The cold air was surprisingly refreshing and invigorating at high speed. Zandrue had done many things in her life, but riding in a horse-drawn sleigh was one thing she hadn’t done until now. She had always assumed the experience would be a little different from riding in a wheeled carriage, but had not expected how different it was.

It was the speed. The sleigh was travelling faster than any carriage without spooked, runaway horses Zandrue had ever been in.

It was also a smoother ride. Almost as if to contradict that thought, there was a little bump right at that moment, but really, there were far fewer bumps in the sleigh than a carriage.

Laänne laughed at the little bump and grinned at Zandrue. “Exhilarating, isn’t it?”

Tianna was grinning too. She was seated in the front, rear-facing seat, while Zandrue and Laänne were in the back seat, facing the front.

Two horses, each almost as big as Borisin, pulled the gilded wooden sleigh across the open field of snow. Ahead of them was the sleigh carrying Annai and Thilin, and surrounding both royal sleighs were half a dozen small sleighs carrying guards, soldiers, and even a few courtiers. Farther ahead, the towers of the Cathedral of the Gods rose above the silhouette of Arnor City. It had been maybe ten minutes since they had left the Palace gates, and already the city was in sight.

“I think we need to convince Annai to make trips like this more often,” Zandrue said.

“We usually make three or four each winter,” Tianna said. “We probably would have made one already if it weren’t for Garet’s funeral, and Sinitïa’s disappearance.”

“That’s the irony though, isn’t it?” Laänne said.

Sinitïa’s disappearance was the motivating factor for this journey. Annai also wanted her inner circle to do some New Year’s shopping, but the main reason was for Annai and Thilin to advertise a new reward for information about Sinitïa. Personally, Zandrue was hoping she might get a chance to talk to Thilin. Rudiger had not had much luck getting to see the prince, so having him along on this trip might give Zandrue the opportunity. Of course, she suspected he wouldn’t be doing much shopping, so that opportunity might only be fleeting, if it existed at all.

Zandrue leaned back and enjoyed the remainder of the ride and the cold, brisk air blowing through her hair. The other two did much the same.

It wasn’t long before they reached the outskirts of the city. Their driver slowed the horses a little as they headed down the first of the city streets, but they still took a brisk pace. Royal guards had arrived ahead of them and cleared the streets. Onlookers now stood to the sides of the street, and watched—some even waved—as the royal sleighs sped by.

As they reached the outskirts of the central market, the sleigh slowed to a stop beside Annai and Thilin’s sleigh. The driver hopped down from his seat, came round to the side, and opened the door beside Zandrue. He bowed. “My ladies.” He proffered his hand.

Zandrue removed the heavy blanket covering her and stood up. She took the driver’s hand and allowed him to help her down from the sleigh. The driver then did the same for Laänne and Tianna.

“What did I tell you? When the snow’s packed down, less than half an hour from the gates to the market.” Laänne fiddled with her hairpins as she reached Zandrue. “Does a number on your hair though. You might want to prepare yourself for Annai’s reaction to yours.”

Zandrue groaned. She had no idea what her hair must look like at the moment, as she was not wearing any hairpins, bows, or other method of tying back or holding her hair in place.

Annai was standing with Thilin in front of the sleighs, waving to the crowd of onlookers. She laughed when she saw Zandrue. “Oh, my dear Zandrue, we should have warned you.”

Zandrue sighed. “Yeah, sorry, I had no idea the sleigh went so fast.”

Annai shook her head, still waving to the crowd. “Think nothing of it. Laänne had her own moment of embarrassment three years ago. The style at the time was for ladies to wear their hair free. Tianna and I, of course, wore shawls for the journey that we removed when we reached the city. But poor Laänne…” She lowered her voice and leaned in conspiratorially. “She’s never been too bright.”

Laänne, who was standing right there, rolled her eyes.

Annai winked at Zandrue. “She knows I’m kidding, of course.”

“Of course,” Zandrue said.

Annai straightened up and turned her attention back to the crowd. She moved forward to give more people the chance to see her.

When she was out of hearing, Laänne said softly, “She’s only kidding when I overhear her say it. The truth is, she thinks I’m an idiot. Oh, she loves me, but she thinks I’m an idiot.”

“Why don’t you say something?” Zandrue asked.

Laänne stared at her with a raised eyebrow. “Why do you think? She’s Annai.”

Zandrue nodded. “Right. Ask a silly question.”

Laänne shook her head, but smiled.

Zandrue looked about. Thilin, dressed in a formal blue military uniform, was standing a little off to the side, looking out over the crowd and giving an occasional wave. There were a few guards near him, but he was otherwise by himself.

“Excuse me a moment,” Zandrue said to Laänne. “Be right back.”

Laänne gave her a quizzical look. “Don’t go far.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Zandrue shook her head. “Oh no, I’ll still be in sight.” She pointed to Thilin. “Just want to introduce myself.” She ducked aside and headed over to Thilin. “Your Highness.”

Thilin glanced down at her, a look of slight surprise on his face. “Oh, yes?”

Zandrue curtsied. “Apologies, your Highness, but we haven’t been properly introduced yet, despite all the time I’ve been in the Palace. I just wanted to take the opportunity—”

“Zandrue, right?”

Zandrue curtsied again. “That’s right, your Highness.”

“Annai talked a lot about you on the way here.”

“I hope they were good things.”

“Oh, they were very good. She likes you a lot.”

“I’m flattered.”

“Aren’t you also a friend of Felitïa’s though?”

Zandrue gave a partial nod. “It’s...uh...complicated.”

Thilin looked back over the crowd and gave another way. “I’m actually kind of impressed. Anybody who can manage to befriend both Annai and Felitïa, given how much Annai hates Felitïa…”

“I guess I’m just the likeable type,” Zandrue said.

Thilin chuckled. “Wish I’d been able to spend a bit of time with Felitïa when she was here. Now she’s banished, probably won’t ever get the chance.”

“You never know,” Zandrue said.

“Oh Zandrue!” Annai called.

Zandrue groaned inwardly. As she’d predicted, she was not going to get much time. She curtsied to Thilin again. “My apologies, your Highness, but—”

“Go,” Thilin said. “You don’t want to keep Annai waiting.”

Zandrue curtsied once more, then hurried over to join Annai, who was with Tianna and Laänne.

Annai grinned at her. “So, what was that about?”

“Oh, just introducing myself. I haven’t had the opportunity previously.”

“Uh huh. Well, at least Thilin is available, unlike Malef.”

Zandrue sighed. “Honestly, it was just an introduction. Let’s not forget I’m with Rudiger.”

“I know, but Thilin is a prince, and Rudiger is not even a noble. He’s just...well, big. You do seem to like big men, and Thilin is almost as big.” Annai laughed and put an arm around Zandrue’s shoulders. “Oh, Zandrue, you know I would never force you upon any man. I wish merely to make you aware of your options.”

Zandrue smiled. “I know, Annai, and I do appreciate it. Thank you.”

Annai let go of Zandrue and addressed the group. “Now then, you three have some shopping to do while Thilin and I prepare our boring speeches. Remember to stick together as we agreed. There will be guards with you, but we must be extra vigilant. You’re welcome to go anywhere in the market, but most of the stalls only sell cheap Eloorin-made items. However, Zandrue, Tianna and Laänne can show you to the Emporium. Some very fine stuff there.”

“This is going to be so much fun,” Laänne said.

“Be back by noon. That’s when the show starts. Off you go!” Annai shooed them away, then turned and headed towards Thilin.

Laänne motioned towards the market. “Shall we?”

“Why not?” Zandrue said.

Three guards went ahead of them, directing people out of their way—shoving them out of the way when they didn’t move fast enough. Zandrue clenched her fists and bit the inside of her lips to avoid saying anything. Moments like this reminded her why Felitïa disliked her family so much. Three more guards followed behind them, but at least they weren’t doing anything but following.

The marketplace was busy, though little business was going on in the area immediately around where the Royal sleighs had arrived, as people were too busy watching Annai and Thilin. As they got farther away and deeper into the market, however, there were more people doing actual business—though even that was disrupted by the guards and Zandrue, Tianna, and Laänne’s passage.

“Do we want to look at any of these stalls?” Zandrue pointed to one. “Looks like there’s some nice cloth there. Might make some good dresses.”

Tianna turned up her nose. “Probably just cheap Eloorin make. I wouldn’t want to touch it.”

Zandrue shrugged. While she was starting to like Tianna, moments like this reminded her why it had been so hard. She was really starting to wish she could get away from the Palace for a while.

Laänne leaned in. “If Annai were here, she’d probably tell you your commoner roots were showing again, but I understand. I wouldn’t mind getting a look at more variety sometimes.”

“Don’t worry, Zandrue,” Tianna said. “You’ll love the Emporium. There are so many exotic items from all over the world. I’ve found some of my most treasured belongings there.”

“Sounds great,” Zandrue said. “How much farther?”

Tianna grinned at her. “Not far now.”

The Emporium was a building off to the side of the market. It had a flamboyant façade with a large sign. Colourful gems—probably just coloured glass—surrounded the sign and windows, and glittered in the sunlight. A suit of plate armour stood in one of the windows that flanked the entrance. In the other was a collection of carpets of varying designs.

Several people stood in front of the doors, a tall, thin man at the centre of them. He was wearing a fine, blue silk cape over similarly fine silk clothes. While very expensive, his clothes looked very thin, and he had to be freezing standing out in the cold like that. He gave a deep bow as the three women approached. The people standing to either side of him also bowed or curtsied as appropriate.

“My ladies,” the tall man said. “Welcome to the Emporium.”

Tianna took the lead and walked straight up to the man. “Ulises, how good to see you again.”

The tall man—Ulises—bent over and he and Tianna exchanged kisses to the cheeks. “And you, Lady Friaz.”

“Oh, you know you can call me Tianna.” She backed away so Laänne could approached.

“Of course, Tianna. And here we have the other Lady Friaz. So good to see you again.” He and Laänne exchanged kisses.

“And you,” Laänne said backing away.

Ulises looked to Zandrue. “And this?”

Tianna gestured to Zandrue. “This is our good friend, Zandromeda Armida.”

Zandrue stepped up to him and exchanged kisses.

“A pleasure, Lady Armida.”

Zandrue smiled at him and backed up.

Ulises gestured to the people with him. “Now then, my ladies, my staff and I are at your disposal. Shall we go in?” He motioned to the doors, which two of the staff then opened. He strode inside.

Tianna hurried right behind him.

Laänne leaned in close to Zandrue. “Good choice on not having him call you Zandrue.”

“I just like being called Lady Armida.”

“Me too!” Laänne said. “As a noblewoman, I am, of course, a lady, but I’m not the Lady Friaz. But when he says Lady Friaz, it sounds like I am. Shall we go in?”

Laughing together, they entered the Emporium.