She blushed as she drank when he voiced his assumption about her choices. “You’re not [i]entirely[/i] wrong. I was close to making a move on Ysaryn,” she said, giggling a little at her confession. “Narda and Myka though—no. They’re more like foster siblings than anything else. I’ve gotten close to taking other women to bed. As for men, though, I think that first time, being so dull and unremarkable, I hadn’t thought about taking another man to bed after that for a while. It soured me on the idea for quite a bit, and then after that I hadn’t gotten another opportunity.” 

She thought about his explanation about elven matches. “That’s true, about choices. Sometimes being Empress, you think you have all the choices laid out before you, but sometimes being under that scrutiny, your options are few. And to be honest, while I intend to take back the throne, there’s something about not sitting on that throne that—appeals to me. There are things I can do that I would hesitate to do when I’m still trying to act the Empress. Like deciding what to do or who to be with without people commenting on my choices.” She looked up at him then, cheeks flushed. “Or doing something potentially stupid for a night.”