She fussed with the drawings until she could do no more, and still the prince had not summoned her. She waited another day. She sorted through what she’d done. A half-moon had passed since their arrival. Had he forgotten her? Finally, on a long, languid afternoon when the sun wilted the green gardens of the little village below, she closed her shutters, rolled a few drawings together, and went to find Kinner.
She followed the long, dark hall outside her rooms down to the stairwell at the end. It was dry and well swept but eerily quiet. It took her down to the central courtyard, empty except for the pair of guards standing at loose attendance by the gatehouse. There wasn’t even a servant sweeping. She tucked her drawings under one arm and went up to the gate.
“Excuse me,” she said. “Do yo
