"We shouldn't have done this," Ricke muttered. She didn't seem to mind if Eryx heard her.

  It had been difficult to find the servants who met as a guild, much less schedule a meeting. Eryx understood; Ismene might have trusted her to keep her mouth shut, but the servants who actually went to the meetings stood to lose more if Eryx exposed them. Harmonia might not cancel their contracts, but they could easily face discipline.

  They had opened the meeting with a prayer, a carefully nondenominational prayer to several gods, held without any offering or shrine. The sincerity of their requests had done more to attach her to their cause than any rote, half-hearted manager's prayer for their House ever had. It would have infuriated Harmonia.

  "I'm grateful for your willingness to welcome me," Eryx said. She knew some of them. Bis was one of the printers, someone she'd known Ismene to work with, and they were there along with Oron, another printer. About half of the scholars who lived at Lady Harmonia's villa were present. The rest were workers that she knew in varying degrees. That they'd never invited her made Eryx wonder how little she had been, after all her work, trusted.

  "Well, we're here. And so are you; Mellon's patronized scholar. The question is, why are you here?" Ricke asked. Rangy and energetic, she was by far the most forceful of the group. Next to her was Mere, her spouse who worked in the villa, and Ophra from the dorm.

  "I learned a thing or two at the Castle," Eryx said. She thought of the Castle, dark and alien, and sighed. "That place has such a library... a real library. Do you know, I've never used Mellon's library unsupervised?"

  Ricke cocked her head. Next to her, Mere nodded. "Of course not." She taught in the villa's crèche; she was permitted textbooks for the purpose.

  "The Castle's library is so much bigger," Eryx said. "And I had the run of it, more or less." She fidgeted; her hands were empty, because she didn't want to bring any notes to the meeting that might be waylaid. "And I had to navigate Harmonia, who didn't think I deserved to read some of it. I think I realized that the House owners alone weren't going to make the sorts of changes I wanted to see. When I found out that we have active guildservants, I thought I should join you. I've only communicated with the regional office, before."

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  "You're just a scholar," Ricke said. "We're... more than that. We don't just want Mellon to make improvements. We want Tyrene to change."

  "And I realized that, too," Eryx said. "Wait. 'Just' a scholar?" she asked with a faint grin.

  "You're sponsored by Mellon, and that's safe, but it also keeps you out of touch," Mere said. Eryx bristled, and she held up a hand. "I know you came from the factories. We've always assumed you knew what you were doing. But you are a scholar, and that means... well, it means you're working directly with the House, and not for us."

  Ricke added more. "Before today I thought you'd have turned us in for conspiring against House authority. Or violating curfew, for all I know. We'll make a guildmember of you yet," she grinned. "Honestly; we're glad to have you."

  "Thirty years ago, servants were fighting for the right to have positions," Ophra grumbled. "I think I preferred her being realistic. Someone has to."

  "That's exactly it, though," Eryx said, gesturing widely. "After getting that unsupervised reading time, I've learned a lot of things I didn't think sounded realistic at all. A hundred and fifty years ago, everyone in Dryas got shares of the city's harvest and trade fees, in hard coin," Eryx emphasized. "It's realistic that the Assembly used to include delegates like farmers and weavers, not just license holders. They used to elect representatives—servants!—from individual departments. Now, only the houses own licenses, or make real money, or get appointments to the Assembly. It's realistic to say that things don't have to be the way they are now."

  "That's exactly the sort of cloud-minded thinking I'm worried about," Ophra argued. "We aren't business owners. We don't earn profit off of other people's work. We're the ones who do the work. If we want to be taken care of, we have to remember that."

  "Yeah, you'd love running your dorms for profit," Ricke ribbed him. "A real landlord, you are."

  Ophra grumbled. "I still think we shouldn't let her attend."

  "It would be good for you," Eryx argued. "Even if you don't think I can do you much good, I'd like to be on the same page for planning reasons," she said. "My next proposal to Mellon is going to be about coin. Not allowances, not like we're contracted to earn in tokens. But a wage."

  "In place of tokens?" Mere asked.

  "Alongside them," Eryx said. "Maybe a very small percentage of House profits. But hard coin. And I'd rather work with you than around you." She nodded at Ricke, Mere and Ophra in turn.

  Mere and Ricke traded glances, and Ophra crossed his arms.

  "Will you let me attend your meetings?" Eryx asked. "I want to discuss that idea and see what suggestions and criticisms you have."

  "We may," Ricke said. "We'll have to talk about it."

  Eryx nodded. "Thank you. I hope I'll see you again soon."