✦ Chapter 52 ✦
Anna had just stepped into the vast palace kitchen when her name was called across the clatter of copper pots and the hiss of rising steam. The scent of freshly baked bread and honeyed porridge hung thick in the air, curling through the rafters like a lazy morning mist. She turned at once, her hands folding neatly before her as her gaze fell upon the head maid, who stood rigid and composed beside the long oak counter.
"Yes?" Anna asked softly.
The older woman beckoned her closer with a subtle motion of her fingers, her sharp eyes flicking toward the corridor as though the walls themselves might be listening. Anna obeyed, weaving her way past bustling servants until she stood only a step away.
"Go and call Her Highness," the head maid instructed in a low, efficient tone. "Breakfast is already laid in the dining hall. His Majesty and Her Majesty are waiting."
