That was not a prickle of guilt I felt.
“I wish to go out,” the queen announced. “We will go to the market.”
Anticipation slid through me, and I had to fight not to shift restlessly on my feet. I’d wanted to see the market for some time. Knowing the layout of the city would be helpful as we made our plans.
Madinia nodded. “I will tell the servants.” She hurried away, clearly delighted.
The queen decided she needed to change her dress. Finally, we all followed her out of the castle.
“You look wide-eyed,” the queen smirked, and I bowed my head.
“I had never seen a carriage like this before I arrived in the city,” I admitted.
Madinia snorted. Caraceli sent her a poisonous look. But Caraceli and I obviously weren’t going to bond over the fact that she also wasn’t from the city since the look she sent me was worse.
I slid into the carriage, eager to get away from the castle for a few hours, even if it meant doing it in the company of the queen. We had more than enough room—the carriage likely designed specifically for the queen to travel with her ladies.
The seats were long benches, high enough that my feet barely touched the bottom of the carriage as it began to bump along. Not only were there no horses, but the carriage seemed to know where it was going.
I wanted to ask how the magic worked, but the queen was scowling out the window. She rolled her shoulders and gazed around the carriage at us.
“For the first time, the king has decided to call representatives from each town and village to the city to discuss the corrupt and ensure we are taking every possible step to remove their presence from our kingdom. They will begin arriving four days from now, and we will have a welcome ball to mark the occasion. Some of them will also likely be invited to stay for the Gods Day ball two weeks later.”
I lowered my gaze, my mind whirling. Which representatives would come from my village? Our village was small. We all knew each other. What if my different eyes and hair weren’t enough? How would I ensure they didn’t recognize me?
I’d need to stay far away from the representatives.
Most importantly, there would be a lot of new people in the castle. The king would likely bring in more guards, but they would probably still be stretched thin. Perhaps either the welcome ball or the Gods Day ball would present us with an opportunity.
The queen’s mouth twisted, and it was clear she saw nothing to celebrate. I’d expected the queen to enjoy any chance to dress in her most ostentatious gowns and wear her most lavish jewels, but that didn’t seem to be the case. If anything, she seemed to wish to avoid both the king and any occasions that called for her to be around large numbers of people.
“You will all need new dresses.” The queen’s gaze lingered on me. I wished I could conjure up a blush. Instead, I just nodded, smiling back at her.
Yesterday, I’d learned that the dresses I’d been given were Katina’s castoffs, three seasons out of date. Madinia had enjoyed letting me know, as if I cared about the latest fashions at court.
Vicer had already arranged for my necklace to be replaced once more, but I would need another one before the villagers arrived. A thin line of my blond hair was also beginning to show, and soon people would begin to notice. I needed it to be darkened again before someone realized I had changed my original hair.
According to Lisveth, the queen wasn’t unopposed to us taking the occasional afternoon to ourselves. The key was to ask when she was in the right mood. I needed to pay a visit to Vicer. And it needed to be soon. Especially with representatives from our village in the castle.
The market was just a few minutes from the castle. The moment we arrived, our carriage was encircled by guards who’d followed on horseback. The queen took one of the guard’s hands, and he helped her out of the carriage.
We all clambered out behind her, and I surveyed the market. It was many times bigger than my village square, with long lines of stalls stretching out in neat rows. That was where any organization ended, the market a flurry of colors and life, of laughter and wails. The air was filled with the scents of spices, cooking meat, sweat, animal hides, wood, and metal.
“It’s the queen,” someone called out, and everyone around us went silent. The queen ignored them all, and we fell into our usual two-by-two formation, following her into the market.
I ignored Madinia’s snort at my wide-eyed gaze, focusing instead on the food stalls and children’s games and jugglers performing for coin and vendors hawking their wares.
Lisveth took my arm, hauling me along with her, and I realized I’d stopped and was staring at the stalls, the people, all of it.