Julie leapt to her feet and Aisling followed suit. A guard walked in, not wearing his helmet, this one having the head of a horse. He looked at the two of them, turning his head to look now at Julie, now at Aisling, then nodded and grabbed Julie by the arm. ‘Queen wants to see you,’ he said. ‘Come with me.’ ‘Wait, what?’ said Julie, trying to pull her arm free. ‘Why just her?’ said Aisling. ‘Why not both of us?’ ‘Could be you, but I’m not sure I could carry you up all them steps,’ said the guard in a sniffy sort of way. Aisling narrowed her eyes. ‘Was that a crack about my weight?’ ‘Yes,’ said the guard, not looking at her. ‘Stop struggling,’ he said to Julie. ‘You’re lucky to get to see the queen at all. You haven’t even been in for a day yet. Some people have been waiting here for months for a hearing.’ Julie looked at Aisling, trying to communicate with her eyes that she thought it would be better to go along with this than to fight. Aisling seemed to get the point; she stepped back and sat back down on the bench.
