( naturally, her thoughts drift to nikolai, secrets encased in the middle of every word, like hard candies to chew on. all the easier — all the more dangerous — to swallow and digest, when they're sugared in half-truths.
a single year of it has seen her weary, mistrustful — she can't imagine a tooth-rotting lifetime of being fed sweet lies. her nose wrinkles, the dark jest ripped out of her before she can stop it: )
You mean you don't like courtiers pretending to kiss your feet while they plot new, inventive ways to betray you?
You're safe with me, in that case. I'm not much of a foot-kissing traitor. I guess that's the one advantage of not being born noble.
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a single year of it has seen her weary, mistrustful — she can't imagine a tooth-rotting lifetime of being fed sweet lies. her nose wrinkles, the dark jest ripped out of her before she can stop it: )
You mean you don't like courtiers pretending to kiss your feet while they plot new, inventive ways to betray you?
You're safe with me, in that case. I'm not much of a foot-kissing traitor.
I guess that's the one advantage of not being born noble.