Goneril was looking rather peaky, and was leaning a bit more heavily on Faolin's arm by now, her feet shuffling slightly as she moved across the floor.

"Well, that wasn't a complete disaster, was it?" she asked him hopefully, a little tiredly.

"You did very well," he told her. If she had truly been Fiona, he might have fussed over her a little more, as Fiona tended to need more affection when she was tired or distressed. He could not read Goneril half so well yet. "Let's hope it will be enough just to let people see that we are here."

"And that we're not fearsome or wicked or...what sort of rumors do they have about us?" she asked. "I'm fairly certain that I defy rumor in my current state."

He smiled tiredly at the 'we.' "At least they know now that you don't eat babies. Or that, if you do, you do not subsist entirely on babies. Baby-eating only in private, like civilized people." He looked down at her. "In a related note, did you have enough to eat?"

She looked up at him. "I...think so?" she said. "It's hard to tell. I...there were so many things I couldn't eat, I ate less than usual. It just...seemed like so much effort."

"She mentioned that she only puts in token appearances and then retires. Back home that actually helps her somewhat--it makes her seem fleeting and mysterious. Here we decided that anything like that would make her appear too aloof." He shrugged. "I am a little tired as well. This is making me realize I'm not as used to public affairs as I once was."

"As you once were?" Goneril asked. "Did you used to have more of them?" She glanced up at him. "I suppose there's some kind of unpalatable bedtime routine?"

"For one, I very rarely go anywhere outside of Knockma in Fiona's company," he said. "For another . . . " He broke off, shook his head, and let it go. "Nothing unpalatable, save for getting undressed again. More medicine, of course. She brushes her own hair and cleans her own teeth, and all of that."

"For another, what?" Goneril asked. "Am I that insufferable?" She nodded. "Teeth I can do. I might need help with the hair. Doing this all one handed is a bit hard."

"Let's just say that the two of you could not be more unalike in temperament," he replied, and held the door for her.