Getting back to our chambers, I was surprised to see a palace messenger there. Even more surprised to find that the message was not for me, but for Tsukimine, bearing the seal of her soon to be lord husband. The joy that we had all felt in the springs and on the way back to our chambers began to fade away, the knowledge that she had been summoned to discuss her marriage weighing heavily on all of us. She, to her credit, smiled happily as she took the scroll from the runner, thanking him kindly and slipping him a coin for his trouble.
She walked into the shared chamber wardrobe, her hand shaking, and selected a blue kimono, small flowers spread across the entire garment, obviously sewn there by a skilled hand. A white sash and simple wooden hair accessories quickly found their way into he
