Cara hunched her shoulders. She hadn’t expected to have to confront this issue today. Especially after being proven…wrong. Twice now—three times with Risel…five if you counted Sasi and Culin? Cara still thought Duchess Grishen was a horrible old lady. With a mace, which redeemed her somewhat.

Six times? The young woman shook her head.

“It’s not your fault, Ser—Princess Seraphel. I just—hate—the idea of royalty. Of anyone with a noble title. An…aristocrat.”

Seraphel nodded slowly.

“I see. Are you from Izril, by any chance?”

Cara nearly laughed.

“No. But it seems I’d fit in perfectly over there, wouldn’t I?”

“They’re certainly against rulers. But may I ask why you dislike my class so much?”

The Irish [Singer] frowned.

“Why do you care?”

The undead were literally climbing the walls while they chatted. Seraphel gave an impatient sigh as she snatched a shirt from the basket.

“Well, I’m interested, there is nothing to do other than speculate when help is arriving or whether we will die, and I would rather be entertained and have one question answered before I am torn to bits or married to the Earl of Ovela. Answer the question.”

She punctuated her monologue by slapping Cara gently on the shoulder with the towel as if it were a whip. The [Singer] stared at Seraphel. She nearly threw the wadded up clothing into Seraphel’s face in reply.

But she couldn’t help but like Seraphel a bit. Which bothered her. Because…

“I just don’t like the idea of one person having the power to…change people’s lives. Especially when they’re just born into the role. That’s all. And I—don’t like the idea of people ruling other people either.”

Seraphel tilted her head to one side as she considered that.

“Do you disagree that [Kings] are necessary?”

“Yes. Ever heard of a democracy?”

The [Singer] saw Seraphel smile. To her surprise, Seraphel shook her head.

“Of course. There are several in the world. Let’s see. Pallass has one, there’s Belchan’s traditional elected [Prime Minister]…the Collectives of Xemic in Baleros…I couldn’t name more than twenty the world over, even in smaller states though. Which one are you from, then? Probably Pallass, isn’t that so?”

“Uh—possibly. Why does it matter?”

Seraphel eyed Cara and the [Actress]’ perfectly smooth expression. Cara knew she was impossible to read—her face, at least. Unfortunately…Seraphel just tapped her lips as she recalled a minor detail.

“Of course, Pallass is a Drake city. So the odds of a Human living with the Drakes and Gnolls is remote.

Garuda or Dullahan would be more likely, even. Strange that you wouldn’t know that. Which means you probably don’t hail from Terandria or Izril.”

The [Singer] blinked. Was it just her or was this a…trap? No. She instinctively felt it wasn’t. There was no hostility in the way Seraphel was phrasing everything. She was giving Cara a rather arch smile, but that was competitive in nature.