Leal rose from his chair. Behind him, he heard the rustling of the Queen's skirts as she did the same, though she had no need to. He could almost feel the hard look she was throwing on the side of his head as she called, "Enter."
The door was pushed open and, in quick strides, Hilde went in. She spared a flick of the eyes to the extra person she must not have expected to also find in the room. There were no Royal Guards outside, Leal knew, and at any other time, that would have signaled to everyone that the Queen wished to be alone.
Hilde had taken three more strides before the identity of that extra person registered, making her instantly stop in her tracks and train her full attention on him. Not holding anything back, she barked, "Out!"
"Hilde!" her elder sister barked in return. Nev
