"No one is unworthy to be a Diamond," Säde says sharply, instinctively. She bites the inside of her lip, cutting back any further words until she's reigned her temper in and marshalled her thoughts into something closer to what she ought to be, ought to present as the Ace of Diamonds. "If I have ever believed her unworthy of anything, it is the rank of Jack. I did not set out to establish this in my head when she first took on the rank, I assure you, but the closer we worked together, the more her behaviour reinforced that belief."

She's silent for a few moments before going on, voice forcedly even but brittle. "And the more it was reinforced, the more I've communicated that to her. It is, I think now, a failing of mine as both an Ace and... and as a person." And hadn't Hector said much the same?