Morning arrived without warmth. The occasion of the day wasn't one to ward off the harsh winter temperature.
Light filtered into Lucrezia's chamber in pale bands, silvered by its high windows touching the edges of carved stone and dark wood. She lay awake long before the servants came, staring at the canopy above her bed while listening to the distant hush of Blackvale stirring itself awake.
Her body felt heavy, weighted by something more than fatigue and her limbs ached faintly, as though she had tensed through sleep rather than rested. Well, she hadn't entirely relaxed.
Yesterday's encounter lingered in her mind since the moment her consciousness returned. Lucrezia hadn't been able to calm the restlessness buried deep within, drawn between what occurred at and after the banquet.
She could still recall the images like a clear picture in her mind. Regardless, above everything else, today was the Trial of Severance.
