[Point again, Dorian. She gestures acquiescence.]

I'll face them here, if Riverview is as you've described it. What does magic do, in your world? And mages?

[The question is expected, but Breq still finds herself pausing, for the length of a single second. Considering how to phrase it. In the end, she affects a humorless smile, a wry quirk of her mouth as she speaks, her voice dry.]

They've made me the thorn in the tiger's paw.