Book 2: Breaking Down Barriers

Anwen

I tap my feet against the solarium floor, fighting an instinct that demands I pace.

She’s coming, Baz reminds me without looking away from the spread on the table in front of us. I called him back from the chase leading ever closer to the castle because there’s no one else who could sit at my side for this. I’ll send him back out as soon as we’re done here, a piece of information he didn’t take very kindly to.

A servant brings in the final few plates and squeezes them onto the table.

I may have overdone it with the food. The castle library didn’t tell me anything about what Sundrop Gem eats for lunch, so I decided I’d rather not miss something important. At least a dozen plates cover the tiled tabletop, and more will be coming out as we finish these. Unseasonable fruits imported from distant kingdoms sit between hearty stews putting off steam. Three dishes of bread sit at one end of the table and three more on the other.

The glass