All at once the room seemed to be filled with people. Dorothea came back from the dining room, just as Eden's father arrived, laughing and talking with King Bernard, and another person with raven-black hair, very much like Eden's own.

"I do apologise, Meriadoc," Bernard was saying. "It's this blessed rush to get all business finished before Yuletide. We had the final meetings for the year with the City Council, the Merchant's Guild, and the Board of Guardians today."

"My dear Bernard, I was having a perfectly nice time in your entrance hall," Meriadoc told him. "Someone brought me sherry, and a cup of tea, and I slowly thawed myself out in front of the fire."

"Meriadoc, may I present my stepmother, the Dowager Queen Dorothea of Lindensea?" Eden heard Bernard say. "And Dorothea, I present to you our guest, King Meriadoc of Westmoreland."

Otto and Sebastian were introduced as well, and after the obligatory curtsying, bowing, and hand kissing, Eden and Lucy went over to stand by their respective parents. Eden curtsied to Bernard with a murmured, "Your Majesty."

"Eden, I'm so glad you were able to come. Lucy has been looking forward to your visit for months," Bernard said. "May I present my consort, King Philip?" His voice sounded as if he was trying not to burst with suppressed pride.

"It's wonderful to meet you at last, Eden," smiled Philip, as he took her hand to shake it. "Lucy has told us so much about you, I feel as if I know you already. And please, just call me Pip."

"Oh hello, er ... Pip," Eden said with a little stammer. "Nice to meet you too."

She stared at him curiously. Her first thought was that Pip was rather strange looking – thin and pale with a long crooked nose and eyes too large for his pointed face. Her second thought was that he was quite beautiful; if his eyes were too large, they were the colour of a summer sky, and looked at you properly, as if you really mattered. He smiled easily and warmly, and exuded elegance from the top of his glossy black hair to the tips of his red velvet boots.

The two thoughts never cancelled each other out, so that he remained in her mind as someone for whom the elements of their face didn't add up to beauty individually, but did in combination. She knew Pip had been married to Bernard for twenty years, and couldn't have been much younger than the king, but there was an ageless quality to him, so that Eden felt as if he was a boy hardly older than she.

"All these royal titles and introductions will be gone by tomorrow night," Pip said, as if guessing how Eden felt. "In Lindensea, it is a tradition at Yuletide that each is equal to another."

"At Yuletide, we say no man is a king and no man a beggar," Bernard said, turning to his guests. "I'm quite looking forward to being able to take off my crown and fine robes, and simply be Bernard."

"My wife, Lady Sybil, would usually be here to welcome you as well," Dorothea said to Meriadoc. "She is spending Yuletide in Everwick with our daughter Clarissa, who is betrothed to Prince Henry."

"Oh, congratulations to the happy couple," said Meriadoc. "We just came from Everwick Castle, and Roland never mentioned that."

"He's never said anything, but I get the feeling Uncle Roland is ... still getting used to the idea," said Bernard, with a sideways glance at Dorothea.

That lady gave a sniff of displeasure, and said, "If everyone would like to come through to the dining room, I have arranged a hot dinner to be served. I thought our guests may prefer to eat in our private apartments tonight, rather than the court dining rooms."

"Oh yes, we're a bit too travel stained for public scrutiny," Meriadoc said gratefully. "You'd rather do that, wouldn't you Eden?"

"If we went and cleaned ourselves up first, we'd be very late or keep people waiting," Eden said.

"They can eat you alive at the court dining rooms," Otto said to her. "They notice everything about your clothes, hair, and person, and will dissect it endlessly."

He gave her one of his penetrating yet distant looks, which left her thoroughly aware that her brown woollen travelling dress looked rumpled and her hair badly in need of a comb. Eden's father took her hand comfortingly, seeing her expression.

"Well, you don't need to worry about that once Yuletide begins," Pip assured them. "The rule is for everyone to wear bright, colourful, comfortable party clothes during the season."

"Yes, we're here to have fun and mix with all levels of society, not to impress others," Bernard agreed. 

With this statement, he led them all into the dining room, which had beautiful panelled walls and a table set with fine linen, porcelain and silver.

"Please, sit anywhere," Bernard said to everyone, gesturing vaguely around the table as he sat down at its head. "This is an informal family meal."

Eden had hoped to sit next to Lucy, but her father held out the chair next to him for her to take, and then Otto smoothly slid into the seat on the other side. Sebastian sat opposite her, and Lucy was next to him, so Eden could at least talk across the table with her.

Conversation remained general during the first course, a hearty soup that made Eden realise how hungry she had been. There was wine for the grown ups, and a sweet, tart elderberry cordial for Eden and Lucy; Eden was surprised that Pip drank the cordial as well, in preference to wine. Meriadoc told Bernard about arriving just minutes too late for the gate, and their problems getting in.

"Your gatekeeper is a stickler for the rules," Meriadoc said ruefully. "At one point, I was sure he was going to banish us all to the nearest village for the night."

"I'm glad you managed to talk him round," Bernard said. "Knowing old Papworth, you would have had to grease his palm a fair amount."

Everybody except Lucy and Pip laughed when Meriadoc mentioned making an offering to Mercury when they arrived. As far as Eden could work out, the joke was it was something every traveller did when they arrived in Camden, and they had behaved like the freshest of bumpkins, down from the country.

"Still, I think it good to make an offering," Dorothea said tactfully. "When I first came to Lindensea, we made an offering at the Wintertide Temple before approaching the castle."

"We did at that," Bernard said. "It's always been the custom for Lindensea royalty to do so."

It was when they had begun on meat pie and vegetables that Lucy said, "Bernard, may Eden and I go to the Yuletide Markets tomorrow?"

"As long as Dorothea agrees, I can't see why not," Bernard said, giving a quick look at his stepmother, who nodded.

"Yes you may, Lucy," Dorothea said. "You could do Yuletide shopping for the castle while you were there."

As Lucy descended into smiles, thanks, and a little wink at Eden, Bernard said, "I'll arrange it for half past ten, if that's alright."

Lucy only looked at Eden, so she said, "Oh ... yes, thank you. Whatever suits Lucy."

Lucy returned to her meal with a wide smile, and a little nudge from Sebastian that seemed to be more teasing, although Lucy didn't seem to mind this time.

Eden wasn't aware there was a faint faraway smile on her face when Otto said, "Lucy had a wonderful time staying with you in the summer. She's done nothing but talk about Eden and sailing and Castle Avalon since she got home."

"I really liked having her there," Eden said, before adding, "and so did my father, and everyone at the castle."

"Castle Avalon must be absolutely charming," Otto said with a smile. "Lucy made it sound delightful – a quaint, funny, little, old place." He seemed to have deliberately left long pauses between each adjective, as if to make each one stand out as starkly as possible.

"Is that what she said?" Eden said slowly, feeling as if Otto had suddenly punched her in the stomach. "Those exact words?"

"Yes, certainly," Otto said, sounding a little hurt to be doubted. "She wrote letters to all of us, and in each one that's how she described Castle Avalon."

Eden had completely lost her appetite, and couldn't manage even one of the delicious looking puddings that were on offer. The idea that Lucy would laugh about Eden's home behind her back was something she would never have believed, but Otto seemed so sure of it.

Eden suddenly felt dead tired – bone tired, as if her eyes were hollow. Unconsciously, she slumped over her plate with her head bowed.

"I think Eden is absolutely done in," Meriadoc said, putting a hand on her arm to steady her. "Perhaps she could be excused from the table?"

"But of course, you have been travelling all day," Dorothea said. "Lucy, have you finished eating? Take Eden upstairs as soon as you have, please. The poor child must be exhausted."

"Yes, Mummy," said Lucy, getting up and taking a fruit tart to eat on the way. "Come on Eden. Let's go to bed."

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LINDENSEA LORE

No. 256 in the Catalogue: Lady Clarissa FitzPeters, on the Occasion of Her Betrothal to Prince Henry of Everwick, 1456 of the Saxon Era by Sir Drogo Baskerville. From the private collection of the Lindensea Royal Family, currently on loan to the National Portrait Gallery of Everwick. Lady Clarissa, known as The Fair Maid of Lindensea, later became Queen Clarissa, consort to King Henry IV of Everwick.