Simo relaxed. “That’s good, then. Karis Manor is one of the Six Noble Manors, the first clans who stood in support of the new empire, in case you didn’t know.”

She knew, but she kept her mouth closed.

“They have remained loyal to the emperor, and don’t involve themselves in factional struggles.”

“As Duenn Manor has decided to do?”

“Lesser Manors often struggle to elevate their place amid the ranks. It’s even more true for the provincial, meritorious Manors like Duenn, since they are not much to speak of, after all,” he went on with the patronizing tone of a man raised in a more prestigious Manor. “So they must pin their hopes of greater status upon a prince, most especially a prince of the Third Estate.”

“You mean one who can aspire to become crown prince. But there’s already a crown prince. The emperor’s son.”

Simo shrugged dismissively and, curiously, did not answer. Did his silence suggest the crown prince’s existence was tolerated rather than admired?

“Is there anything else, Captain?”

“You are disrespectful,” he remarked, “but you got us here, as the Orledder intendant said you would. So I will overlook your faults, which have been on such prominent display. But I give you this warning, Deputy Courier. You are not a member of this party. You are neither a menial nor an official to the prince. He may condescend to speak to you, but it does not mean you may take liberties and believe you can speak to him, or to any of us, as if you stand as our equal.”

“I am well aware I am but a minor provincial deputy courier who lacks a Manor-born lineage or any other mark of distinction. I’ll not offend further. You’ll be rid of me as soon as we reach the road.”

Yet, to say the words caused a twinge in her heart. They’d leave her behind because they would no longer need her. She glanced toward the camp. The glow of fires limned the prince’s body as if painting his form into her memory. It was perilous to slide down that slippery slope. Not infatuation, precisely; in its clumsy, eager way, infatuation was far less dangerous, because it was fleeting. She felt drawn to him, his pleasing face and form but, more than that, to his wit, his snarky asides, the way he found things amusing, the mischievous spark, the odd ways he viewed the world as if he’d never seen it through human eyes. The way he looked at her as if the viper made her whole, rather than made her a monster.