Rama didn't answer immediately. Ardhana's observation sat in the space between them, plain and unavoidable, the kind of statement that didn't leave much room for a deflection that wouldn't sound exactly like what it was.
"I train carefully, Your Majesty," he said finally. "A man in my position learns to."
"That's not what I asked." Ardhana stopped walking, turning to face him fully, the yard's remaining noise fading into something distant behind them. "I asked you to explain something I already know the shape of. I don't need the answer softened."
"I'm not certain softening it was my intention."
"Then try again."
Rama weighed his next words carefully, aware that every version of this conversation carried its own particular risk, and that silence, at this point, carried risk too.
