"I don't know," he said seriously. "The right people will know you're right. The wrong people will never admit it, even when it's right in front of them, so it's not worth wasting yourself with 'em."

"Well, but you don't know they'll think that way unless you try them," she pointed out. "I suppose that's...even when I think Faolin's going to get upset with me for saying something, he doesn't. I get all nervous and worked up that he might be, and it's always much easier than I expected."

He gave her a frank look of disbelief. "That's how things are supposed to work amongst friends. You can say anything you want and they don't judge you for it. Or if they do judge you for it, they take into account that you're basically a good person and give you the benefit of doubt. And this is coming from someone who has said some amazing stupid things in my day."

"Well, I don't have friends," Goneril pointed out. "I'm new at this. And I don't want to lose the precious precarious few I've made."

"You're not all that bad," he said. "You're just a bit stiff and prissy. El was like that when we met, too."

Goneril frowned. "Is that a problem?" she asked. "What would make me less stiff and prissy?"

"I am not sure. It's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just it's real hard to know how to approach you so you might have to learn how to . . . approach other people instead?" he suggested, a little hesitantly.

Goneril gave him an uncomfortable look. "I know other people aren't going to like me," she said, shrugging. "I meant, err, more with people I already know."

"You are actin' like Niabheara again," he said with a sly smile. "You don't have to be liked by everyone. You don't even want to be liked by everyone; most people are pricks. But that doesn't mean you won't be liked by anyone. You managed to captivate the whole Unseelie court. Granted, there were only the two but you made a clean sweep of 'em."

"Because I got switched with their Queen," Goneril pointed out. "Faolin wouldn't have ever talked to me otherwise."