lady clare ; of marya:
since her friend had took her rightful place as the princess of marya , things have been going fairly smoothly. the rebellion was silenced , needless now that their king had shown a different , more approachable & invested face. they no longer had the need or the excuse to overthrow him & put alina in his place & everyone was happy about it - as far as she knew. there had been moments when she had wondered if the queen stella was as bad as she appeared , but after further conversing with the woman , arysin had found it that she was most unpleasant indeed. she started to sympathise with the king for having to be married to her but she was aware that politics demanded such sacrifices.
standing beside her sister & their friends , lady clare observed the people - both maryan & foreign , her gaze drawn to numerous lords & ladies in attendance. she had tried to make out royalty from nobility , but had it not have been for the telling crowns atop their heads , there was nothing in their stature , no overinflated air of importance about them , they were simply people in attendance. finding her goblet empty , arysin excused herself from eryn’s company , leaving her in good hands with foreign ladies & lords , & approached the king who had happened to be sitting by himself. smiling politely , she accepted the offer & sat herself beside the king. “ & why are you on your own , your majesty ? “ she asked , curiosity getting the better of her manners.
HE REMEMBERED SEEING LADY CLARE around the court, but they’ve never interacted besides a hello and a goodbye. Being his wife’s lady in waiting couldn’t have been an easy job and he immediately felt sorry for the lady for having to endure his wife daily, for more hours than Ethan had endured her since probably the early happy years of their marriage. “Lady Clare, what a pleasure.” He greeted her with a smile and shrugged at her question. He was on his own because everyone else had been a little tiresome for the night and he’d needed a respite from endless well-wishers and painted, not-so-subtle smiles of some interesting ladies; but he’d had his mistress close by and he hardly needed another one. Phoebe had proven to bee sincere enough in her affections.
“A moment of respite, I’d say.” He replied, stretching over the table for a pitcher, before filling both his and lady Clare’s glass. “How do you enjoy yourself, lady Clare? Is your sister in attendance?” Ethan asked, rounding the room in a gaze, briefly spotting lady Eryn, before turning his gaze and attention to lady Arysin.















