Huguel

3

"Don't forget mathematical," Mahasti chimes in, without lifting her eyes from her ledger.

She's dressed in a simple dress and rusari. The latter is still the head covering of choice among most women, especially in the older generation—or the chador, if they're truly devout—whereas men typically wear the dulband, and people who are neither tend to favor the arakhchin. The styles vary from city to city and world to world.

When the padeshah mandated that all adult citizens of the She'ri Empire—not just women—were required to cover their heads, many hailed it as a reversal of her father's regressive gender attitudes. But for each Imperial decree that improves the lives of everyday citizens—or at least claims to, while merely being uniformly restrictive—there are two more that make things worse.

Self-consciously, you reach up to make sure your own head covering is still in place.

You'll have an opportunity to select your pronouns later. Your head covering doesn't have to "match" your pronouns.

I'm wearing an arakhchin (predominantly worn by people who aren't women or men).
I'm wearing a rusari (predominantly worn by women).
I'm wearing a dulband (predominantly worn by men).
I'm wearing a kolah (a simple cap). I prefer not to indicate anything about my gender with my head covering.
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