Her grandmother was quiet for a few moments, her eyes fixing firmly on Audrey’s. “Because of what has happened.” She frowned, and said, “You know your place in society. You know that when the time comes, you would be married off, to the good of the family, and your brother would take up the mantle of his father, and become a knight in the Empire’s service. Such things have been our way for generations, since the Grimsword name was founded at the start of the Empire. It has been our honour to always have a member of the family in the knighthood. When people think of the knights, they think of Grimsword. We are the only family with a dragon in our crest. The only family with an unbroken line in the service. You know how important such things are to us. But… but Jack cannot take his place, yet we cannot let such a thing break our tradition.” She paused, wondering if her granddaughter would be too opium-addled to guess where the conversation was going.