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She had hair like opal, pale as the face of the moon, with just the slightest hint of blonde to declare that it hadn’t turned white from stress. Her hair was shorter, like yours had been not that long ago. She came closer, noticed you by Magnus. A dour turn of the lips and a cold stare made you unsure if that was an imperfection of her face or just how little she thought of the sight of you, like she was looking at trash littered in a flower garden. Even though she was only a little taller than you, she looked down at you like she was doing it from the top of a mountain.
“Yuliana,” Magnus reached a beckoning hand out, “This is-“
“Stand aside, Sir Edelschwert,” The girl’s voice was icy and tinted with an accent you hadn’t heard in a bit. The color of northern Ellowie, the border highlands with Netilland. “And let us be. I don’t want you acting as an obstruction.”
Magnus wasn’t the sort to be pushed around like that, so you blinked in surprise when he backed away without a word, and began to pace to the other end of the station. “Find me when you finish, then.”
The woman watched Magnus leave. As soon as he was out of earshot, she spoke coolly and levelly. “I am Yuliana Sanmorza, of blood more ancient than even the Nauk,” she said, “And you are a thief who thinks to take what has been promised to me.”
Not even a chance to introduce yourself? You’d do it anyways. “My name is Anya Nowicki,” you said back, “And I don’t need to color myself with any blood of any ancestors. I’m nobody’s person but my own, and if I’ve taken anything, it’s because victory rewards the worthy.”
“Humph. You are better read than your low character implies.”
Verbal catfighting would just piss you off more, and you didn’t like Magnus seeing you <span class="mu-i">really</span> angry. Even if that had been how you’d first come to know each other in the first place. “Get to the point,” you swept your hair back behind you, “I don’t give my time away to anybody who asks. Magnus didn’t bring you t’ me ‘cause he wanted to, I can tell. So, what the hell are you doing here?”
Yuliana curled her lip. “You already know that. We are at an impasse. Do you think <span class="mu-i">my</span> knight Edelschwert has not spoken to me about you? Two women cannot share the same man. It is an abomination unto God and our pride both.”
“Guess you think you’re a better fit for him then?” You tested her, ready for whatever bullshit this bitch might spew. Even if Magnus had told her about you, he hadn’t done the same for her, to you. Something you were prepared to bring up, after any other guns she might bring up would turn out to have no ammo.
Yet her response wasn’t what you expected. “The truth is, dust girl,” Yuliana said severely, “I envy you terribly.”
“I ain’t surprised,” you shot back without hesitation, “Happens all the time.”
