AYLETH
Bleary eyed and exhausted, Ayleth groaned when a servant girl woke her after only a couple hours.
"The Queen wishes to share breakfast with you in your private chambers," the girl whispered, looking very nervous. Her mother must be in a mood—no doubt after too much wine the night before.
"Very well. Please send in my maid," she said, her voice rough with lack of sleep. The girl darted off, looking relieved, and Ayleth forced herself to sit up and wake.
An hour later she regarded herself in the mirror and winced. Her hair looked wonderful, but her eyes were shadowed with bruises from lack of sleep. "We must finish up. The Queen will be here in a moment," Ayleth said, straightening the wisps of her gold-red hair around her face. The maid went very still. "You have done very well, do not worry," she added softly to the girl whose face had paled. "Just, finish quickly."
