But within an hour of my own conversation with his lordship, the steward had left the castle, taking with him a good riding horse from the stables and leaving behind a swirl of rumors and speculation. For my own part, I was merely glad that the furor of preparations for the evening’s festivities kept me safely away so there would be no possibility of crossing paths with the villain. Merime had the kitchens well enough in hand, and Ourrel stepped in to oversee the final decoration of the hall, but Elissa was definitely over-matched by the strong-willed Auren, who was none too happy to learn at such a late date that her future husband might be arriving in the next few hours. “What was Father thinking?” she fumed, leaning on her crutch as she watched Elissa pull a variety of gowns from the wardrobe. “Why now? Look at me!” I assumed she meant the crutch, which she still needed to help her get up the stairs or over the rougher patches in the gardens. Indoors she could do well enough without it, but I feared pointing out that fact would not meet with a particularly favorable reception at the moment.
