Chapter 2The tavern was busy. It had been a while since Thea had last visited, but it was much the same as last time. Music played, glasses clinked, and the smell of salt was somehow ever-present. When her husband had been alive, she had struggled to find the time to leave the palace to enjoy her small comforts. It strikes me as strange that even a week after assuming the mantle of queen, I have time to wander the city. The council seemed uneasy with her taking charge, and so she had faded into the background of political decision-making, at least until the mourning period was over. A proper wife was expected to mourn for a few weeks, at the very least.
When she came to the tavern, dressed plainly and with her face covered by a hood, she was not the queen; she was just a common woman, lik
