Sigrid's hands moved from the back to the front and she interlocked them, not because she needed to but because she had to stop herself from stuffing Karl's mouth shut with some of those daffodils.
Her face was immaculate, only the brief narrowing of her eyes told those that were watching her that she was unhappy.
Karl was one of them and he smiled secretly as if he had hit the bullseye.
"My man...shut up." One of the ministers whispered.
Roland put his arm around Sigrid's shoulder and smiled. The smile was slow and exact, diplomacy stilled, just as Sigrid had taught him.
"The fact that noble families too fell prey to the schemes of the phantom midwife is a representation of a serious problem that we have in this empire. Rogue mages." He said evenly, each words extracted with deliberation, "Ever since the laws on magic and mages were changed, we have been encouraging all the mages in hiding to come out in the open.
