Aelira had barely touched her tea. She sat with her back very straight, her hands on her lap, and her eyes moving from face to face among the women gathered around the tea table.
The news had already spread through the palace that the Queen was leaving for Lycanthria and taking her children.
"I heard the Queen approved fifty thousand soldiers to Lycanthria without seeking the King's consent," Vaely murmured, the youngest of the concubines. Her fingers wrapped tightly around the cup.
"They say the Queen has always wanted to leave." Thalwen, the second to the last concubine, said.
"And the princesses agreed to leave with her too." Sylira, the second concubine, added.
"They say the king gave the condition." Nymera held her cup in the air as she spoke.
"They say a great many things in this palace." Aelira's voice cut through the speculation. "What matters is what they don't say."
Sylira set her cup down. "And that is?" She asked.
"That she may never return. Any of them."
