It’s not awesome, but it’s improvable. I’m going to take that win.
“Obviously humans are important,” the Emperor retorted. “You can ride horses. Have you ever seen an orc try? It’s cruel to the beasts. Cruel to the orcs, too, and they can complain in a language I can understand. By the way: your stoic face is admirable, Tribune. I can barely see your eyes rolling.”
That was another irritating thing about this Emperor, Liza thought without a grimace. He was very, very perceptive. “My apologies for my failure, Imperator. Clearly I am not exercising my face enough. Do you have any particular techniques from your glorious past to share?”
Then again, one of the non-irritating things about the emperor was that he didn’t put people to death for showing some backbone. “Ha! I’m imagining you as a Carnivorous, Tribune. It would have been an epic.”
“A bloody one,” Callie agreed. “Speaking of blood, perhaps you should explain to the Tribune why she isn’t sleeping the sleep of the just?”