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-My Lady-

Chapter Two: Learning

by Havoc

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."

• Albert Einstein

******

Kri'a sat in the waiting room outside of her mother's private meeting chambers, slouching a little in the seat she occupied. An hour or so had passed since the "incident" in the receiving hall of the palace, though even calling it an incident seemed a bit much to her. Not that she did not understand the importance of what had happened. Lady Amani had every right to be angered with her daughter, Li'ren. The young girl had directly disobeyed an instruction from her mother, after all, even if she had been in Kri'a's company the entire time. Kri'a only hoped that the child wouldn't be punished too harshly. Curiosity was not something to be discouraged in a young person, at least not in Kri'a's opinion.

"Princess."

Kri'a straightened up quickly in her seat, looking to her right. "Lady Shi'ala."

Standing in the doorway leading to the Empress's chambers, the noblewoman Tara Shi'ala bowed to Kri'a. "Her Majesty is nearly finished with her current appointment. She requested I bring you in now, if you are ready."

"Certainly." Kri'a stood, tugging on the sleeves of her uniform tunic to smooth out the wrinkles that had formed when she sat. "I have not seen my mother in nearly a year. I am eager for a family reunion."

"Splendid," Shi'ala said. The orange-furred Ailian nodded to her, then turned and started walking into the chambers. Kri'a followed her, striding through a hallway familiar to her from her childhood. The Empress's private chambers were perhaps the most luxurious part of the palace, themselves quite spacious enough to qualify as a mansion by most standards. The hall was guarded every twenty meters or so by an armed Royal Guard, though these soldiers were less heavily laden than the ones that were visible to the public. No less capable, however, as Kri'a well knew.

At the end of the hall, Lady Shi'ala stopped in front of a set of double doors, more impressive in this setting for their lack of adornment. She opened the doors, standing to one side and gesturing Kri'a to enter. The princess nodded her thanks to her mother's chief adviser, and entered the room within the doors.

Inside, the Empress sat resplendent in her rich blue-and-gold robes, in a relaxed posture upon a low couch. This room, unlike the nearby meeting room in which the Empress conducted most of her official business, was a casual, comfortable one. Flowers sat in ornate vases upon stands, lending a subtle fragrance to the room. Instead of the bare marble or paneled wood that adorned most of the rooms, tapestries of multicolored silken fabric hung from the ceiling and cloaked the walls. Though Kri'a thought of the palace as her home, this was one of the few rooms that she could truly say she enjoyed. In front of the Empress was a table, upon which were spread two-dimensional galactic maps and other official documents. Sitting opposite of the Empress was another female Ailian, older than Kri'a but dressed in a uniform very similar to hers, apart from the presence of admiral's rank insignia rather than those of a commander. As well, her uniform was decorated with gold striping along the cuffs of her sleeves that signified she was the Chief Admiral of the Ascendancy, the highest rank which could be attained by any soldier in the military. Covered in an unusual combination of purest white fur with black tiger stripes, she cut a figure almost more striking than the Empress herself.

The Empress looked up from the table, setting down the data reader she had been looking at. "Kri'a, my daughter," she said, her expression remaining studiously neutral, as she stood. "At last."

"Mother, it's so good to see you again," Kri'a said, ignoring the fact that she had seen her mother only an hour before, in the receiving hall. That hadn't really counted. She crossed the room and hugged her mother, ignoring for now that an officer who was technically superior to her was in the room. "I'm very glad to be home."

"And I welcome you," the Empress said. Standing back from her daughter and taking her seat once more, she gestured to the other female in the room. "I believe you know Admiral Me'lia."

"Yes, we have met before." Kri'a turned to the admiral, offering a formal bow of salute. "A pleasure, Admiral."

Offering a cool smile of her own, Admiral Ara'lana Me'lia inclined her head to Kri'a, evaluating her with eyes of a very deep emerald green. "Likewise, Commander," Ara'lana said. She had a deep purr to her voice, one which suggested a strong personality, which the admiral certainly had. She could not have risen so far in the Ascendancy Navy without it. "I was aware, of course, that you were on your way home from deployment. I had not expected our paths to cross, however. An unexpected delight, I'm sure."

"Yes, Admiral." Even Kri'a, Princess of the Ascendancy and next in line to be Empress, found herself slightly breathless in Admiral Me'lia's presence. She had reputation as a capable commander and a ruthless fighter, and was something of a living legend in Ailian military history. The admiral had earned her spurs twenty years ago as a young lieutenant during the last border conflict with the Pteryd, commanding a detachment of assault frigates that had proven instrumental in beating back several key incursions of the Ascendancy's longtime enemy. Her career had taken off after that, and she rocketed up through the ranks until gaining the top position three years ago.

Admiral Me'lia looked Kri'a over, seeming to evaluate her. "I've heard a lot about you, Commander. Most of it good." She smiled again. "Though Admiral Kris is rather upset with you at the moment. You are aware that you were due for a promotion to admiral yourself several weeks ago. I managed to talk Admiral Kris down from discharge to stripping that promotion and a leave of absence, once I explained to her how discharging the Empress's daughter might be hazardous to her career survival."

Kri'a felt her blood chill a bit. She hadn't expected the Chief Admiral to have learned of her reprimand quite so quickly. And if Admiral Me'lia knew, then her mother certainly knew as well. "Thank you, Admiral. You're most kind."

"Not at all, Princess. We all serve the Ascendancy." Admiral Me'lia nodded to Kri'a. "You look well, in any case. No worse for the wear."

"You as well, Admiral. You have a family, I believe. They are well?"

"Quite well, thank you. My eldest daughter is preparing herself for officer training school. She will turn nineteen in about six months, just in time for the next class, and within a year after that she plans to begin her own military career." Admiral Me'lia shook her head at that. "My mate and I have tried to convince Aria otherwise. I have seen the ugly side of war, and I don't wish that for my children. But she admires me, as perhaps she should, and I have decided she should choose her own way. Hopefully she will not give me cause to regret the decision."

Kri'a blinked. "I see."

The admiral stood, gathering up the documents from the table into a neat stack which she tucked under her arm. "Ah, I speak far too freely, I fear." Straightening up, she bowed deeply to the Empress. "Your Highness, we shall continue this later."

"Yes, Ara'lana," the Empress said, standing as well. "Thank you for your time."

With a smile and a nod, Admiral Me'lia took her leave, closing the door behind her and leaving Kri'a and her mother alone. The Empress sat back down on her couch, leaning back with a weary-sounding sigh. She curled her tail into her lap, and then gestured to her daughter to take the seat that the admiral had vacated. Kri'a did as instructed, sitting down.

"Tea?" the Empress asked, eying her daughter with her pointed ears slightly back.

"No, thank you, mother," Kri'a said. The pleasure she had felt at seeing her mother again was quickly fading as the dread she'd had towards this meeting began to resurface. "Mother..."

"I was most displeased to hear of your reprimand," the Empress said, cutting her off. She was glaring at Kri'a now, her eyes ablaze with the heated anger that Kri'a remembered well from her childhood. "It does not reflect well on me when my own daughter cannot maintain the discipline required of a soldier. You are thirty years old. You have no excuse to behave so childishly."

Kri'a closed her eyes. "Mother, please..."

The Empress didn't give her a chance. "Admiral Kris sent Admiral Me'lia and myself a message regarding your indiscretion. Officially it will be marked simply as insubordination, but I am aware of the particulars of the situation." Kri'a's mother narrowed her eyes at her. "I thought we were past this."

Giving up, Kri'a raised a hand helplessly. "I fail to see how it is something we can be 'past', mother. But in any case, obviously we are not."

Growling in exasperation, the Empress stood back up, walking a few paces away. Her tail was waving irritably back and forth. "I suspected as much." The elderly Ailian lifted her head, looking up at the ceiling for several long minutes. When she turned back around, she had erased her anger from her face, back to her practiced, impassive self. "So, Admiral Me'lia and myself have decided. You shall be restricted to the palace indefinitely, though not in the advisory admiral's position I am sure you hoped to be in. Hopefully a lesson will be learned, and we won't have any more indiscretions such as this one. Is that clear?"

Staring back at her mother, Kri'a nodded, though she made sure that one last measure of defiance remained in her expression. "Very clear, mother." As her jaw tightened, she brought herself to her feet. Kri'a turned away from her mother and left the room. She did her best not to slam the door. Too hard.

******

A month had passed since she first arrived at the palace, and Li'ren was finally feeling as though she was starting to learn her way around. For the first week she'd had to rely on asking servants for directions. She was settling into her role as her mother's assistant. Li'ren wasn't permitted in advisory meetings, of course, but when her mother was working in her office, she would help her out with filing and filling out low-level documents. The work was surprisingly interesting to her. Even though Li'ren wasn't allowed to see classified things, it was still good exposure to the workings of the Ascendancy's government. And she was learning about military matters as well, especially the war with these "humans". In fact, about the only downside to her current life was that she was getting a bit behind in her schoolwork.

Which was why Li'ren wasn't helping her mother today. Knowing that her studies were suffering, Miri Amani had insisted that her daughter take a few days away from her work to get caught up. Her only caution, as usual, was for Li'ren to keep to herself and stay out of trouble. Grateful for the time to attend to her studying, Li'ren was all too happy to agree to her mother's request.

The problem was that there weren't many places in the palace for Li'ren to keep to herself other than her and her mother's quarters, and Li'ren didn't feel like staying indoors. It was the start of the Lirnan autumn, and the weather outside was finally lowering to a temperature that she thought of as reasonable. So she had decided to take her studying outside to the gardens, where a breeze was blowing just enough to be refreshing.

Li'ren had found a secluded spot in the back of the garden, near a statue that she hadn't paid much attention to when she got there. She was just delighted to have the opportunity to study in a nice quiet place, and she'd sat down in the lush grass to get to work. Today's subject was contract laws, always a favorite of Li'ren's. With several thick books and a small personal computer, she'd settled in and was soon entranced by the various intricacies of business deals and treaty negotiations. Her spot was shady and cool, shielded from the morning sun by several tall flowering trees, and the material she was studying today was particularly engrossing. Before she knew it, she had passed several hours alone in the garden.

So enthralled she was by her studying, that Li'ren didn't notice the swish of footsteps through the grass towards her. The only warning she had was a voice that spoke to her from very nearby.

"Well, what have we here? All alone again, are we, little one?"

Li'ren jumped, the fur on her neck raising for a moment as she jerked her head up. Standing over her was Princess Kri'a, looking down at her with a smile on her face. The princess looked very different from the first time Li'ren had met her. Instead of her tightly fitted uniform, she was wearing dark blue robes, very similar to what the Empress would wear. The robes were luxurious, and the princess seemed very much more at ease wearing them. Li'ren was again struck by how beautiful she was, the sight of her sending a little shock through her tail. She felt very under-dressed in comparison; she was wearing the same top and skirt that she had worn the first time she'd seen her.

Kri'a tilted her head to one side. "Alone in the palace again. You must enjoy getting yourself into trouble." Her voice had a playful tone to it, making it clear that she was joking. For Li'ren, though, who found herself face to face with the princess for only the second time, it wasn't quite as clear.

"Oh! N-No, Comman-...I mean, Princess," Li'ren blurted out, quickly rising to her feet and bowing deeply. "My...My mother gave me the day away from my duties, so that I could catch up on my schoolwork. I wasn't getting into any trouble."

"A joke, just a joke," Kri'a assured her with a little laugh. She waved a hand at Li'ren. "Please, don't get up on my account. Sit, sit. If I am interrupting you, I can go."

"No, not at all." Li'ren sat back down on the grass, picking one of her books back up. "Of course you're not bothering me." She opened the book back to where she'd been before the princess spoke to her, finding her place without too much trouble and starting to read again. She heard another rustling sound the next moment, and looked over to see the princess sitting down next to her, looking over her shoulder.

"This seems very complex," Kri'a said. "Far over _my_head, in any case. What are you studying?"

"Ah...Well, right now it's business law," Li'ren explained. "I'm studying some cases right now."

"Oh? Tell me about it."

Her ears twitched to one side, as Li'ren wasn't sure she had heard correctly. "You want me to tell you about...about the case I'm reading right now?"

Kri'a nodded. "Yes."

"W-Well...Well, alright." This was really too much for the fifteen-year-old girl. It felt incredibly strange for her to be explaining her schoolwork to one of the most important people in her society, but...well, if the princess wanted to hear about it, she would tell her. "This case is about a dispute between two groups of shareholders in a company. The dispute arose mostly because a shareholders' agreement had never been formally adopted after the company was formed.

"The one party in the dispute had been a director of the company, but his employment had been terminated, though he was still a shareholder in the company. The problem was that he had been the sole party in a lease of real estate for company purposes. The remainder of the company as well as the first party went into mediation, and the issue at hand was the fate of the real estate as well as some defamatory comments about the company made by the first party." Li'ren was getting more into it now. Contract disputes and case law were some of her favorite subjects.

"The mediation took a very long time, but in the end the first party agreed to sell his shares back to the company for a modest profit, and in return the company would be given ownership over the real estate that the first party had been sole owner of. Any other issues that the two parties had with each other were dropped with no other action taken, so long as each party agreed to dismiss the allegations of impropriety, which they did."

Kri'a, who had been listening attentively to Li'ren's explanation, was now leaning to one side on the grass, her head propped up on one elbow. She was looking at Li'ren with an amused expression on her face, her tail waving lazily. "How old are you, child? I don't believe I asked you before."

A bit surprised by the question, Li'ren took a few seconds to answer. "I'm fifteen, m'lady." She stuck her chin out defiantly. "But I'll be sixteen in four months."

"Fifteen, and already so well educated," the princess said, an admiring tone to her voice. She sat up again. "And you really find all this interesting?"

"Oh yes!" Li'ren said, nodding enthusiastically. "Very interesting! I have always been interested by legal matters, ever since I was old enough to understand what my mother does. When you get right down to it, diplomacy is just the law applied on a much wider scale."

Kri'a chuckled, and then laughed aloud. "That is a very simple way of putting it, but you are right, little one." The older Ailian laughed again. "It is good that you have found something to study that you feel passionate about. Passion is always a good thing to have. If you manage to hold onto it, you will go very far in the career you seem to have decided upon." She then looked towards the statue, the one which Li'ren had paid very little attention to when she first sat down to study. "You picked a fitting place to study, in any case."

"I...what?" Confused for a moment, Li'ren looked where the princess was looking. When she saw it, she understood what she'd said. Without realizing it, the girl had sat near a carved stone statue of Liren'sa, one of the main goddesses of ancient Ailian culture. Always depicted as a young woman clad in armor, the goddess held a sword, blade down, in one hand. In the other, she clasped a large bouquet of flowers. For those who still subscribed to the ancient beliefs, Liren'sa was the goddess of love and war, two concepts as inextricably linked as they were wholly different. "Liren'sa...Yes. My mother named me after her."

"I thought as much," Kri'a said. "Li'ren is a very unusual name." She smiled at the younger female. "But I more meant that beautiful things belong together. So your choice to sit near the goddess is fitting."

Feeling a warmth rising to her cheeks, Li'ren again felt confused. A compliment like that was very nice to hear; no one had ever called her beautiful before except her father. But she wouldn't have expected to hear something like that from the princess. Li'ren wasn't quite sure how to respond, and so she simply said, "Thank you, m'lady."

For a few long, quiet minutes, nothing else was said. Li'ren could feel the princess's eyes upon her, but she was feeling too bashful to meet her gaze. Instead, she just thumbed through the pages of her book, though she barely took notice of the words on the pages as she did so. She felt very strange. She couldn't get it out of her head that the princess was even giving her the time of day. Such a gorgeous, important woman, yet she was sitting here talking to a teenaged girl who held little value other than being the daughter of a royal adviser. Li'ren was glad for the company. She had been hoping that perhaps she might get to spend time with the princess again, after that wonderful tour that she had given her on her first day in the palace. Maybe it was just because Li'ren had never had many friends of her own, or maybe there was something else to it...Though what that something else might have been, she wasn't quite sure.

Then the princess spoke again. "You know, Li'ren, I usually have lunch about now. Have you eaten yet today?"

"Me?" Li'ren asked. Jerked from her thoughts abruptly, she actually had to search her brain for the answer. "Not since breakfast, no...I haven't."

"Then would you care to join me?" The princess was looking at her rather directly, with an intensity that Li'ren had never seen from anyone before. Her eyes were very, very red... "I often eat alone, so some company would be very much appreciated. And I imagine you could use a break from your studies."

Completely taken aback, Li'ren's eyes widened. "You...You want me to eat with you?"

"If you would feel uncomfortable doing so, then certainly you may refuse. I won't be offended..."

"No!" Li'ren swallowed, feeling a little lightheaded. A beautiful woman was asking her to a meal. If it had been a male asking her, Li'ren would have gotten the sensation that she was being asked on a date of some kind. But of course, the princess was a female, just like Li'ren. And yet, she was getting just that sort of feeling... "I...I'll have lunch with you, m'lady. Thank you for your kind offer." She got to her feet, bowing.

Kri'a rose to her feet as well, putting a hand on Li'ren's shoulder. "You are most welcome. If you'll come with me, then." She turned away from Li'ren, heading off through the grass. As she went, Li'ren couldn't help watching the sway of the older Ailian's hips, and the swish of her tail as she walked.

After taking a second to collect her study materials, Li'ren hurried after her.

******

"So, Li'ren, you've told me a lot about yourself, but tell me about your family."

Looking up from her cup of tea, Li'ren looked across the table at Kri'a. The princess was holding her own cup, leaned back in her chair in a relaxed posture. As of now, their conversation during the meal had been entirely focused on Li'ren. Servants were clearing away the dishes after their lunch, which had been one of the best she had ever eaten. The after-meal tea was even better. Famous across the Ascendancy, Lirnan teas were known for their potency. A good cup of tea from Lirna would leave the drinker with a mild sense of euphoria, as the light narcotic compounds within permeated the senses. The tea was certainly working its charm on Li'ren, though she privately felt that the drink could be a good deal stronger.

"My family isn't very interesting," Li'ren said modestly. She placed her tea cup on its dish on the table, folding her hands in her lap. "I'm the only daughter, oldest of five, m'lady. My father and my brothers are back home, on Arbaros. My father is a doctor on my home planet. My brothers are still in school."

Kri'a leaned forward in her chair. "You must be lonely here, without the rest of your family and friends. Lirna is a long way from home."

Ignoring the part about friends, the younger Ailian shrugged, giving a casual flip of her tail behind her. "It's...It's not so bad. I get to help my mother with her work, and I have my own education to keep me occupied."

"Well, work and school can't be everything," Kri'a said, waving one hand as though to scold Li'ren. "You need a social life as well. But I suppose there aren't that many women your own age at the palace." She paused for a moment. "None, in fact, now that I think of it."

"I don't mind, really," Li'ren assured the princess. She picked her cup of tea back up, taking a long, slow sip of the fragrant, steaming liquid. "I'm used to spending time on my own." She looked down at her lap thoughtfully. "I suppose I do miss my brothers, and my father...But there's just so much to see here on Lirna that I don't really think about it all that much!" Glancing back up at Kri'a, Li'ren posed a question of her own, emboldened a bit by the effects of her tea. "So...um...Do you mind if I ask you what growing up in the palace was like?"

"Oh, now that is a subject which might take several days to explain fully!" Kri'a exclaimed, her ears pricking up in mirth. "But I suppose the question is only fair. I've spent this entire meal asking about you." She shifted herself in her seat, settling in. "I was born here, of course. My mother had held the throne for almost ten years before I was born, and I am only child." The corners of her mouth twitched up. "Unusual for an Ailian family, yes?"

"Did Her Majesty not want any more children?"

Kri'a chuckled a bit. "You are very free with your words in private, child. But I don't know. I've never asked my mother why she never had other children. Regardless, I grew up alone. I had friends, of course, but somehow I always imagined having siblings to be much nicer..." She looked down into her cup, her expression darkening a little. "My father died when I was about ten. He was much older than my mother, but I remember him very well. We spent much time together when I was young, since he had few duties as my mother's consort. I have always lamented that we didn't have more time together." Kri'a sighed a little, her ears folding back.

"I...um...I know what you mean," Li'ren said. "My father and I are very close as well. I don't even want to think about him dying."

"Ah, let me speak of happier times," the princess said, straightening back up. "When I turned twenty, I joined the Navy. I wanted to enlist normally and start from the bottom, but my mother wouldn't hear of it. She used her influence to send me straight to Officer Training Academy, and I went in as an ensign. I've spent the last ten years in the First Fleet, and now, as you know, I'm a commander."

Li'ren leaned forward, her eyes wide and shining now. She well remembered the princess and her gorgeous uniform. "Have you...ah...have you been in many battles?"

The princess laughed. "Oh, no, not many. The last war with the Pteryd ended before I entered the Navy. I've only seen a few minor skirmishes during tours at the borders of the Ascendancy. Nothing worth mentioning, really." She placed her empty cup on the table. "And I have been in a few engagements with these newcomers...these 'humans'. They fight well."

"You've seen them? What are they like?"

"I've only seen pictures," Kri'a explained. "All of my encounters with them have been in ship-to-ship battle. But from what I've heard, they are not terribly different from us. Though smaller and without any fur." She gestured with one hand at Li'ren, who was just over two meters of height. "The tallest human would likely only be a few centimeters taller than you, little one. And when you are older, you will tower over them."

"Interesting..." Li'ren, of course, knew as much about the developing war as any citizen of the Ascendancy did, but hearing about it from someone who had been somewhat involved seemed more fascinating, somehow. Then a thought occurred to her. "May I ask a question that might be...um...personal?"

The princess arched an eyebrow. "You may ask me anything, Li'ren. But depending on the question, I may not be able to answer."

"R-Right, I understand..." Li'ren paused a moment, thinking of the most tactful way to ask this question. "Well...You're still a part of the Navy, correct?" She received a nod from Kri'a. "Then...well, if a war is beginning, why are you still here at the palace? It has been a month since you came home."

"Hmm..." Kri'a tapped a finger on the tabletop, looking to one side as though considering how to answer the question. "Let me ask _you_a question, first, little one. Have you heard any of the rumors about me? I know they are the topic of conversation in the palace, though very few have the courage to speak them to my face."

Surprised, Li'ren shook her head, her eyes slightly wide. "No, m'lady. I haven't. I don't really talk with anyone in the palace except for my mother."

"Ah." Kri'a relaxed fractionally. "Well, I'm afraid your question is a_little_ on the side of being too personal, but of course you can't have know that if you haven't heard any of the rumors." She looked back directly at Li'ren. "But I have a good feeling about you, child. You seem like a trustworthy person." She smiled. "I wouldn't have invited you to dine with me if that were not so."

Li'ren felt pleased by this. "Thank you, m'lady. I have always tried to be such."

The princess nodded. "To be perfectly honest, I have been at the palace for so long because I am on official reprimand. I have been placed on suspension for an indeterminate period." Kri'a sighed again, looking truly upset for the first time. "Officially I'm being punished for insubordination, but this is not so. I have always conducted myself in what I consider to be a proper fashion, with proper deferment to my superior officers. I have never allowed my status as the princess to color my behavior."

Li'ren's eyes had progressively widened as Kri'a explained her situation. "Then...ah...why were you really reprimanded?"

"You really want to know?" Kri'a asked. She watched Li'ren for a moment, her expression guarded. She seemed, to Li'ren, to be evaluating her. The younger Ailian had the impression that the princess was debating internally with herself, as though trying to decide whether she was worthy of hearing what she had to say next. "Well...I suppose it would feel better to have a friend know. It has been very difficult to keep it inside." The princess took a long, slow breath. "Suffice it to say, the Ascendancy High Command looks upon you very unfavorably when you share your bed with a fellow officer."

Li'ren felt herself blushing furiously, and she nearly lost her grip on her cup of tea. She quickly set it down to avoid making a mess of herself. "Is...Is that not allowed?"

"Well...It's not that it isn't allowed. Many mated pairs serve together." Kri'a hesitated for a moment, then the rest of it came out in a rush. "But they're much less understanding about it when the other officer is also female. That didn't go over very well with my commander, Admiral Kris."

For a long moment, the princess' revelation just hung in the air. Li'ren took a few moments to process what she had just learned, not quite ready to believe what she was hearing. She had heard about females who mated with each other, but she had always thought that it was limited to schoolyard tales, sort of a myth that never really happened. The word "lesbian" itself was used as one of the greatest insults. When Li'ren was in school back on her home planet, her schoolmates would shun others with that label. As one of more unpopular children, she'd had it used on her several times Certainly it was something that society did not condone, and why would anyone choose to subject themselves to something that would earn them ridicule and shame?

"You...You really did that?" Li'ren said, blinking in shock. Strangely, she didn't feel as uncomfortable as she might have imagined she would feel in this sort of situation. Rather, she felt oddly honored that Kri'a had shared something so personal with her.

"I did," Kri'a confirmed. She seemed relieved that Li'ren hadn't just gotten up and left in disgust.

"How did the admiral find out?"

"I was careless," Kri'a admitted. "Another officer walked in on us...sharing an intimate moment, shall we say. She and I had been involved for several months, and one unguarded instant brought it all to an end." She looked somewhat sheepish. "Not my best moment, I must confess."

Li'ren leaned back from the table, still a little shocked. "So...So what happened to her?"

"Unfortunately, she had no family connections to help her. I believe she has lost her commission."

"Oh...I'm sorry," Li'ren said, and meant it.

Kri'a waved a hand. "We weren't involved seriously," she said. "Just friends. I do wish I could have done something to help her, but my mother wouldn't hear of it." Her voice became bitter. "If it's her own daughter, she'll do everything she can to suppress the news, but she won't lift a finger to save the career of someone who has done nothing wrong. Or at least nothing that _should_be considered wrong."

Li'ren didn't say anything in response. She sympathized with Kri'a, of course. How could she not, after the princess had taken her into her confidence like this? But she wasn't secure enough to speak ill of the Empress, even though Li'ren felt that her conduct in this case had been rather heartless. That still didn't make her able to question that actions of the one person that she had always been taught was unquestionable. Inwardly, though, she did agree with the princess.

"Ahh, I'm sorry," Kri'a said. Her ears, which had flattened to her head while she was telling her story, raised themselves again. "I probably should not have shared that information, but it does feel good to have told it to someone. My mother made me promise not to speak of it. I hope I haven't made you uncomfortable, little one."

"No!" Li'ren shook her head emphatically. "Not at all. I'm...I'm honored you would share something like this with me, m'lady. If anything, I feel I don't deserve to have such an honor."

The princess nodded to her. "I thank you for that. It's rather refreshing to have a favorable reaction for a change." She stood up from her chair. "I have enjoyed our conversation today, child, but unfortunately I must bring it to a close. I _do_have things I must attend to today, and I daresay you might need to get back to your schoolwork."

Li'ren stood as well. "You're right, m'lady. I should not have spent so much time away from my studies, but...I have enjoyed your company this afternoon." She looked down at the floor, clasping her hands in front of her. "I just...Thank you for inviting me to lunch, princess. I've never had any friends, you see, other than my brothers."

Kri'a came around the table to her. "You're quite welcome, Li'ren. But if we are to be friends, you must do me one favor." She put a hand on Li'ren's shoulder. "You must call me Kri'a. I have always preferred my own name to the titles others have bestowed upon me. Is that fair?"

"Oh..." Li'ren blinked. "I'll try, pr-...I mean, K-Kri'a." Using the princess' name felt very strange indeed, but she felt as though she could get used to it.

"Wonderful," Kri'a said, her muzzle splitting into a wide smile as she waved her tail pleasantly. "I look forward to our friendship, little one." Then she placed her hand on Li'ren's back, gently guiding her to the door. "Now, let's get you back to your schoolwork. I most certainly do not want to have Lady Miri Amani coming to me with inquiries as to why her daughter is failing her classes."

Feeling a warmth pass through her at the princess' touch, Li'ren allowed herself to be led from the dining room. As they walked together, she found herself wishing that lunch didn't have to be over, but surely she would have the chance to spend more time with Kri'a. That was something that Li'ren was looking forward to very much, and for reasons that were slowly starting to take shape inside of her mind. Even if she was not quite brave enough to admit them to herself just yet.