>>5603836“Thiss isss… A ssore subject for you?” you realize.
The Princess huffs through her nose, body pivoting a little to turn away from you. It is answer enough. You reach out, on an impulse, and place a gauntleted hand upon her own smaller, daintier one—itself sheathed in a thin layer of silken fabric, a fine lavender-white glove. She flinches, but turns to you. Before she can object or stand up, you speak again:
“Then tell me of the Princcessss of Hawkssong,” you request. “That isss who I am MOSST interessted in, anyway.”
The blush returns, even as the princess gently extracts her hand from yours. She stays seated. It is a good sign.
“I… Am a product of my upbringing an environment, as are we all—my brothers included, of course. I suffer certain… Restrictions,… For my sex, but also certain benefits. I am expected to be serene and demure, of course, and politely quiet at official functions… But that means that I also get less scrutiny, aside from my hair, my face, my dress, my presence. I am allowed, perhaps as the others of my family aren’t, to be… More MYSELF, at least within the confines of this place.”
“And what doess that entail?” you ask, leaning slightly forward. “Where do you take your… Pleassure?”
You are amused to find the pinkness in this female human’s heart-shaped face deepen. She stammers, eventually looking away and clearing her throat.
“Well, yes. Um. Painting, and poetry, I suppose. I… Am not much given to song, but I try; the lyrics come more naturally than, ah, the tone, and I never mastered an instrument, I’ll admit, even though my tutors tried. And… Reading. I cannot often… I am not permitted to leave very frequently, you see, since mother… Since her passing. But my family, we have collected a great many books, and are gifted them often as well. Since I was very young, I have made sport of reading them.”
She looks up at you and speaks in a tongue you don’t understand. She arches an eyebrow, and you shake your head in apology and incomprehension.
“I have read many poetic and historical works from the Near East. I… Speak a few of the languages, albeit most probably with a, ah, a quite terrible accent, not that any visitor has ever dared to tell me so. But… Not yours, I would guess?”
You smile slightly, and bow your head.
“MY… Not-barbarianss… We sspeak a very OBSSSCURE tongue. Not widely known, even in my landsss.”
