Juliette managed to refrain from blushing when Lorenso called her beautiful, but she had to admit she was moved by the compliment. And the dress did not seem quite as bad as it had earlier.<br/><br/>The princess then watched the two practice with interest—it was clear Lenally had a lot of potential and the drive to exploit her abilities to their fullest.<em>I hope we’re not creating a grave threat to our own military here,</em>she thought, and the sentiment was only partially tongue-in-cheek. On the other hand, maybe after today Lenally would be slow to trust whatever propaganda the Aserit used to disparage Theiri as a bunch of weaklings. Juli also kept an occasional eye on Lenally’s Blood Raven bodyguard, not because she was suspicious of him but because after so long forcing herself to observe every detail around her it was hard to ignore that impulse.<br/><br/>At Lenally’s insistence that she and Juli spar soon, the princess laughed slightly. “Just don’t learn your swordsmanship too quickly—I don’t think I’d enjoy getting my butt kicked,” she joked.<br/><br/>Juli found herself very interested when Lenally’s star became the focus of attention—it was an unusual weapon, and she was looking forward to a demonstration.