More than one way to be

"Now that we're travelling companions, let's skip all the stupid formalities. Please, do not adress me as a Princess." Mireanda said after riding alongside me in silence for a while.

"Only if you skip the formalities as well." I replied. Mireanda smiled.

"For sure, Ionathar." she said, then laughed about the fact, that her answer had accidentally almost rhymed.

"So, how did you convince your father to let you go?" I asked.

"I just annoyed him with it until he gave in." Mireanda shrugged, "My brother isn't happy about it."

"Neither is my sister." I admitted, "But she'll come around, unlike your brother, but thanks to you, we won't have to put up with him too much longer. Are you planning to come to Soane with us?"

"I don't know." Mireanda answered, "I'm not looking forward to being lectured all the way back. 'A Princess shouldn't be gallivanting about the world', 'a Princess doesn't make herself common with low-born scum', 'a Princess shouldn't wear trousers'. Honestly, he can shove it. But I'm not sure I'm ready for an adventure. Here in Lupear I can refer to my father if I have to, but I doubt people care about that in other places."

"It's your choice." I said. Mireanda chuckled quietly.

"My choice." she mused as if trying those words for the first time, "No man has ever trusted me to make my own decisions. My father thinks he knows best what's good for me. If it was up to him, I wouldn't even be allowed to think my own thoughts."

"That doesn't seem to stop you." I noted. Mireanda snorted a laugh.

"I've always had my own mind, and it's always been driving my father insane." she said, "I used to think something was wrong with me, because I never felt like the life I was assigned was right for me. I thought my fate was set in stone, but then you three showed up and I saw that there was different ways of existing, and now I wish I'd been raised in Eleonis."

"Not everything is great in Eleonis." I said.

"Complained the one man who could actually do something about that." Mireanda teased.

"If only it were that simple." I replied, "The conservative nobles have enough trouble respecting my authority without me dismantling their whole world view. They already struggle with the changes of recent years."

"Which changes?" Mireanda wondered.

"My grandfather was the one who allowed low-born women to join the army. One of the first ones to do was my mother. She's also the first woman ever to become General. My father legalized relationships between people of the same gender." I said.

"And you're just leaving it at that?" Mireanda asked.

"Of course not." I answered, "I changed the laws of succession. Well, I modified them, changed first-born son into first-born child. Because of that, the King's Guard is now the Royal Guard. I know it's just semantics, but it changes things."

"Huh." said Mireanda.

"What, huh?" I asked, "Change takes time. The eleonian Lords aren't exactly happy to be ruled by a seventeen-year-old boy, and I can't blame them too much. I wouldn't be willing to be listening to me if I were them either."

"If that's your opinion, I'm not surprised that nothing is changing." Mireanda scoffed.

"At the moment, Iohan is my first priority. Everything else can wait until Eleonis isn't looking at the possibility of imminent war." I clarified. Mireanda thought about that for a moment.

"Gods damn it, how am I supposed to argue with that?" she complained, making me laugh, "I'm just not used to the men in my life using logic."

"Well, how would you be when your benchmark are your father and brother?" I asked. Mireanda laughed loudly.

"It astounds me every time. Every halfway decent person I meet seems to dislike my brother." she said.

"Dislike is a very diplomatic way of putting it." I commented. Mireanda snorted in amusement.

"He seems to feel the same way about you. Whatever the three of you did to him, it seems to have left a permanent impression." she noted. I smirked sheepishly.

"We just made sure he'd keep his paws off of Eleona and Zairah." I said truthfully.

"And now his poor Highness is offended, because he didn't get what he wanted but what he deserved for a change?" Mireanda guessed.

"Either that, or he pretends to be insulted so he doesn't have to admit that he's terrified of my sister." I replied.

"Nicoleas? Scared of a woman?" Mireanda asked incredulously. I remembered his face when Eleona had threatened to rid him of his crown jewels and couldn't resist the smirk that snuck on my face. Still, I decided to keep that little scene to myself for now. I'd leave that story for another time.

"Let's just say that Eleona doesn't carry those knives for decoration." Mireanda raised her brows. "Also, he might still be a little rattled because I may or may not have suggested to sleep with him if he didn't find a brothel. That knocked the wind out of him pretty good." Mireanda stared at me for a moment, then burst out laughing so loudly that Zairah and Eleona truned around surprised.

"And would you have done it?" Mireanda wondered, after she'd recovered from her laughing fit. I casually shrugged.

"Arrogant, pretentious bastards aren't my type, no matter how handsome they are." I answered.

"You think my brother's handsome?" Mireanda asked in surprise.

"On the outside, and that's just about his only redeeming quality as far as I can tell." I responded drily.

"You might be right about that." Mireanda agreed.