Morning cold air blew past my cheeks as I clenched my hands on the edge of the stone wall and lifted my head to scour the area for the Skillmaster who could not even take a jest from a fool! My ears rang like the bells from my new summer motley did every time they touched.
I took a breath. After Galen tired from stealing my juggling balls and throwing them at me, he must have tossed them somewhere in the Women's Garden.
Once I made certain the area was cleared and no servants' children had followed me from the hallways, I jumped over the wall and landed on my feet in spite of the throbbing ache in my forehead. The Women's Garden was empty except for a girl who was perhaps a year or so older than my Catalyst. Our gazes met and she did not become frightened or furious or ready to shout at me to leave. Nor did she grab a stone to throw at me. She smiled shyly, turning toward the daffodils and picking the weeds growing amongst them.
I glanced away, searching for the place where my juggling balls must have landed. They were, in the end, soaking in the pond, the red and blue ones a shade paler than the one I had painted them as. After I retrieved them, I passed by the garden girl who looked up at me with a welcoming smile. My King needed me but I could linger for a while.
I juggled for her and told her the story of the fisherman who thought that if he could catch one hundred silver fish in a day, the next one would be of gold. She laughed and then I left the Women's Garden.
Later that evening, a bouquet of daffodils was at the base of the staircase to my tower room.