"Must you always wear your hair up in such dreadful braids?" he went
on. "You should let it out. You are a beautiful girl. You should
display your beauty, for your Emperor's glory and enjoyment."
Si'Wren looked up at him in involuntary surprise, and when he smiled
further encouragement, she bowed low, and raised herself again to full
upright sitting posture.
After a moment's awkward hesitation, she dropped her eyes shyly as,
unsmiling, she reached back with both hands, her countenance downcast
in deep modesty, and self-consciously undid the tie that held her long
braid secure at the end.
She played her fingers through her hair, unraveling it until it fell
loosely across her shoulders and she was able to shake it out in a
glossy reflective black that shone with red-orange highlights from the
dancing flames.
Tired from the day's riding, she gazed again into the fire pit, feeling
infinitely more relaxed by the loosening of her braid and secretly
gnawing a corner of her lip in unconscious self-doubt. First she was
instructed to eat in her tent so as not to unduly arouse the troops,
and now--this. She did not know quite what to make of it.
"The Invisible God who hates idols," said Emperor Euphrates. He paused
thoughtfully, before going on.
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