"Move aside! Let me see, I want to see!"
"Hey, watch where you're stepping! Stop pushing, there's plenty of room there!"
The narrow stone corridor overlooking the front courtyard was completely crowded with bodies. Servants from every corner of the palace crowded shoulder to shoulder at the iron-barred windows, craning their necks to see what was happening below.
Wina stood amidst the crowd, wedged tightly between two senior housemaids. Her small, chapped hands were gripped firmly around the edge of the stone sill, her eyes staring down at the sweeping gravel drive below.
The Solaric delegation had finally arrived.
"Oh, goodness me, look at the Prince!" one of the younger laundry girls gasped, her fingers practically clawing at the glass as a tall noble on a white stallion rode into the center of the courtyard. "He is so incredibly handsome. Do you think... do you think a prince and a common maid could ever fall in love? Like in those theater plays?"
