I wonder if Valette’s out yet…. He’d tried to find her once his meeting was over, but apparently she’d been in a private gathering of her own. That girl, he thought lazily, is far too interested in politics for her own good. Perhaps he was just jealous—only a few months in court, and she already seemed to be more competent than he was. She was so fearless, so bold, so…interesting. She didn’t fit any of the courtly stereotypes he’d been taught to expect. Could Jastes be right? he wondered. She certainly is different from other women, and she did imply there were things about her I didn’t know.
