“I knew it was foolish to make Likh something that he was not, but I never did understand why the role of an asha was restricted to women alone. In the course of my wanderings, I have seen men who could be just as graceful as women. Men who, with the constant training we have had to endure, could perhaps rival even the likes of Lady Shadi. Are there any male dancers in Drycht?”

“The royal court seemed to prefer the women more,” I said.

“In a court of men, it is likely. But males are not the only people who can rule a realm. If women are encouraged to fight and draw runes and strive to be a man’s equal in those regard, then why can’t a man be encouraged to sing and dance and entertain as we do?”

“In Drycht,” I admitted, “men consider such trivialities beneath them. The performing arts are not a show of strength. They are a sign of weakness.”

“Then perhaps we should carve a world one day where the strength lies in who you are rather than in what they expect you to be.”