Goneril smiled shyly and bowed her head. "Then I will be happy to be there," she said. "I was thinking perhaps it might be better for me to stay under a glam, but..." She looked a little amused. "It might be nice to be scandalous for once."

"You may as well," said Fiona. "If you come as part of the countess's retinue you will attract enough attention."

Goneril snorted. "And being almost a full foot taller than everyone will attract enough attention, and being in your company, and Faolin's company will, too," she said, sounding amused. "Am I better off if I try to fit in and learn your customs now while I have time, or it is better if I seem exotic?"

Fiona looked amused as well. "Learn well enough not to cause offense, but I think being a little untutored is charming, don't you?"

Goneril put her lips together. "I don't know a lot about these things. But I know Faolin didn't like it when I tried to...well. Act the way I thought ladies were supposed to."

"I'm sure you could not have offended him," Fiona assured her. "You have never but been perfectly mannerly. And I know he has voiced no complaints of you."

"Oh, no," Goneril said, laughing. She blushed a bit, but not as deeply as she usually did. "It was more...he needled me about it, more than anything else."

Now Fiona looked completely baffled. "But it was not . . . it was nothing too important?" She let out a soft, embarrassed laugh. "I have no idea how ladies are meant to act in the best of circumstances."

"Nor do I, apparently," Goneril answered, shrugging sheepishly. "I've read books about it, but...well. You don't really understand how it is from books. All that smart banter just...well. It feels silly to do it with someone you already know. And I think a little of it is maybe...being here instead of home. Because at home I've always been told that men like girls who are coy and don't...well, say what they want. And it's not like that here. Or at least Faolin's not like that."

"He is usually far too blunt to have much patience for those who are not," said Fiona. "But I . . . I know a little how it is when most of what you know of people comes from books. It's never that they tell you just what to say; it's that everyone responds exactly as they're meant to do. They never do in real life."