Chapter Forty-One

“How are you doing?” Sophie asked me several hours later.

“My feet are killing me, and I nearly tripped on my dress,” I admitted.

Her eyes went wide. “What?”

“I'm fine,” I assured her. “The lace on the train of my dress is just a little loose.”

I turned, showing her how the very edge of the gown was worn. The beautifully worked lace kept catching in my shoe if I raised the heel of my foot too high.

She sighed with relief. “That's something we can deal with. I thought you might have had a real problem. Did you make conversation with anyone?”

“I spoke with the King of Navia.” I pointed to a man around my father's age wearing a very elaborate uniform.

Sophie's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “And? Please tell me it went well.”

“He was very kind. He just arrived here today for the official delegation,” I explained. “He said that I looked so lovely and that I made him laugh. He offered to introduce me to his son because he would love a daughter-in-law like me.”

I took a perverse sense