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How to be a ladythis will be awful

He raps his knuckles on the door, es, revealing a sunlit roo you to lunch," he says I don’t es s behind ht calm me down The room is fine but plain with a wall of s, and totally ehts, electricity, is vibrantly strong in here, aly I’h ata response, but nothing co out on the courtyard Instead of another pretty garden, I’m surprised to find thisdoesn’t face outside at all, but down into a gigantic white roos the outer edge In the center, a strange contraptionround and round with outstretchedfaster, until only two rerace and speed At every turn thedown They’ve beaten it

This , for Security or Sentinels

But when the two trainees et practice, I realize they aren’t Security at all The pair of theets as they rise and fall Each one is a perfect shot and even fro faces Cal and Maven

So this is what they do during the day Not learning to rule, to be a king, or even a proper lord, but to train for war Cal and Maven are deadly creatures, soldiers But their battle isn’t just on the lines It’s here, in a palace, on the broadcasts, in the heart of every person they rule They will rule, not just by right of a crown, but by th and power It’s all the Silvers respect, and it’s all it takes to keep the rest of us slaves

Evangeline steps up next When the targets fly, she throws out a fan of sharp, silver hed athow to eat properly, she’s training to kill

"Enjoying the show, Lady Mareena?" a voice crows behinda bit What I see doesn’t do anything to calht and it takes all ofBlood healer, able to heal herself I understand nohat that means

She must be over fifty, older than ht over her bones Her hair is perfectly white, slicked back, and her eyebrows seem fixed in a constant state of shock, arched on her unwrinkled forehead Everything about her is wrong, from her too-full lips to the sharp, unnatural slope of her nose Only her deep gray eyes look alive The rest, I realize, is fake Soe herself into this er, prettier, better

"Sorry," I finally e, "I came in and you weren’t--"

"I observed," she clips, already hating me "You stand like a tree in a storto atte to be a princess one day and we can’t have you acting like a savage, can we?"

Savage For a brief, shiningin silly Lady Blonos’s face But ould that cost me? What would that accoht Worst of all, I realize I need her Her training will keepand, most importantly, keep me alive

"No," a hollow shell of my voice answers "We can’t have that"