Shady

Jerica looked at him dumbly for a long moment. He really didn’t know /anything/. She took a deep breath deciding to explain the system so he stopped just repeating that ...

“Dictatorship is different from kings,” Jerica snorted. She tried to think of how this strange earth system lined up with Beirania. Their sectors sounded like fiefdoms. “So your Barons just ...

Jerica hesitated. She wasn’t sure how you could be royalty minus the royalty. That was more concerning to her than their arranged marriages. “Wait so who is the king if ...

“That sounds like royalty to me,” she answered simply. “Kings send off their princesses to someone else’s prince, and then they make little royal babies and the game repeats. Levin ...

“How do you arrange marriages if you don’t have kings?”

“Hah. Not while the men are still around,” she snorted. “Noblemen are the literal worst. And they’re the ones who make up all the rules. I’ve been trying for years ...

“I mean, it wouldn’t be quite so bad if we got rid of men,” she said dryly.

"Technically, they're tiaras." She smirked at how bewildered he seemed by the revelation. It was almost like he could accept that she was an assassin better than he could accept ...

Ah, so he hadn't actually suspected. Played that hand too soon, didn't I? "I mean, technically, yeah." She shrugged. "Like I grew up in the palace, or whatever, but I ...

Jerica reached for the bread but faltered as he addressed her. She couldn't tell if it was sarcasm -- like he didn't believe she was actually a princess -- or ...

"Yeah," Jerica rolled her shoulder. Her arm was still sore from fighting the Nykerians, but they needed to get Elias fast-tracked to becoming at least baseline competent, even though they ...

"That's a good point." Jerica looked at him, grateful for the excuse to get away from this conversation. His response was confusing but nice. But she was much comfier with ...

“I wouldn’t know.” She felt her mood getting heavy again. “You’re the only one who seems to find being near me easy. Maybe the bar is easier for you to ...

Jerica laughed despite herself. “You earned that one.” She stretched her back and looked up at the sky. “We’ll need a guarded place to make camp. Keep an eye out.” ...

“Well...” She felt bad for him. It seemed like they had more in common than she’d like to admit. “ My purpose is to get you to Crevon in one ...