"Princess, I think it is time for us to head inside. Something must have come up at the last minute for the Queen to be this late."
"No! Granny promised she would be here, so we wait!"
"Princess…"
The maid placed a hand against her forehead and sighed in exasperation. With her other hand, she held firmly onto the little princess, preventing her from running off somewhere again and sending the entire estate into a panic.
They were standing beneath the shade of a tree in the estate garden. Around them, flowerbeds rose in lavish yet carefully tended profusion—violet spires, golden blossoms, white plumes, and crimson clusters, all mingling their fragrances in the warm air.
The little princess, whose hand the maid held tightly, kept hopping from one foot to the other in excitement.
Her silver hair, bright and full of life, barely reached her shoulders. Her grey eyes, shining as beautifully as sunlight upon fresh snow, darted around impatiently.
