I woke up at some point in the late afternoon, still reeling from what my mother had spent most of the night telling me. I had gone from feeling sheer betrayal, to anger, to shock until I finally reached a point of understanding.
I was bathed and scrubbed to within an inch of my life by Mae. I came out from the cool bathing pool into the chamber and found four women staring back at me.
"Now is not the time to finally develop humility," my mother chided. "Take off your towel, we must have you dressed."
"I brought peonies from home," Keira gushed.
"I love their fragrance," Asha mentioned, cementing herself in Keira's good grace forever.
"Your mother has given me the honour of setting your hair," Queen Tasmina said, smiling at me.
Two hours later, I was ready. As they turned me to
