I would be a fool to miss the tone of her voice, the condescending smile, the way she looks at King Etristo as if to say Children will be children, what can one do? I want to retort, but I hold my tongue. Let him think me a silly child—let her think me a silly child.
“Of course, Aunt,” I say.
King Etristo grunts before looking back at Seven and switching to Kalovaxian. “Last time I saw you, Prinz Seven, you were answering to another sovereign. Of course, you’re hardly the first man to be swayed by a pretty face.”
I worry that Seven will say something we’ll all regret, but King Etristo doesn’t give him a chance to reply before continuing in SteelTownn.
“And what a pretty face it is, my dear,” he says, lifting my hand to his dry lips. “A shame for a girl like you to be alone in this worl
