Secretly, Raisa was pleased with the fashion mandate. Approved colors for boys and girls on their name day were spun-sugar shades of blue, pink, and green. Black and white was deemed much too sophisticated for them.

She’d not been alone with Micah since their argument outside her room. They’d been at table together in the dining room, surrounded by courtiers, exchanging stiffly polite comments on the food and the weather.

He’d continued to ply her with small gifts, notes, and proposals, but she’d never responded. She often felt the pressure of his eyes across a crowded room.

Holding a grudge against Micah had grown tedious, though. She’d decided it was time to forgive him, in honor of his name day. Her heart beat faster at the thought of seeing him again, of sparring with him in conversation and the possibility of stolen kisses. Life was much more interesting with Micah Bayar in it.

She was also pleased because it would be another opportunity to see Amon. Though there was no love lost between Micah and Amon, the Bayars wouldn’t dare exclude the cadets.

Many of them were younger sons and daughters of the prominent nobility. Name day parties were a chance for them to connect with a fortune through marriage.

“Your Highness, it’s nearly time,” her comber complained. “And I need to get at your hair.”

Raisa backed onto a high stool and sat while her comber coaxed her hair into a cascade of ringlets pinned high on her head.

Raisa heard a commotion in the corridor outside her room; then the door flew open and the queen swept in, resplendent in white satin sashed in black, wearing a necklace of pearls and black onyx.

Queen Marianna walked all the way around Raisa, inspecting her from every angle, a small frown on her face. She poked disapprovingly at Elena’s battered ring, which hung on its chain above Raisa’s bodice. “You don’t mean to wear this.”

Raisa shrugged. “Well, I thought I…”

“What about the diamond pendant, Your Highness?” Magret said, rummaging through Raisa’s jewelry case. “Or your pearl choker, that’d be lovely.”

“What did the Bayars send for your name day?” Queen Marianna asked. “Jewelry, wasn’t it?”

“Here we are!” Magret pounced, seizing a velvet box. She opened it and turned it toward the queen. It was the emerald and ruby serpent necklace.

“Perfect!” Marianna said. “You can wear this in their honor.”

“Well,” Raisa said uncertainly. “Maybe I could wear both together.” She’d grown used to the weight of the ring settled between her breasts. She liked having it there.

“Nonsense,” Queen Marianna said. She lifted the chain over Raisa’s head and set Elena’s ring on the dressing table, then circled Raisa’s neck with the emerald pendant, fastening the clasp with cool, dry fingers.