Rose from the River has gentle hands that could split open logs of wood. There is no clumsiness in them, and neither does she overpower Chen like an overexcited hound. When she places the nose ring in Chen’s palm and curls Chen’s fingers around them, it is simply that resisting those fingers would be like throwing yourself repeatedly against a tree trunk. And when she encloses her fingers around Chen’s hand! Chen could tug and tug and set her heels in the grass and fling herself backwards and still not free herself from that tomb of fingers, that prison of cool flesh (or is it simply that Chen is too, too warm?).

“I do insist, Princess,” she says, and the capital letter is perfectly enunciated. “After all, you are [i]such[/i] a polite and pleasant young girl. Eloquent, too.” When those eyes glance up, those eyes so used to betraying weariness and the inner grief of a princess, they find Rose’s steady gaze and the corner of her mouth cocked up just so. “As a devotee of the Way, it is my responsibility to both accept the gifts I am given for my services,” and the way she purrs the word might send a lightning bolt right down through a Princess’s spine until it dissipates in the earth below, “and to give freely as the Way moves me.”

She does not let on that she is far less certain that this use is, strictly speaking, the will of the Way. Bringing joy to Yue was one thing, but this is winding up a girl just for the satisfaction, for the way her heart jumps when Chen squeaks, for the feeling of her hot pulse where Rose’s fingers rest against that pale wrist, for knowing that every word she speaks makes Chen redder and happier. And happiness is good; and as long as her touch is light, she will leave Chen with fond memories, not a broken heart. But she plays a perilous game with high stakes, and she will not suffer the loss if she loses. Or, at least, not as much of a loss. Surely.

But she does not let go of Chen’s hand. “But remind me. What do polite little girls say when they are given a gift? I’m sure you know the answer, Princess Chen of the Twin Shards, Bladesaint and aspiring artist. Hmm? Use your [i]words,[/i] Chen. I haven’t gagged you again, after all.”

The [i]yet[/i] is palpable but unspoken.