he thought it would motivate me.” She found her hands clenching into fists. “A member of the Council threatened to murder an Order arcanist. This is the fucking Republic, not some Splinter King’s court. We don’t assassinate people.”
“Can you tell the rest of the Council?”
“He’d just deny it,” Maya said. “But if you can prove he was part of Raskos’ corruption, they won’t be able to ignore that.”
“Assuming he is part of it.”
“He must be. Why else would he go this far? Sending us to Deepfire, and then trying to keep me from looking into what happened to Jaedia—”
“Wait,” Beq said. “You think he was involved in that too?”
“I don’t know.” Maya flopped back on the bed and closed her eyes. “It all has to be connected, but I don’t see quite how. But we can find out. We have to find out. And I’ll find Jaedia, and … and Marn, and …”
She trailed off, and there was a long silence. Beq fiddled with her spectacles, lenses shifting and whirring.
“You’re sure the Council will act?” she said. “Nicomidi’s a Kyriliarch. And the Dogmatics will say it’s a Pragmatic plot.”
“They have to do something if we have proof,” Maya said. “If we give up on that, we might as well give up on the Order altogether.”
“I’ll find the rest of the codes,” Beq said.
“Thank you,” Maya said. She raised her head. “You’ll be careful?”
Beq nodded. She lapsed into silence again, hands pressed together in her lap. Maya sat up, blood rushing to her head and making it spin. “What’s wrong?”
“I …” Beq swallowed and took a deep breath. “You’ll beat him, won’t you?”
“Tanax?” When Beq nodded, Maya put on her best grin. “Of course.”
“Don’t just … laugh it off,” Beq said. “I don’t know how you centarchs measure one another, but I saw what he did in the tunnel. He’s …”
“He’s dangerous,” Maya said gently. She got off the bed and knelt in front of Beq. “I know. But it’s a duel, not a fight to the death. We’ll wear panoply belts.”
“But if you lose, you’ll be sent away,” Beq said. “That’s what the master arcanist told me. If you challenge the centarchate and lose, you forfeit any chance of ever becoming a centarch, and the Order will bury you away in the middle of nowhere. For the rest of your life.”
“Probably,” Maya said. “It’s up to the Council, and there’s not a lot of recent precedent. But they can’t have people who can access deiat running around loose.”
“I don’t care about the reasons,” Beq said abruptly. She took a deep breath and swallowed hard. “I would never see you again.”
“I …” Maya found her own throat thick. She managed a quick nod.
“That would make me … very unhappy,” Beq said. “I was sitting in my room thinking about it, and I realized just how unhappy. I think I would … I don’t know.”
“Beq …”
“Ever since we got back, I just …” Beq shook her head. “I kept thinking about … that. And other things. And then it felt like I was going around in circles and I didn’t know how to stop and I couldn’t sleep and can I please kiss you?”
“I … um.” Maya felt her cheeks start to burn as her brain caught up with her ears, and her own voice sounded distant. “Uh. Yes?”
Beq leaned forward, and Maya rose to meet her. Their lips met, and for a moment Maya was frozen, not sure what to do next. She could feel every tiny movement of Beq’s tongue, the hot tickle of the other girl’s breath against her face, the press of Beq’s golden spectacles against the bridge of her nose. One of Beq’s hands had landed on Maya’s shoulder, and that slight contact sent a crackle through her like deiat.
“I don’t. Um.” Beq pulled back, slightly. “Know what I’m doing. I’ve never kissed anyone before.” Her throat worked as she swallowed. “I never thought I would want to.”
“I wanted to kiss you the day we met,” Maya said.
“Oh.” Beq seemed genuinely nonplussed. “Really?”
“Really.” Maya shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m doing either.”
“We could. Um. Try again.”
They tried again. And again, and again. Maya felt a deep, sweet ache rising inside her, and more than anything she wanted to feel Beq’s fingers against her bare skin. Beq’s hand was still on her shoulder, and Maya let her own hand land on the other girl’s knee, fingers brushing her trousers as she leaned into the kiss—
Beq pulled back abruptly and got to her feet so fast that Maya had to scramble out of the way.
“Sorry,” Maya said. “Did I—”
“Sorry,” Beq said at the same moment. “I’m sorry, I just—”
They lapsed into a deeply embarrassed silence.
“I didn’t mean to … startle you,” Maya said. “If I did anything—”
“No, it’s not that. I mean. It’s not …” Beq swallowed again. “I just need to … think.”
“That’s fine.” Maya drew in a long breath, blew it out, trying for calm. Seeing the expression on Beq’s face, she got to her feet. “It’s fine, Beq.”
“I’m sorry for making things … complicated.” Beq shook her head, and tears glittered in her eyes. “I should go.”
Maya wanted badly to grab her hand but guessed that would make things worse. “Beq. Look at me.” When the other girl met her gaze, eyes huge through her spectacles, Maya spoke carefully. “Thank you. For the kiss. It was something I wanted … pretty badly. And you have nothing to apologize for.”
“Okay,” Beq said in a small voice.
“I’m going to beat him,” Maya said. “When I do, I’ll be a centarch, with a centarch’s authority. The Council doesn’t have enough evidence to lock up a full centarch, and I’ll be able to choose my own assignments. I’m going to follow Jaedia and find out what happened. I hope you’ll come with me.”
“Of course,” Beq said. She pushed up her spectacles and wiped her eyes.