Quoted By:
“If she’s going to be rude and violent,” Magnus said lowly, “I’ll have her keep her distance. She’s had time enough with me recently. I did come to see <span class="mu-i">you</span>, after all.” A little more than that, you hoped. “Where did your glasses go? I thought you looked charming in them. They suit a clever woman.”
That was more like it. <span class="mu-i">Hit on me, pretty man. Praise me.</span> “When that cunt smacked me, they broke,” you said, pulling the glasses out of your corset’s only real pocket where they’d been stashed. “…I should’a been more careful.”
He took them, and peered at them. “I can have them fixed,” he said as he put them in his pocket, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Women…”
You ignored that last bit. “She said somethin’ about a challenge. Three matches. I’m down for it, but I’ve got a problem with what it’s for.” You reached up and grasped Edelschwert’s braid, and tugged on it lightly. God. You wanted to pull him down. Touching his hair made you less mad, but you weren’t having any trouble working yourself up regardless. “Havin’ a contest, a few fights, a duel? That’s one thing. What’s this she’s sayin’ about it deciding who gets to have you? That’s not her decision. That ain’t up to some stupid contest. That’s <span class="mu-i">your</span> choice.”
“No,” Magnus said, “It isn’t really. Yuliana has a right to have a say where my future is, Lady Nowicki. Just as I’ve decided that you do. Indulge her request, please. I feel that she deserves to be satisfied on that. Besides, even if I did choose her…” Magnus looked over to where she still seethed, her arms crossed and glaring at you, “She has doubts that will not be free of unless she feels worthy beyond them.”
“It’s still <span class="mu-i">your</span> life,” you insisted, grumbling, “Make up your mind on who you want t’ plow, I don’t wanna <span class="mu-i">win</span> you like you’re a trophy or some shit.”
“Anya,” Magnus dropped the <span class="mu-i">Lady</span> bit whenever he got frustrated enough with you, “Mind your manners. Besides, I remember our talks, in Netilland, in the nights before the Capital was placed back into the hands of the Netillian people. I remember you saying that if you truly wanted something, you’d get it, that you’d gain it by whatever means necessary. That any object of your most heartfelt desire couldn’t keep from your grasp.”
You’d said that plenty of times, and you twirled his braid in your fingers. “Yeah? What about it?”
