"It's a matter of birth. Zalania is a nobleman's daughter, as I recall, and while that does place a great deal of responsibilities on her shoulder, she is in a position where serving as a Bloody Raven will bring prestige and honor to herself<em>and</em>her family; more so than marrying to another noble family, though that avenue remains open to her." he explained this all in his usual tone of voice.<br/><br/>"You're the daughter of the king. You are a princess. In the social hierarchy, you are above her. She stood to climb the ladder, so to speak, to get higher, by proving herself worthy enough, and serving as she does.In your situation, you would be going down. And in this case, down is synonymous with a negative; a loss. Something our father wouldn't let you do, because it reflects negatively on him, and by virtue, on our entire nation."<br/><br/>"It's something I understand well. How it works, at least. But I'm not, in all honesty, all that sure why it's there in the first place. It continues to remain, though, because that is what the people want. Not just our family, but our entire society. It thrives on law, and order, and this is part of that order. You can try to break free of it, you can try to change, but both options have their dangers and challenges, and to attempt one may very well forbid you from attempting the other." Again, their is no harshness, no chastising to his voice. He speaks to her as a teacher would speak to their student.<br/><br/>"And that is why it can't be the same for you. Because you're not the same as her, for the reasons I pointed out. That doesn't preclude you from taking part in battle, however; just from being a full time warrior.  Our nation prides itself on martial prowess; you know that as well as I do. Even the house wives train to fight. And one day, I'd like you to be able to see what it's like on the battlefield." He says with a nod of his head.<br/><br/>He knew this would be a hard lesson for her to take, that it would bother her, but unfortunately, that's the way the world worked. The sooner she accepted it, the less she'd suffer. And that's what he wanted to see.