Rosamund
I didn't want to go.
I had nothing against the Queen personally. She'd been pleasant enough at the ball, warm even, and she hadn't looked at me the way most of the nobles had, like I was a curiosity they couldn't decide whether to pity or despise. But I'd barely had time to eat, my hair was still damp at the ends, and the last thing I wanted was to sit through a royal audience when my mind was already overflowing with everything that had happened this morning.
Still, one did not decline a summons from the Queen of Aldenmere because one was tired.
Fanny had dressed me quickly in a simple day gown of pale green and pinned my hair loosely at the nape of my neck. I followed the Queen's maid through the corridors and out into the east garden, the sun warm against my face and the air carrying the faint sweetness of late-blooming roses.
I reached the entrance to the garden path and stopped.
