Ismene's day had been awful, and surreal, enough that she didn't realize anything was wrong until she was nearly at the villa.

  Something was wrong in the streets. It wasn't that they weren't populated with House members or servants, or that carts weren't going this way or that on their errands.

  It was the background noise. There was only background noise. The workers were quiet; the House members and their guards were in groups. The usual cheer of parties pouring out of family villas wasn't there.

  Ismene hurried the rest of the way to Harmonia's villa, and checked in. "What's going on?" she asked the servant on door duty.

  They raised their eyebrows. "They're coming!" they said. "You don't know?"

  "Who?" Ismene asked.

  "Haven't you heard?" they asked. "The soldiers."

  Ismene collected more rumors as she collected on her day chit. Troops wearing Prytane Psamat's colors were moving up the river. The dock companies were reputed to have actually ordered a blockade built against them. Ismene saw her House's informal Guild group staying to themselves, discussing things quietly. Evo waved her away.

  Ismene couldn't remember a time when the Assembly allowed the military to bring its men in force into a city. Whatever was happening, she thought, Psamat was going to come to a head with them. Was everything in the world coming to pieces? Ismene thought.

  She went looking for Eryx.

  * * *

  "Ah, there you are," a House matron said when Ismene reached the top of the steps. Ah; Lery. Her least favorite.

  For a moment, Ismene didn't understand what Lery meant. The matron was blocking her passage down the hall. Lery was standing next to the open door of Ismene's room, holding a bunch of robes. Ismene stepped forward, looking into her room, and took in the complete disorder.

  "I want this cleaned up by tonight." Lery informed her.

  Ismene realized what Lery was doing. Those were her robes Lery was holding. Lery was cleaning her out.

  Her bedsheets had been pulled, along with the clothes she'd had hanging up. Her bookshelf was almost empty. The jars of creams and things she'd collected from stores over time were missing from their places on her little windowsill.

  "I have two days yet," Ismene protested. She had plans. She had space to ship her things on a cart. If she couldn't keep her things here until then—

  "Well, you're leaving, so don't expect us to hold up House business for you," Lery said briskly.

  "I'm still House until then," Ismene protested, trying to keep her tone even.

  "And you're entitled to your spot in the barracks." Lery pronounced. "This room belongs to someone who's earned it. I'm not giving you special treatment."

  Ismene grit her teeth. They could have let her know they meant to turn her out. Lery would probably have done that for someone she liked. The bolt on the door was gone; Lery hadn't taken any chances. Ismene's hard-won privacy was ended.

  "Well, I haven't got all day," Lery said. "The manager took the records he needs and I've got what's ours."

  Then she was moving, grabbing the bedsheets in addition to Ismene's robes, and walking away. Ismene couldn't even accuse Lery of enjoying it particularly; Lery seemed to approach all household interactions with the same level of indignation.

  "I'd like my robes," Ismene called, only to receive a careless "Not your property," in response.

  "I don't want to argue contract stipulations," Ismene said, although this time she really absolutely did. Leave it to a matron to treat everything as House property. "I can trade," Ismene pushed. Lery halted. Gods damn it, Ismene was entitled to those by her contract, but if she had to resort to bribe, she would. "Let me take a thing or two back. I'll give a token each."

  To Ismene's great surprise, Lery turned back. "Two," she said.

  "Three tokens for two," Ismene retorted.

  "Fine," Lery said. A few minutes later, Ismene had turned over half of her pocket to the matron, Lery was walking away once more, and Ismene had the clothes she most wanted to keep.

  The victory, small and mixed though it was, gave her strength to assess her room.

  It was a real wreck, Ismene had to admit. Her work notebooks were mostly gone, but one or two had been overlooked. Almost all of the token books she'd accumulated were likewise gone. That was rude; she hoped they'd be read by someone, but whoever took them could have asked. One or two of them had been books she was rather fond of, and would have kept given the choice.

  Her chest of drafting tools was open, and her ink spilled, but everything except her good knife was present. Her commonplace journals... they'd been disordered, and she thought some were missing. Ismene was actually glad that she wouldn't be around to see the results. She didn't write a lot about other people, but she'd written about the Castle, and someone would find a reason to snip about it if they knew.

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  For whatever reason, her ceramic goblet was still there. She'd traded for it when she first came to Mellon, and she was glad to see it.

  If she wanted to keep any of it, she'd have to get it packed and down to the villa's office before the day stretched on too long. Ismene sorted out the clothes she'd bought back, using them to wrap the notebooks and things she meant to ship. She hadn't expected to lose her room until she was really gone.

  "Gods," Ismene muttered to herself. She'd probably have to leave some things behind, even with her room ransacked.

  "What is all this?" A flat voice said behind her. Ismene turned and saw Eryx standing in the door.

  For a moment, Ismene forgot her trouble and perked up. "You're okay!"

  "I am?" Eryx muttered.

  She was here! "I thought—" Ismene cut herself off and beckoned Eryx in. Once the room's door was closed, Ismene spoke more quietly. "I thought Lady Harmonia found those books," she said. "That you'd been in trouble. Are you all right?"

  "Harmonia called me in and ordered me to stop my work." Eryx said. "Said I was too rude to her. That she'd take over policy matters herself." Eryx looked away, clenching her fist, and consciously unclenching it. "As if she hasn't been busy with her own business. They're in meetings all the time—her and her father. Something's up. She has no intention of even replacing my role here. I—" Eryx cut herself off. "I guess I got too political," she finished with arch sarcasm. "I've been under House arrest, I think. They've let me have the run of the villa, but I know Harmonia's got someone keeping tabs on me. Oh." She frowned, looking at Ismene. "I hope they don't bother you about me. Sorry about that."

  Ismene shook her head. "I've been worried about you. Melite had me burn everything we had in the print shop from you."

  "All of it?" Eryx cocked her head, brow knit. She seemed unsurprised by the further misfortune, but as confused as Ismene had been.

  "I. I'm sorry," Ismene said. "I didn't want to help, but... well, I didn't want to get disciplined."

  Eryx looked at her for a moment, then shook her head. "No, I understand that. Don't worry. I thought they might have found you out," she admitted. "They made me turn over all the written material in my room, but I never saw them give my books any extra scrutiny, so I wasn't sure. I got rid of the ones you gave me before that," she admitted. "Slipped them in the trash so that if you'd been caught, there wasn't anything on me. Haven't heard a thing about them. Sorry about that."

  Ismene shrugged. "I'm glad it wasn't the books, and I wish I could help. I'm in no position to," she said, gesturing around.

  "What's this, then?" Eryx said. "You weren't arrested, but this looks like..."

  Ismene sighed and explained everything. How her mother had always pushed for her to make 'better' choices, and how Harmonia had so casually given her up. "I'm leaving the day after tomorrow," she said. "I've got to leave here, so I'm sending off what I can before the matrons take it all."

  Eryx frowned. "Do you want to stay in my room?"

  "I'd better show up in the barracks, so the matrons don't think I'm missing," Ismene said. "I'd like..." She realized what Eryx was offering. "May I keep these things in your room for a couple of days? I've got cart space scheduled, I just expected to have my room until then..."

  Eryx nodded. "As long as I've got mine, you're welcome to borrow it."

  Ismene had trouble keeping herself together, then, and found tears in her eyes. She felt awful; Eryx was the one facing just as much trouble, and some unknown decision from higher up. But somehow, Eryx was the one choosing to help her.

  "Hey," Eryx said, and hugged her. Ismene clung back.

  After a while, Ismene had to rally herself and get back to work. Knowing that she had a place to store things helped change some of her decisions. Eryx helped her re-make her bundles.

  "Are you really going?" Eryx asked, as Ismene made a couple of packages. "To Timander."

  "I don't think I have a choice," Ismene said. "Not in such little time."

  "Maybe you can put out feelers with other houses," Eryx said.

  "Maybe," Ismene said without conviction. "I'm hoping that maybe, maybe, what my mother says is true. That I could move up. Maybe I can convince Timander to apply for a travel permit."

  "The Castle again?" Eryx asked.

  "It's the thing I'll miss the most. I can do for them what I did for Harmonia. Get books to publish. It isn't much, but I'd get to go."

  "That's really all you can think about." Eryx commented. She picked up one of the bundles, and Ismene got the other. Together, they set out to Eryx's room. Eryx navigated, and Ismene tried not to think too hard about the things she'd be throwing away behind her.

  Outside Eryx's room, there was a House guardswoman leaning against the wall. Eryx braced her bundle against one arm and waved. The guard didn't really react, and they both went in without trouble. How odd, Ismene thought.

  "I love the Castle," Ismene said quietly once they were inside Eryx's room. "I hate the idea of never seeing it again."

  "If you can't, what then?" Eryx said. "You used that access to do good. You could still do some good where you're going, even if you never go there again. Find your local guild. Talk to people. See what they need." She gestured to a space by her desk. "Here, this is fine."

  Ismene set her things down and sighed. "Maybe. I don't know how much I can risk, until I've been there a while. And if the House likes my proposal, I might have to spend a while working on it to prove myself."

  "You might be wasting your time." Eryx suggested. "Why not just join the guild? Focus on the people around you, instead?"

  Ismene didn't know what to say in reply. Finally, she settled for, "It's what I want to do. Why can't I do both?"

  "You want to do some good." Eryx reiterated. "You're right; you're starting from the bottom. Why spend years butting heads with the House, for the Castle, when you can find out what the servants in Timander need, now?"

  Ismene bristled. "I—I don't want to give up," she said. "I want to go back to the Castle. I want to see the Voice again. I want to—"

  "Stay there in luxury? Free from Tyrene and the worries of all of us servants?" Eryx said, crossing her arms. "Put in no more effort than you must?"

  "Do what I can for people, with the Library," Ismene finished, more weakly.

  "Think about it, though," Eryx said. "Send me letters. I know you manage those with your family." It was a subtle implication on Ismene's dedication to effort. If a servant could make use of the myriad ways to post a letter outside of House awareness, what else could Ismene do if she put her mind to it?

  "You know what it's like to be taken off the job you loved," Ismene said. "Please. Remember that I've lost mine, too."

  Eryx didn't back off. "You might have a chance you aren't seeing, if only you'd take it."

  "I'll go finish cleaning up," Ismene said. She didn't want to leave on that note of disagreement, but she wasn't in any state to have an argument. "Thank you for giving me space to put things. I'll have it out after two days."

  Eryx nodded. "I'm not going anywhere." She frowned. "I think I'll be looking for that chance, myself."

  As Ismene left, returning to her increasingly-bleak former cubicle to start shuttling her old things into the trash, she wondered if Eryx was right. Ismene loved the castle; but without Harmonia giving her those precious trips to the Library, what good did that love do? Why should she have to be useful to someone else to get any chance at doing something she wanted to do for herself?