"More corrupt than you can imagine," Apache said, barely resisting the instinct to spit the words through gritted teeth. "We have Selkies and everything." She switched to Jyllandi for the last line.

She didn't notice Yylfordt until he spoke. She wasn't listening for footsteps and his presence in the palace, and near her generally, was so common as to fade into the background.

Shit. He was the last person that Bellatrix would want to see. Blonds weren't Al Bhed on Jylland. They were merely a paler-haired Hume variety. They were never considered something other. Ivalice seldom had them, unless they showed up in regular bloodlines with a mild Mutation where hair colour was concerned. The blood purity obsessed families considered the blond haired Hume families to be lesser than the dark haired ones, but not as bad as the Mist afflicted. Al Bhed were another matter. They considered them practically another species, and selkies the mongrel offspring of the two.

She glanced at him, not wanting to keep looking at Bellatrix like she was afraid to turn her back on her, like she was a wild animal waiting to spring at the mere flash if inattention. She also didn't want to tell him that things were about to get really nasty, really quickly, if he was a total asshole, not if Bella could understand it, but she didn't know enough Al Bhed. She'd been trying to learn, quietly, and privately, but she hadn't got a great handle on the language. Cobbling together a short sentence would mean admitting to both doing it, and not being very good at it.

She considered the options.

"Hu," she said quietly, over-pronouncing the vowel slightly. She thought of a word she could use. "... Pek pyt."