Sonia lifts her gaze at that, looking at Miles cautiously, tentatively. She knows he and Byerly are good friends. And she knows -- well, she knows what Byerly told her, but she still can't quite decide if she believes it. But if Miles is from that same alternate Barrayar...it would make a certain kind of sense.

But Byerly had given her his secret in confidence, and she would not betray her promise. She bites her lower lip, nodding. "One where there wasn't a war on," she says quietly, wistfully. "Dancing, drinking, gossip..." Her smile tilts ironically. "It's the strangest thing, Miles. I miss Beta Colony, and I feel so -- so stifled here, but I miss this other Barrayar Byerly talks about even more. A place I've never even seen."