"Yes, Princess."
Inge saluted blankly, faced the front once again, and ever-so-casually brought his left hand up to the handhold nearest him. Soon after, he was leaning some of his weight against it.
Yet when the Prince's wheeled bier also began to move, it was through no help from him—or from any of the royal women, for that matter. Observing that part of the funeral rites was traditionally optional.
The Hilde of before would have done it, anyway, weakened or not. Wiser now, she also didn't expend energy to help push. She must preserve what she could of her strength for the challenge ahead.
Though slow in pace, the funeral procession was soon well on its way. The head of the column was just exiting the courtyard through the archway when Hilde heard a female voice calling her frantica
