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no drawback there.”
    This time the Queen’s throaty laugh sounded like a cat’s purr. “And therein lies the genius of assigning Lady Charis to her wardrobe. Lady Charis is much enamored of the styles from her cousin’s land of Lytheria, the ones that emphasize waiflike proportions and pale skin. Obviously none of us is suited to the style, and none of us wishes to look like draped poles or famine victims, but Andromeda is the perfect model for such garments. Between Kyria’s plan to give her oculars that will make her look like an owl, and Charis’s Lytherian gowns in colors that will make her look like a ghost, any ambassador that comes sniffing about will think the child is about to fade away from consumption.” She lowered her lidsin satisfaction at his look of surprise. “I’ve told you a hundred times if I’ve told you once, Solon, that fashion is a weapon, and you never believe me.”
    He spread his hands wide. “Once again, you leave me dazzled.”
    â€œOnce again, I demonstrate that our abilities are complimentary,” she replied, sipping her wine. “On the whole, this evening has been entirely satisfactory.”
    â€œShould I put her to a task?” he asked. She shook her head.
    â€œNot yet. She’ll be busy with the setting up of her new household. Charis will appear first thing with fabric and seamstresses—she’ll feel she has to know everything about her household, even though Thalia is perfectly capable of making it all run seamlessly and invisibly. And while I am at it, I believe I will send over some of the furnishings from the Dowager Queen’s household that have been in storage, to replace everything that dates from Andromeda’s childhood. This will serve two functions—having so much to think about will prevent her from recalling all the servants and Guards I am going to replace, until it is too late to bring them back, and organizing her rooms will keep her a little unsettled.” She licked her lips. “I want her unsettled. I never want her to be comfortable or confident. I want her always to be a little unbalanced. While she is off balance, she will not think to look much beyond what she is told to look for. Ambition—in moderation. I want her ambition to go no further than to please me. I want her controlled.”
    â€œI think that can be arranged, Majesty,” Solon replied dryly. “I am nothing if not an expert at keeping people unsettled.”
    â€œSo you are,” she purred, and flicked a curl back over her shoulder with one finger. “So you are.”
    Â 
    When Andie woke the next morning, it was in a mixed frame of mind; she’d had odd dreams all night, reflecting her ambivalence. On the one hand, she was about to lose her six dearest friends and protectors, people who had been more nearly parents to her than her own mother. But on the other hand—
    â€œGood morrow, Princess!” A brand-new maid dressed in a gown of green and silver swept into the room carrying a tray, which she set down on Andie’s bed. Then she handed Andie the oculars from the bedside table, something the other maids had never done. Andie put them on and watched her, a bit taken aback while the maid went around the room, flinging back the draperies from the windows. The tray held herb tea, buttered bread, fruit and sheep’s-milk yogurt mixed with honey, something Andie particularly liked first thing in the morning. It was, in fact, breakfast in bed. In her entire life, Andie had never had the treat of breakfast in bed…for that matter, in her entire life, Andie had never had exactly the breakfast she liked best without having to ask for it, and even then, more times than not, she hadn’t gotten it.
    â€œI am your new handmaiden, and my name is Iris,” the girl announced, returning to the bedside.She was, truth to tell, a rather plain, freckle-faced girl, big-boned and