Rumors spread by obsessive men whose egos can't tolerate the idea that a beautiful woman doesn't want him.

[ Over and over and over. ]

Our reputations are historically sullied because we happen to have the strength to defend ourselves from men who think they own us just because they find us attractive. The same thing happens every day to women who aren't huli jing; they just aren't always so lucky when a man thinks he can take what he wants.

[ And her words are so cold – venomous, even. ]

We are magic. When men fixate on us, we can hear them – every disgusting, wanton thing they think and say about us. It stays like that until they let us go, but until then, it never stops. The men like that – they already think they own any woman they lust after, and the other women don't know it until the damage is done.

We have to listen to them.

[ Bile rises in the back of her throat, and she finally releases Peter, letting her hand fall from his shoulder. ]

And nobody listens to us.

[ She starts shrugging off his jacket, wincing as she tries to compensate with her weight on one foot. ]

I'm not going to— curse you if you leave me here, or whatever the rumors say. And I am not going to hurt anyone in Silverkeep, so your conscience should be clear. You have already helped me more than you needed to, and you don't owe me anything.

[ She holds his jacket out. ]

So— thank you. I will figure it out.