Considering the Augur had given Ferdinand a chance for a view of Manuela, it was only fair that it had given her the same, certainly. Though that was hardly an appropriate thought-it was one that, finally, gave her an opportunity to blush again for the first time since donning his robe. Nonetheless she averted her gaze while he entered the bathroom, only to continue the conversation once he had.

"Perhaps you would even like to-perform, that is. Or at the very least write, if acting doesn't appeal. You always have had a way with words." A talent that Manuela herself lacked-for all she could recognize good writing when she saw it, and take another's text from the page to the hearts and minds of her audience, writing wasn't exactly her forte.