@quaggan
The court of Dreamhaven was always a splendid place, even when nothing all that interesting was happening. Magical lights fluttered just out of reach, near the ceiling of the grand hall, and every wall was strung with flowered garlands, the scent of honeysuckle and lavender always present on the air. Typically it was a bustle of activity, but on this day it was rather subdued, peaceful.
On this particular day, the crown princess had been confined to the palace on the orders of her parents, and she was moping the day away perched on the sill of one of the massive windows that took up almost the entirety of the western-most wall.
Krysta sighed and let her head lean against the ever-so-slightly gold-tinted pane of glass, watching the bustle of the palace courtyard below.
Far below. The palace itself was grown into the trunk of a massive, ancient willow tree, and the courtyard was nestled among its roots, its borders gently brushed by the drooping leaves and branches, veiling the palace from the rest of the city. The princess of Dreamhaven fluttered her wings unconsciously as she pouted and stared out, trying to get a glimpse of the wider forest beyond through the green curtain.
"Your Highness?"
"Mm?" She lifted her head and turned toward the voice- Anfelath, one of the stewards. "Yes, Annie, what is it?"
The old pixie crinkled up his nose at the nickname, but he didn't press the issue. "Well, your mother and father thought perhaps you might like to hear an old ballad or some such, something to keep your mind occupied. You've been rather...despondent of late."
Krysta rolled her eyes and took to the air, hovering with her feet just above the floor. "If Mother and Father really wanted me to cheer up, they'd let me go
out," she said with a finely arched eyebrow. Anfelath blustered, but before he could really say anything she waved him off and sighed, "No, it's alright. I'd...be happy to hear this new minstrel. That is what you were leading up to, isn't it?"
There'd been rumors around the palace that her parents were thinking of bringing a minstrel- a real, proper, official one- into the court, so she assumed that's what the steward was getting at. He nodded and bowed curtly.
"I'll fetch him then, highness. Do wait here." He glided back out of the hall.
Krysta sighed again and drifted back toward the window, toes barely skimming the ground. "Don't I always?"