The Festivities Begin

They arrived at the palace in much of the same fashion as the previous evening: the knights being announced and their horses taken by stable hands. 

However, the difference was the dress of the people standing around the gardens, sipping imported wine in fine golden chalices. 

The dresses of the women were much larger than the night before. It caused Henry to wonder if they would fit through most doorways. The men, on the other hand, wore hosen the way that the tailor offered earlier. Henry was glad he decided not to go that route. They looked vulnerable in that way. 

As Henry stepped forward onto the brick path from the cobblestoned street, he tossed his cloak backward and unhid his arms, already feeling like it was suffocating him.