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.“Oh, sweetheart,” she said, eyes brimming with tears.“You are beautiful.” It would have meant more if she hadn’t sounded so surprised.“I cannot believe that this day has finally come.Please know that I only want what’s best for you, always.Do you believe that, Raisa?”Raisa nodded, that prickle of unease returning.“Have you seen Father since his return?” she asked.“He’s to escort me into the hall, but I’ve not heard from him.”Queen Marianna frowned.“Really? You’ve not heard from him? I was sure he would be here.”“Of course he’ll be here,” Raisa said.“It’s my name day.”Marianna hesitated.“That’s true, yes, but remember, you’ve already celebrated the occasion at Demonai Camp.Perhaps he thought he’d already met his obligation.”Raisa blinked at her, confused a moment before she remembered.Supposedly her father had taken her to Demonai when she went missing in Southbridge.“It’s not an obligation,” Raisa said.“He said he’d be here.He’d want to be.” She paused, then rushed on.“Why did you have to send him to Chalk Cliffs now?”Her mother sighed, sounding exasperated.“It’s not that far, sweetheart.It should be no trouble to ride there and back over four days.Your crowning is important, but affairs of the realm cannot come to a halt for a week because of it.” The queen smiled, her tawny eyes searching Raisa’s face.“Don’t worry.I’ll send for him at Kendall House and tell him to come to you immediately, just to ease your mind.” She kissed Raisa on the forehead.“All will be well, Raisa, you’ll see.”She turned and left the room in a rustle of silk.But time passed, and soon they would have to leave for the temple, and still her father did not come.Raisa peeked out into the corridor, and a stocky young guardsman snapped to attention outside the door.“Your Highness?” the soldier said.“How may I assist?”“Oh.I was just looking.”They stood there awkwardly for a moment.Then Raisa said, “Well, carry on,” and pulled the door closed.Unable to sit still, Raisa threw open the doors to the terrace and walked out into the sultry evening.Thunder grumbled over Hanalea, Rissa, and Althea.Great pillars of clouds tumbled over the peaks, underlit with green-and-yellow lightning.The air was thick with the scent of rain, almost too thick to breathe, and the hair on Raisa’s arms and the back of her neck prickled.The wind picked up, setting the clouds in motion like gray wolves prowling over the distant hills.Raisa hunched her shoulders.Jitters, she said to herself.Just jitters.Magret was as jumpy as Raisa.She picked through the messages on the front table as if she might find an undiscovered note from Averill.She fussed with Raisa’s hair, her hemline, her makeup, and tugged at her laces until Raisa had to struggle not to scream at her.Every time Magret opened her mouth, words spilled out in a nervous cascade.“Did you hear? Prince Gerard Montaigne of Arden is here.Right in the middle of the war, he’s come up here, probably meaning to go home with a marriage contract in hand.He’s the youngest of five brothers, so I don’t know why he thinks the princess heir of the Fells would give him the time of day.That Prince Liam, now, he’s a handsome boy, and such good manners.He’s the heir to the throne of Tamron, you know.”Finally there was a knock at the door.Raisa jumped to answer it, but Magret, of course, beat her to it.It was not her father.It was Gavan Bayar, High Wizard of the Fells, resplendent in silver and black to match his mane of silver hair and thick black brows.“My Lord Bayar,” Magret stammered.“I thought…We were expecting…”Lord Bayar stepped past Magret and bowed low to Raisa.“Your Highness, you are a vision.I wish I were a younger man.” He paused, his eyes traveling over her from head to toe.“Unfortunately, your father still has not returned from Chalk Cliffs.The queen has asked me to escort you to the temple.” He offered his arm.“It would be my honor.”Raisa backed away, shaking her head.“Perhaps…he’ll still come.”“Everyone is assembled,” Lord Bayar said.“It is time.The queen requires your attendance.”Raisa bumped into her dressing table and leaned back against it, suddenly dizzy.There was something wrong about all of this.Every instinct screamed at her.The lamp on the table guttered in the breeze from the open door, and wolf shadows loped along the walls.The stocky guardsman stood in the doorway, gripping the hilt of his sword.“Your Highness?” he said.Magret stepped between Raisa and Lord Bayar, her face crinkled with dismay.“Her Highness doesn’t feel well,” she said.“Perhaps, if you gave her a few minutes…”Anger kindled in Lord Bayar’s blue eyes.“Step aside,” he said.“We don’t have a few minutes.The princess must come with me by order of the queen.”“It’s all right, Magret,” Raisa said, even though it most certainly wasn’t all right.She straightened, shook her head to clear it, and nodded to the guardsman.“Be at ease.I’ll go with Lord Bayar.It’s kind of him to come and fetch me.I’m sure Papa will be here in time for the dance.”Still ignoring Lord Bayar’s arm, Raisa gripped her skirts on either side, lifted her chin, and walked ahead of him into the corridor.The guardsman followed along behind.It was difficult to stay ahead of Lord Bayar’s long legs, with her more limited stride and fancy shoes.Eventually she allowed him to take her elbow, feeling the sting of power through the wizard’s fingers.Use your trader face, she said to herself.They followed the covered walkway from castle to church, crossing the courtyard that represented the separation between church and state, between holy and profane.The weather was growing worse, and the wind lashed strands of her carefully coiffed hair around her face.At any moment, it appeared the skies would open.She wondered if her father was out in the storm somewhere, trying to get home.She said a prayer to the Maker, and to Maia, the weather-maker, for his safe return.The nave of the temple cathedral was candlelit and solemn, her path a long red-carpeted corridor between crowds of the glittering nobility, all craning their necks to catch their first glimpse of the princess heir.Raisa felt like a bride walking into temple on her father’s arm.Except this wasn’t her father, and this wasn’t her wedding.She could tell that the last-minute substitution of Lord Bayar for her father had not been announced
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