Her chaperones led the way. They passed through a side gallery Lucrezia had not noticed before, its windows narrower, its walls less adorned.
The air shifted as they descended a short flight of stone steps and emerged into the rear grounds of the palace, a place half hidden from the grand courtyards and public gardens.
The space opened into what could only be referred to as magnificent. It was quieter than the places she'd been, enclosed by low stone walls veined with creeping ivy. Beyond it stretched a small training field brushed with pale winter grass, and further still, a thin forest line that swayed like a dark fringe against the horizon.
Lucrezia immediately spotted Vespera. She noticed what she had not before. Unlike the flowing silks and intricate gowns worn within the palace halls, Vespera was dressed in fitted riding leathers the color of deep plum, reinforced at the seams with subtle silver stitching.
