The summons arrives on a Tuesday morning, delivered by a palace secretary in formal dress who stands at the ward door with a sealed letter and the expression of a man who has been told to wait for an acknowledgment.
I take the letter. I break the seal. I read it.
King Denton requests the presence of Lady Ava Varder in the throne room at midday. The word requests is doing a great deal of work in that sentence. I have been in this palace long enough to understand that when the King requests something, the word is decorative. The meaning underneath it is different.
I fold the letter. I hand it back to the secretary. "Tell him I will be there," I say.
The secretary bows and leaves. Fenris, who has been pretending to organize his instruments on the other side of the room, turns around with the expression of a man who has been listening carefully and is now deciding how to respond to what he heard.
"You should eat something first," he says.
"I know," I say.
