[ sonia giggles along with her, but it's stop-and-start whenever lakshmi starts to falter. hm. maybe she should've heeded gavalas's warning and drank a little less. ]

Barrayarans don't believe much in gods. More like ancestor worship, I guess. Besides, I'm no...leader of warriors. My sister, that's more her thing. I'm just...trying to get by. [ she makes a face, wrinkling her nose, but she looks sadder behind it. ] I was thirteen when this all started. Before this, I mostly lived on Beta Colony, my mother's planet. I think what it really is...I don't think she'd ever admit to it, not to me, but I think my sister's just trying to protect me.