Within a week, Attia had finalized the list names to the top twenty Guardsmen she believed most talented and skilled. Finn and Charles simply looked over the list and after finding it quite acceptable, the arrangements for the Knighting ceremony began. The women scrambled to find the perfect dress while the men had last minute alterations to their dress clothes. As such, the Seamstress' office had more orders than usual, and Anne had volunteered to work to help get as many orders completed as possible.

After Attia had finished the final touches on Finn's speech, she stopped at the Seamstress' office to see Anne. "Busy?" she asked as she leaned over Anne's work area. The majority of the table was covered by royal silver and black fabric as she delicately but quickly sewed a silver button onto the coat.

"I'm almost done actually," Anne answered. "I designed the coats for the Knights."

"Congratulations," Attia chuckled. "I like them," she said when Anne had held it up for her to see.

"I'm sure Mason will look very handsome in it," Anne teased and Attia rolled her eyes.

Before she could respond, somebody else spoke. "Who's Mason?" Casper asked as he let himself past the front desk of the office and approached Anne's work table. A few of the other ladies curtseyed to him as he passed them by.

"Nobody," Attia said with a groan. "You two need to let it go," she added when she looked at Anne.

"Attia has a crush," Anne said and Attia groaned again.

"Really?" Casper grinned as he looked up at Anne. "That'll drive Keiro mad, you know."

"I don't have a crush, and even if I did, Keiro has no room to be mad, jealous, or anything else about it," Attia declared. "What are you even doing here, Casper? You don't wear your dress coat enough for it to need mending."

"No need for the attacks because you have a crush," Casper replied, grinning even more when Attia appeared more annoyed than before. "I came to see Anne, by the way. She's been holed up in here for three days now, and I'm starting to get a little lonely," he said as he leaned over to put a kiss on her cheek. "You haven't been around in a while, Anne."

"I've been here."

"All night?" he questioned.

"You were asleep when I-" Anne stopped speaking as she cleared her throat. Even though all of Court knew the nature of their relationship, she still was too embarrassed to speak about the intimate details in front of others. In a hushed voice, she continued, "you were already asleep when I went to your room last night, and I didn't want to wake you."

Attia only laughed as she watched the pair. Without bidding goodbye, she left the office to head towards Finn's office. The room was uncharacteristically empty as it was whenever a big event was coming. Finn was behind his desk as usual, with his ever present, all purpose page boy. Against the back wall, Keiro and Lady Morgan were whispered like a pair of forbidden lovers.

"Your speech," Attia said as she handed the page over to Finn. At the sound of her voice, Keiro turned to the desk, removing his arm from Lady Morgan as he did so.

"I hear you have a date to the Knighting ceremony," Keiro called out. Attia narrowed her eyes at him as she stared across the room. When she said nothing he cleared his throat before speaking again. "One of the Knights, I heard."

"Damn it," Attia groaned as she looked down at Finn. "You're not going to have wife anymore, Finn, if she keeps telling everybody about Mason!" she threatened, obviously believing her words as he glared down at him. "And don't repeat that to anyone!" she turned her angry words to Keiro and Lad Morgan. "Either of you. If one more persons even mentions it-"

"Ok," Finn said, stopping her before she started spilling other things she wasn't exactly happy about. "I'll let Claudia know then. But for the record, I haven't heard anything about you and Mason."

"I don't like him," Attia said, as though she hadn't already made that clear.

"Who?" A voice called from behind and she turned to see who had come into the room.

"Mason," she said, genuinely surprised at his presence. She could hear Keiro snickering on the other side of the room, but she ignored him as best she could. "You have my sword," she said as she looked down at the sword he held in his hand.

"Yes," he answered as he crossed into the room and held the handle of the sword out to her. "Repaired, sharpened, and cleaned. Even the jewels."

"Thank you," Attia replied with a warm smile as she pulled the sword from the sheath to look at the blade.

"Of course," he responded before he nodded to Finn. "Your Majesty."

"Ready for the ceremony?" Finn asked. Mason laughed as he smiled widely and nodded.

"Yes, I believe so. My mother came to Court today to see it."

"I'm sure she's proud," Finn replied with a matching smile. "You've earned it… Knight Mason."

"Well, not yet, Your Majesty," he laughed before he bowed slightly and turned to leave the room. When he'd gone, Attia turned back to Finn, one hand on the handle of her sword.

"Are you sure you don't like him?" Morgan asked, teasingly, but when Attia glared up at her, Keiro pulled Morgan back even though the entire room separated the two women.

"Not when she's armed, Morgan," Keiro muttered in her ear. Attia took in a slow breath before she turned to leave the room.

On the morning of the ceremony, Attia carried her dress and shoes to Claudia's chambers, opting to take advantage of the presence of all her ladies-in-waiting rather than struggle to dress herself. When she entered the main room of the Queen's household, she found two women helping Claudia with her hair while one helped Anne. Though Anne was technically of the same ranking as all of Claudia's other ladies, she was not treated as such. She was actually of a lower ranking than most given her commoner heritage, but treated like a noblewoman by everyone. One giveaway of that was the quality of Anne's dress. It appeared fit for a Princess simply because Casper did enjoy spending his money buying lavish gifts for her.

"The screen is over there," Anne said when she noticed Attia wander into the room. She pointed to the far corner of the room where a dressing screen was set up. After slipping into her best dress, she stepped out and turned so that one of Claudia's ladies could lace her corset. Though she hadn't expected anything else, she was led to one of the vanity tables and two of Claudia's ladies worked quickly in curling her long locks and styling them up.

"Wear this one," Claudia suggested as she held out a pearl necklace for Attia to take.

"No," Attia answered as she shook her head. "I don't like necklaces."

"You always wore that silver one," Claudia commented. Attia only shrugged at the reply, deciding it wasn't the right setting to tell Claudia how she'd acquired that necklace. Needless to say, she hadn't worn it since she and Keiro split. "Well what about a bracelet?"

"They bother me, Claudia. I didn't even want my hair done."

"Stop being so difficult," Claudia chided as she retreated into another room. In a few minutes, she returned holding a number of different jewelry pieces. When Anne's hair had been completed, she wandered over as well. The women who had done Attia's hair stepped away as well, leaving Claudia and Anne standing behind Attia, picking out different jewelry pieces to dress her up in.

"No," Attia protested at every suggestion.

"I love those pearls," Anne commented and Claudia only laughed as she handed the matching necklace and bracelet set to her. "Oh, I couldn't."

"Put them on, Anne," Claudia replied as she turned back to Attia. "I think Casper is getting you some anyway," she added.

"He isn't, I'm sure," Anne replied as she admired herself in the mirror. With one finger, she traced the string of pearls around her neck before she shook her wrist to feel the pearls slide around her arm.

"Here, at least wear this one," Claudia said as she put a necklace around Attia's neck before she could protest. Attia hadn't wanted to wear any jewelry, but that was now a useless resolution. Claudia had thankfully chosen a simple chain necklace from which a beautiful sapphire pendant hung. The jewel matched the blue velvet of her gown and the chain matched the silver trim.

"I think you look quite lovely," Lady Morgan commented. The three, who had been unaware she was present, turned to her, each smiling politely. "Of course, the Crown Jewels can make anybody look their best, I'm sure."

Unsure of how to respond to such a comment, Attia lifted the bottom of her skirt from the floor as she started walking towards the door. "Well, I need to go see Finn and make sure Keiro and Casper are actually dressed and not too drunk yet, so I will see you in the ballroom," she said to Claudia and Anne. As she turned to the door, she glanced at Lady Morgan for only a moment. When she left the room, Claudia and Anne admired one another as some of the ladies-in-waiting excused themselves from the room as well. Now that everybody was dressed and prepared, they were free to leave, and Claudia had never been to strict about her ladies always attending to her. Eventually, only Lady Morgan remained in the room with Claudia and Anne.

"I don't want to be too forward, Your Majesty," Lady Morgan started, pulling Claudia and Anne's attention to her, "but is it not an odd occurrence for another woman to remain in your husband's household even after you have married?"

"No," Claudia answered simply. "And if you're suggesting that my husband and Lady Attia are involved in any way, you are too forward."

"No, of course not," Lady Morgan replied. "I just think it's curious, I suppose, for a woman to want to remain in the King's household rather than join that of her Queen's."

"You've met her, Lady Morgan," Claudia said. "She wouldn't fit in here. Of that much, you should be aware."

"Of course," Morgan answered as she nodded. Silence followed for a few moments until Morgan stepped forward towards the pair. "Would it be out of line to ask about Lady Attia and Keiro?"

"Yes," Claudia answered simply.

"It just that he doesn't say anything about her."

"Then he agrees."

In Finn's private rooms, Attia found him, Keiro, and Casper preparing themselves for the ceremony with the help of two page boys. "Do you have my speech?" Finn asked as he glanced at Attia's reflection in the mirror.

"Yes," she answered as she approached him and handed him a paper. As the two men finished dusting off his coat and making sure it fit properly, he stepped away from the mirror as he skimmed over the speech. Turning to Casper, Attia asked, "are you planning on buying Anne pearls?"

"No, why?" he responded with narrowed eyes.

"Claudia might've put the idea in her head," Attia replied.

"Damn it," Casper sighed as he turned away. Attia only laughed as she approached him and looked over his appearance. The three had opted for traditional dress and all were garbed in the royal colors. "You look sharp," he commented as he looked at Attia. "And you're taller," he added when he noticed the top of her head reached his shoulders.

"Claudia and Anne may have convinced me to wear heels," Attia admitted.

"And your hair is curly," Finn said when he peered up at her and took a moment to actually look at her.

"Yes," Attia replied. "Thank you. You both are so good at discerning the obvious."

"Don't be bitter," Casper told her. "You're even wearing jewelry, Attia. Did you feel like being pretty tonight?"

"What?" Attia snapped as she narrowed her eyes at him. She noticed Keiro look in her direction, but he wisely kept his silence. "No, don't be stupid. It's a state event."

"You never do your hair," Casper said.

"Since when do you pay attention to anything other than you?" Attia replied sharply but Casper only grinned at her.

"Have a date?"

"No," Attia snapped before she turned to Keiro. She checked his appearance, but said nothing to him before she turned to Finn. "So, just go to the back entrance of the ballroom, and you'll be announced," she told Finn before she lifted her dress and began walking towards the door.

"Aren't you going to be there?" Finn asked. She paused for a moment before she turned back to him.

"No, I took my name off of the announcer's prompt," she explained. "Just the six of you, and after you give the speech, I'll come up to the High Table."

Nobody knew how to respond to what Attia had said, so she left the room in silence, letting the door shut behind her.