Gone

Seraphina didn't look up from what she was doing as she replied, "When I was a young lass, my Pa used to lock me in my chamber because I wanted a different life than the one he chose for me. I would sneak out of the palace to see the world outside and meet a lad I had befriended. He was a blacksmith's son with many skills up his sleeves. He taught me how to unlock all sorts of locks..." Her voice trailed off, and though Ave could only see her profile, she noticed the sadness that flickered across her expression as she spoke of her youth.

"What happened to him?" Ave asked curiously, finding it hard to believe that a woman like the Fourth Consort—who was so adamantly against her children associating with anyone of lower status—could have once been friends with a blacksmith's son and even sneaked out to meet him.