Domitian frowned at her comment, brow furrowing. Such level of expression was rare for him — typically in a conversation no one could get more than a twitch of his mouth in either direction — but Zenobia had a way of bringing that out, it seemed. She wasn't very good at regulating emotions, herself, so he supposed some of it rubbed off on him when she was deliberately pushing his buttons like this. He knew it was deliberate — she was too smart to have used those exact words accidentally.

"No, I do not expect you to fall behind," he said sternly. The sooner she learned this lesson about the world, the better. "I expect you to work twice as hard at school. I expect you to be better than all of them, and I expect you to do it properly." He met her eyes, his mouth set in a firm line. "There can be nothing — nothing — that gives anyone reason to think less of you, Zenobia."