"My name is Ollie Heartwood, and Ashlynn asked me to take you to her when you arrived…"
Maela's heart leaped toward her throat the instant she heard Ashlynn's name on the young knight's lips, and for a moment, she was too overwhelmed to respond. Years of practice at court, however, quickly pulled her out of her shocked silence, even if she was responding more on trained reflexes than anything else.
"Please, come in from the cold, Sir Ollie," Maela said, scooting over on her seat in the carriage to make room for the young knight. "I hope you haven't been waiting too long for us at the gate."
"Not that long," Ollie said politely as he climbed into the carriage, glancing briefly at the floorboards and shaking his head before he took his seat. "Compared to Sir Marcel, I've been very comfortable."
"Sir Marcel?" Micheline asked, caught genuinely off guard by the honorific applied to such a shady individual. "He's a knight?"
