"Oh, excuse me." Came that oddly enticing voice as she stepped out of his way. No one ever had trouble hearing her, men in particular, no matter how soft she spoke, and it was not because she was at all loud but because she was what she was. There might have been more than a little of that compulsion in her voice, the compulsion that made everyone stop and listen to her when she spoke to them. It made her nearly impossible to ignore, which was likely why she was always careful with her words. Better to be silent and unnoticed, she believed, than to be the center of attention and make a fool of herself. And she was sure she would make a fool of herself, after all she was just a Northern woman from the middle of nowhere, parties were rare enough for her but this gala was far more grand than she was used to, especially when filled with so many that ranked above her.
The black velvet hooded-gown she wore seemed to compliment the black fabric she wore under her clothes, though she was grateful of the golden threads lining it otherwise she feared she would have seemed like some spectre of death with all that black. She had brought the gown with her, the finest she owned at the moment, and had been encouraged to wear it because while it was elegant it was also simple and unlikely to upstage the Queen. She could only hope the other ladies had been right as she already towered over the Queen and wished not to stand out and more than she already did.
Of course, in a setting like this with the company they had, someone so covered up and yet blessed with such a voice was already going to stand out like a sore thumb.