Miya wandered through the courtyards, several of the court ladies trailing after her, chattering inanely. Her hair was a long black, loosened from it’s braid. It was a simple dress. The bodice and underdress were dark blue with gold and silver highlights designs embroidered over the fabric. Dark gray lace arched over the neckline. It was her favorite dress, and it was a shame that she was wasting it on such a day that was going to be spent entirely with court ladies. Of course, she could change that.

She paused and made sure the ladies were otherwise occupied before hiking her skirts up and sprinting away from the gaggle of women.

Miya stopped after a few minutes of mad dashing and turned to make sure she hadn’t been missed and let her skirts fall to the normal level. Now in a more secluded part of the gardens, which was what she wanted.

Caissa, visiting the palace once every two weeks like she always did, was reading. Ha! Not surprising. She was exiting her favorite area of the gardens. She brushed back a single, unruly strand of hair and smoothed her green velvet dress (which matched her eyes perfectly). Suddenly, she collided into somebody entering.

For the briefest second, her hand flew to the dagger at her waist, but then she looked up from her book and saw who it was. "Your Highness!" she gasped, and dropped a curtsy. "Please forgive me."

“Ooof,” all of the air was knocked from her lungs. She rubbed her stomach and glared a little. “It’s all right.” She kept rubbing her stomach. Miya took a careful step back, shaking out her skirts.

"Aaah, I'm SO sorry," Caissa murmured. "It's not like me to be so clumsy, Your Highness. I just got caught up in this book." She flashed the cover at the princess. "Has that ever happened to you, where the world around you ceases to exist, and it's just you and the book?"

“No, I don’t read much.” Miya sniffed. She was too anxious to sit still unless she was doubling numbers in her head, and one couldn’t concentrate on a story and what the answer to one and twelve times two was at the same time. “I also think that you shouldn’t walk and read at the same time as you can’t see where you’re going. Hmmm?” She arched a dark brow at the other .

Wart was wandering the courtyards. The palace was . . .dull. Though he would never admit, he almost missed the King's Own. Not as much as he had missed a proper bed, but nearly. Nothing interest ever happened.

He was so tangled up in the great debate of boredom vs. Bed that he nearly ran into two young nobles. He backpeddled and blinked and reconzied one immediately.


"Your Highness," he greeted, dropping a bow to Princess Miya. "Milady," he added as an after thoguht.

“Sir squire,” Miya said, dropping a little at the knees in an almost curtsey. “May I ask your name?”