"Ah," Elia's tone was amused. "But then what to call you?" In answer to his own questions, she merely sighed.
"I am a lady, my lord of shadows. And yes, Aeny was--" Elia's voice faltered as she remembered the conversation with Kaelyn. The funeral. She'd missed the funeral. The Dragonpit... Mother's mercy. Please let Jaehaerys have been there. "Aeny was loved," she said softly when she could speak again. "She was so sweet, but young. Her sixteenth nameday, Aeria held a contest of singers. Jaehaerys crowned her queen of love and beauty when she was fourteen... she was so beautiful and so quiet. But she was loved. And abandoned. And she died alone, in blood and pain and none of us were there." The bitterness welled up again. All the knights who swore to protect her, and what good had it done?