“What does Eauritsstad say?”

“Banditry.”

Trokhym said: “Which is what governments call their own men when they aren't ready to admit they're their own men.”

Garang nodded.

“Olissingen has done the same.”

Kimia looked from one to the other.

“So neither side wishes to own zhe people doing zhe killing.”

“Yes.”

“Convenient.”

“For now,” Rimil said.

Kimia drank water.

The table's polished surface reflected the pitcher.

No distortions.

Good.

Trokhym opened another page.

“There is more.”

“Of course.”

“Sabotage at the bottling plant upriver from Lenkerk appears connected to the same network.”

Kimia stopped.

“Water bottling?”

“Yes.”

“Zhat seems minor.”

“It is minor.”

Trokhym's expression did not change.

“Which is why it matters.”

Kimia understood.

Small attacks. Roads. Water. Fuel. Warehouses.

Nothing dramatic enough to justify major retaliation.

Enough to increase prices. Increase fear. Force escorts. Force checkpoints. Pull police away from towns. Make every ordinary activity require military attention.

Garang tapped the binder.

“Attrition without front lines.”

Rimil said: “Or preparation.”

“For?”

“No one knows.”

Kimia disliked that answer more.

“What do you zhink?”

Rimil looked at her.

“Pressure.”

“Toward war?”

“Toward reaction.”

Trokhym nodded. Rimil then continued.

“Make Olissingen overreact. Make VSEA reinforce. Zhen say zhe Heart is escalating.”

Garang leaned back.

“And if Olissingen doesn't react?”

“Do more.”

Kimia looked down at the ice around the shellfish.

It was beginning to melt.

Everything in Tilmuhl seemed to involve things melting, rotting, swelling, rusting, fermenting, or becoming more expensive.

“What about bycite?”

Garang's face changed.

There. The actual concern.

“Mine security has been increased.”

“How much?”

“Enough.”

“Zhat isn't a number.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I don't have the exact number.”

Kimia respected this.

Trokhym did too.

No one filled the silence.

Garang continued.

“If major fighting begins, the mines become strategic objectives immediately.”

“Zhey already are.”

“Political objectives. Economic objectives. I'm talking military.”

Kimia understood the distinction.

Capture. Destroy. Deny. Contaminate.

A bycite mine did not need to be held forever to become useful in war.

It merely needed to be made unusable to someone else.

“What are our obligations?” Kimia asked.

Garang opened the second binder.

“Chityala itself? Limited.”

“Zhat's not what I asked.”

“No.”

He turned a page.

“We maintain transport units under Royal Army mobilization schedules. Two technical battalions. Medical assets. Some communications personnel. Several hundred reservists depending on classification.”

“Could Ivenmozh call zhem?”

“Yes.”

“How quickly?”

“Legally?”

“Yes.”

“Days.”

“In practice?”

Garang looked at her.

“Hours, if everyone agrees to pretend the paperwork was already underway.”

Trokhym smiled. Kimia did not.

“And if everyone does not agree?”

“Then days.”

Rimil spoke: “Zhe Minor Houses will argue.”

“Zhey always argue.”

“More than usual.”

“Why?”

“Because Tilmuhl is far away until dividends are discussed.”