The fist dinner as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Celia was a blur. A stressful, overwhelming blur of faces, music and an abundance of rich food.
Violet sat at the ladies' specially assigned table and tried not to look overawed, but it was impossible. The splendour of her surroundings was impossible to understand.
It wasn't even a special night or a celebration, yet so many courtiers dripped in gems and gold. The amount of food and wine was staggering.
Was this really how the court dressed and dined every single night?
She looked over at the royal high table where the king sat on a gilded chair, his queen on one side and his brother on the other. The rest of the young princes sat with them, all of them eating from golden plates and goblets.
Violet watched Prince Johan quietly for a while, who seemed to be in high spirits. It was as if his earlier burst of rage at the pavilion had been but a fleeting storm cloud in an otherwise clear sky.
