[b]Chen![/b]

Princess Jessic not only has that, but she has shows so specific and so inventive you're not sure you could have imagined them. She has a movie about a girl who meets the King of Cats and becomes a cat in turn for a while, and she has a series about a girl in a world of talking animals who learns to transform into a megajaguar, and she has another where a magical wolf discusses economic theory as they journey across a mysterious kingdom. Each one is like a dream you might have started with, but in the telling of the dream it becomes so elaborate and so specific that it unfolds into something real and grounded. Simply by explaining a dream in that length and in that detail it somehow becomes a [i]story[/i] instead.

Days go by, as enchanting and exhilarating as the richest sleep.

[b]Rose![/b]

It is always a sign of danger when the Countess addresses you directly. Everyone else offers advice, comfort, guidance. Hers is the shadow of discipline, the iron hand that keeps you from making any incorrect choices. But even though she's dangerous she's [i]safe[/i] too for that exact same reason. If you choose wrong she'll score you across the behind to let you know your mistake and then make the correct choice for you. You can't make her mad, you can't disappoint her, you can't do anything that'll make her hold a grudge. She's [i]responsible[/i] for you. 

So when she comes in to see you tied upside-down and hanging from the ceiling, it sends a thrill. 

"So, Rose," she said, running a hand through her long black hair - a signal that had a handmaiden fall upon it with a brush a moment later. "I am just back from hearing a tale of your wickedness and perversity in seducing the heart of an innocent vixen and leading her astray. Really, from the sounds of things, you are probably the most wicked and malicious monster to have ever walked the earth, a duplicitous liar who has been undermining my authority since the very beginning. According to Cyanis you are a [i]very[/i] bad girl indeed."

Her fingers come up beneath your chin and she tilts your head up to look her in the eyes.

"And so I'm going to ask you a question, Rose," said Countess Keron. "How should I punish Cyanis for lying to me?" she snaps her fingers. "Ungag her, and let her speak."

[b]Yue![/b]

Here you are, before a crowd.

It's not a big crowd. This is very much wednesday night local team volleyball numbers, where attendance is a couple dozen. Ex-handmaidens who settled out early, retirees, enthusiasts, school kids and people who stopped by to watch a couple of rounds on their way home from work. The Countess is there too, a nexus of colour and energy that anchors the entire arena - she takes this seriously, takes you seriously, even if you have not won the crowd yet.

There's another smell in the air, visible to your enhanced wolf nose. Excitement. This is someone in the audience's first time watching a duel. You can hear the skipped breath, the gasp, the amazed cry "It's a wolf! She's fighting a wolf! [i]Look, a wolf[/i]!" There's awe in that little voice raised so loud. Not many wolves in the clouds. Just like that, you've bought a little bit of magic with you up here.

Hyra had cast another spell to correct your colour vision in this shape. Important because without it you might not have been able to appreciate the sunflower yellow and black checker pattern of your opponent's dress. You might have missed the flash of her bright green eyes or the olive tan to her skin. She carries a long two-handed sword like she's afraid of breaking it and your amazing nose tells you that she's nervous and excited too. 

"Tonight's duel," came Keron's voice, loud and clear, "is between Yue of the Terraced Lake and Squire Tianic of the Sky Castle. Salute your opponent and engage with honour."