Finally, Claire let herself fully relax. People here almost all had cooked fruit over cracked wheat for breakfast, but it looked like somebody had made eggs and rice, even if somebody hadn’t made enough for two.


    On paper, Theo had crafted the perfect position for himself. He didn’t work for the military or the church, so he got to pick his own team and his own jobs. Since he contracted for both, his parents had no room to complain as long as he kept building a good reputation.


    We should have ordered pastries. Do you think she’d want- I mean everyone likes pastries. Unless they’re allergic. Or don’t like sweets. Ugh, we should have done this yesterday!” Cam was saying, continually trying to push back his curls in stress.


    It’ll be fine,” Abigail said sympathetically. She was trying to wash some of the coffee mugs that had slowly accumulated on the desks. Theo found trying to keep the office clean was a bit of a Sisyphian task and easier not to bother with, which was probably, in retrospect, the reason it got so dirty in the first place. “She’s not going to quit because we don’t have pastries.”


    It’s not about quitting, it’s about feeling comfortable! I mean, it’s awkward, going into a group of people who’ve known each other for ages, right? We want her to feel welcome.”


    No amount of pastries,” Theo reminded them, “is going to counteract Linn.”


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    Shut up, shut up, shut up,” Abigail said, stripping her dish gloves and drumming the back counter for attention. “I can feel a caster coming.”


    Miss James, welcome. I’m Theodore Dryden.”


    Thank you,” James said, ignoring Linn’s entry. She turned to look at the office. “I’m Clarisse James. I’ll be working as your team’s tracer starting today. I hope I’ll be an asset to your team.”


    You sound Avairnian,” Linn said, smiling as if that made it sound any less of an accusation.


    Yes. That is because I’m Avernian,” James responded. There was a hint of an expression there, but it wasn’t anger, it was the slightest edge of amusement. Perhaps Linn would be less of a problem than he’d worried.


    Why are you here then?” Linn asked, putting a casual elbow on James’s shoulder.


    I’m wanted for execution in Avairne for desertion, so I thought it would be a bit more pleasant working here. Don’t worry, my loyalty is to my work, not my birthplace. If you have any concerns, I’m sure a government official would be happy to confirm my allegiances.”


    Well, we’re lucky to have you. I’m the team leader, so you can come to me with any problems. That’s Linn Miller, our medical examiner, Campbell handles paperwork, and Abigail Stephanson, our muscle.”


    I’m so excited to have another caster on the team! I’ve never been any good with sense magic. I’m a kinetic manipulation specialist, but I’m not too bad with air manipulation. What about you?”


    I mostly stick to sensory work, but I’m not bad with energy manipulation,” James said.


    What can you sense about me?” Abigail asked, still holding James’ hand. James’ muscles were tensed, as if it took effort not to recoil.


    Abigail, she doesn’t have to. She hasn’t even been here a minute.” Abigail should know not to treat another caster like a stage show.


    It’s fine. I don’t mind. As long as Miss Stephanson doesn’t mind,” James said.


    Course not! I’m an open book!”


    When you started training, you focused on strengthening your whole body at once. That’s the most common method, so that isn’t surprising, but you got a pretty bad knee injury around five years ago. It took...” she tilted her head, “around a half a year to heal, I think. After that, you started learning how to switch your strength between your legs and your arms.I’m guessing you also took up free-running. About two years ago, you started learning to use your casting to weaken your opponent as well, but it doesn’t come naturally to you. You’ve probably strengthened opponents on accident a few times, huh? Still, you’re good in a fight and haven’t suffered any major injuries since your knee.”


    You’re dead on! How’d you know?” Abigail asked. “I thought traces faded away in like a month.”


    Usually, but repeated magic uses leave pathways, sort of like building a callous. The rest is knowing how to interpret what you see. There’s some really old healing magic around your knee. The fact that I can see it at all means it had to be treated a lot. The pathways for whole body strengthening are about the same age, which makes me think you got the injury because you weren’t spreading your strength well enough and decided to start a different casting method. That said, the imprint shows quicker switches between legs and arms than most fighters use. People usually only redistribute strength two or three times in a fight. Switching strength tends to telegraph your moves if you use it a lot, but most gymnasts have patterns like yours. With this job, I imagine you wouldn’t have much time to spend in a gym, so my guess is free-running, as that’s actually quite practical for you.”


    There’s no focused healing residue like on the knee, but there’s a general feeling of it, especially around the shins and forearms. Lots of injuries, no severe ones, so I guessed lots of fights and lots of wins. Am I right?”


    Not bad at all. Keep it up, we might even pay you!”


    Cam, if you could start taking her through the paperwork. Linn, Abigail, I still need your reports from Monday’s robbery in.”


    I’m wanted for execution in Avairne for desertion’ his ass. He’d read her file. Clarisse James had deserted her post in Avairne, but not before killing her commander. Besides, that had been almost three years ago. The file had nothing on how she had spent that time before she crossed the border into Dalgerra six months ago.


    There were too many unknowns, and they were all sitting in a chair across from Cam in Theo’s office, with Theo’s people.