Page 65 of Carousel

I cross my arms, suddenly self-conscious. “How did you expect us to look? Both being Rhavnan?”

“It’s not you. It’s your clothes,” Riss states. “I can’t understand why the officers would want to be reminded of who you are. It definitely means this is part of Integration somehow – a test, or a game.”

I bring my folded arms in tighter against my body.

“How do we play, if we don’t know what the rules are?”

I’d directed my question at them, but Drake answers it, eyes on me.

“You convince them you do.”

Deck 7 has a caged archway similar to the one outside Intelligence. Riss explains on the way up that the whole deck is for officer use only.

“Does that mean you, too?” I ask.

“Yes. Well, there’s no point Cosmer using the Wardroom,” Riss starts. “But I do sometimes, because they serve better food, and more of it,” she continues. “You have to sit down to wait for your food to be served to you, so it takes ages, though, and you end up getting stuck talking to some ancient man who thinks it’s okay to stare at your chest, drooling, while you’re just trying to eat your bread pudding.”

“How.... oddly specific.”

“All the people we actually like just use the normal Mess Hall anyway.”

“What about the cabins?”

Riss smiles. “Now those are great. You get your own room, just for you, with a porthole to look out of, and a bed you can actually roll over in without falling out of. Your own wash bowl, too...” She sighs. “I miss my cabin.” Her face twists, becomes more like a scowl now, as if she’s holding me personally responsible for her loss.

And… I suppose that would be right. I’d be annoyed, too.

The blonde, muscular man I recognise as Ephraine from the execution arrives by the grate. He unlocks it and lifts it up to the sound of complaining metal.

Through an archway ahead, is a beautiful room, I can see into the Wardroom, which is beautiful. Chandeliers are fitted with sticks of laser light rather than candles. There is dark orange patterned wallpaper over the walls, and the wooden panelling is engraved with depictions of different sky ships – hive ships, dragonfly-like ships that look like Cosmer’s, rounder ships that look more like beetles or bees. The floor is a red and brown mosaic, spiralling until it becomes the crest of The Assembly – a simple ‘A’ in a circle with vines encroaching it.

Two long mahogany dining tables are laid with silver forks, pressed napkins, cut glass tumblers filled with brown liquid, and even fresh, bright red flowers in glass vases, which I recognise as Hevallan hibiscus. The tables are almost all occupied, and first officers are seated among Rhavnans, all well-dressed in shirts and blazers or simple cotton or satin dresses with high necklines or collars.

Would it not be dangerous for Dezeeves to bring all of his FIs together like this? A security risk?

He must be so confident of his conversion work.

Eyes are like pins on us as we step into the room. A few of the officers flinch.

But the FIs seem strangely indifferent.

I walk stiltedly towards them, the train of my dress trailing the floor with the sound that always reminds me of rushing water. I feel like one of the exotic animals or people often paraded in front of the Queen to please her.

I realise Drake and I are being led to the two high-backed chairs directly to the right of Dezeeves and Ephraine, while Cosmer and Riss have been directed towards the two empty chairs at the other table.

It jolts me, seeing them so far.

Why would they sit us apart?

Taking my seat, I focus properly on Dezeeves for the first time. He’s in a crisp shirt and maroon blazer that seems too large for him. His long, ratty ponytail has been tied with a matching ribbon.

He offers me a weak but pleasant smile, then stands up, clinking at his glass with a knife.

“In Hevalla,” he begins, once he has everyone’s attention, “we value mercy and civility – even to our enemies.”

He pauses, inspecting us all. Continues.

“Today, we welcome two prisoners to our table. Invite them to dine with us. Offer them a hospitality their own palace would not offer to us, if the roles were reversed. In doing this, we prove we are stronger than our neighbours across the Sea of the Sisters, and of better character. We prove we can think in new ways when faced with problems – I am talking, of course, of our declining recruitment.”