Miranda's scream of rage echoed through Zardria's study and the rest of the Spire. It inspired fear, but not shock, in the servants.
Anala
The smells of banquet food drifted from the castle kitchen to Anala's nose, and she inhaled deeply. As was her habit, she was headed to the kitchens to make small talk with the head cook, a person who would not think less of her for her Western accent, which had never seemed to dissipate in all her long years away from Harbourtown.
Nobles and courtiers found the Western accent uncouth and barbarous, the shortened slang of sailors and harbour folk. They regarded her with a barely veiled contempt, saying nothing to her face, only to gossip about it around the next corner or behind the nearest curtain. Within weeks of her first appearance at court, when
