Sindra lingered near the windows, though not straying far from Signori. Her hand closed around the edge of her veil and draped it over her head, a nervous habit.
It was strange, it was not a Myrish nor Lyseni custom but she felt it was natural to drape the veil over her head, to hide her face with it. Your mother covered her face, with a wooden lacquer mask, in service to the Shadow, Sindra looked to the window and closed her eyes. I am not a little girl and I have no mother, she thought.
Sindra took a deep breath and pulled the veil back down around her shoulders, around the gown that Signori gave her to wear. She put on a smile that was more a weary sigh, the only smile she had, and turned to face the foreign court, with the whispers of feathered wings and talons scraping against the stone.