Edema Rue

"Good is relevant," Zira said simply. "It doesn't matter to me."

Of course.

I assumed. Dilsha shrugged, feeling her heart pound ever so slightly. "It doesn't matter if I live or die."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Planning?"

The snail is very sticky, however.

Dilsha sat back in her chair. Their conversation was meaningless to her.

The snail follows Mini and leaps onto the sandwich.

"A war is coming regardless, Stranger. All that's left is to choose which side you'll be on." Don't, Dilsha sent sharply. That would be bad.

Just tell them who I am, Dilsha sent. They'll figure out what they need to. Stop justifying yourself, Stranger. It's sickening.

Zira laughed. "I'm not a hero, little boy. I don't care about your right and wrong. I just want to be on top."

As if bandits could kill me. Ah, bother. Perhaps it's too late for me...but either way, I win. If I return home I will be a queen. And if I die...this country will fall either way. Those brats at the academy will finally know fear. Dilsha didn't react. "Your monarchy is weak and useless. They'll fall sooner or later. Don't you want to be on the winning side?"

Dilsha snorted. "Do you think we're fools, Stranger? Just because your king is doesn't mean we all are." Dilsha sighed softly. Tell them, she sent. They mean nothing to me. She shoved down a thought of Alex, a genuine friend...no. No. She had no room for friends.

Dilsha raised an eyebrow. "If you harm me, my parents will destroy your pitiful excuse for a kingdom." That's me, she sent. Ah, but it felt good to be in her own skin again, though the novelty of being a bar-keep had been nice.

She stood and gave him a deep curtsy. "Princess Dilsha Silenx, of Faania. At your service," she said, a coy smile on her lips.

Dilsha blinked, looking genuinely surprised for a short moment. "You brought me all the way here and you don't know who I am?" She laughed. "Oh decay, that's priceless."

"They aren't my siblings," Zira said reflexively. "And as for the rest..." she counted off on her fingers. "Madam President has weaknesses you don't know about. Emma can be dealt with easily enough. And I don't have to fight the capitol. Only rule it."

Tell him not to be an idiot, Dilsha said, feeling a smile play around her lips. Alex was such a fool...the best sort, though. The sort she'd never really known before. Dilsha raised an eyebrow. "Killing me would start a war."

Dilsha gave the man a cold look. "Do I get to know what you plan to do with me?"

"A pity, then, as it's the only one I can give you."

"My actions were a family matter," she said primly. "Anything else?"

Dilsha turned to the man, eyes cold and sharp and dangerous. "What did you do to me?" That should have worked. I can't...I can't even tell if I summoned a spirit.

I'm already imprisoned.

Dilsha let them talk, raising a hand to her face and biting nervously at her perfect fingernails. Then, as though realizing she was giving away her fear, she dropped it back under the table...and pressed one of the now jagged nails into her skin, drawing a tiny drop of blood...not much. Perfect. With a command like the one she intended to give, she didn't want it to have too much power. She muttered a few incomprehensible words, then stood and stepped to the wall, pressing the blood against it. "Destroy." The wall crumbled, despite whichever precautions have been taken for the sake of plot and being cool, and she stepped through the hole.