"Ah. When I was in the military I was...well they called me a scout. It was my job to make friends. Well, before I quit anyway." Onainat said. She looked into her empty ale cup and seeing the bottom made her a little sad, so she took back the one she offered Ulbarich. He was still drinking his first and made a funny face when he did. Onainat thought she could always buy him another. Or maybe some one else would send alcohol her way and she could give that to him. Or MAYBE she could earn her keep and play music for booze...
She had paused too long.
"Now that I think about it, you're right. Captains aren't very chummy. Neither are generals or colonels...or whatever else involves shiny pins and angry faces. I do like the shiny pins. It's just too bad so many people have to die to earn them."
Chummy. What a weird word. She thought about it as she drank some ale. Maybe she spent too much time in taverns, but the sourness to it didn't make her wince.
"Anyway, yes, too bad! You both have been very nice to me. You should be friends. We should be friends."
She laughed. Onainat thought this was very funny. It had to be, otherwise she'd be terribly bored. As a side thought, she poked only once at one of Ulbarich's tassels. They seemed very important. They probably were. Normal people just didn't wear tassels out of the house. Why did they wear tassels? Tassels were strange looking if off on their own, yet they looked so serious on a military uniform...
"As for princes...princes are people too. Just with a lot of land and money. And ego. And money. I said that. Oh. And beautiful spoons. But then...there are many in the world just like that and not princes. So I don't know what to tell you. I think even Prince Ithacles must appreciate the friends he has. So is it so hard to say its good to see you? Or come get drunk with me it's been a while? Or hey, you look great for escaping death so recently?"
Onainat shook her head.
"Even with bowing involved, I think not!"
She was rambling. A good sign that she might go looking for someone to play music with her soon. Maybe she would be even luckier and someone else would play so she could do the easy part of humming along. Onainat laughed and drank some more of her ale. It did taste weird, didn't it? And why did they frost mugs? How did they do it? Did they keep all their mugs in the snow?