Sonia leans in to look, and she smiles, delighted. "You didn't keep them?" she asks, gesturing to her own earrings -- of course, on Barrayar they don't hold nearly the same significance. "Although I suppose you wouldn't need them, with all your mercenaries...oh, but do you have any Betan mercenaries?"

They're not exactly the mercenary type, but then again, wormhole wildcatting isn't exactly a tame occupation, either.