Tomorrow they were leaving, and she still had many details to check on before she would be ready. She eyed the pile of supplies on the long tabletop that served as a work surface for the preparations of the family’s meals and great dinners. There would be just such a dinner that night, and women were hard at work all around her. She had insisted it wasn't necessary, but her brother remained unwavering. They couldn't send her off to marry a prince without a proper feast, he’d said. He finally convinced her by telling her it would be good for the people of Warren's Rest to feel they did something to honor her. She had agreed, for their sake. As hard as it was for her to leave them, she understood how they must have felt. “This won’t do,” she fretted, adding an additional two bags of flour to the pile. “Mairi!” she called. The old serving woman came bustling in from the pantry at her lady's call. “I think we will have to figure out what will be most needed and separate it into a smaller load.
