Avril nodded, only knowing of Adrian rather than actually knowing him. Alessandra's life beyond the palace was a mystery to her, though her friend spoke much of it. Avril wondered what it must be like to walk so free among normal people, to be a face amongst others when you wanted and to have such varied society. She had nothing like that, for there was only company when a party was held and that was not what she wanted.
Still her friend had her own concerns.
"Or Edward," she said, partly to herself. "I don't think he'd dare object should he be interested in more."
She said this as an idle thought, knowing too well this would not come off well. It would mean deceiving too many people, including most the country.
"Maybe I should flirt with him," she said teasingly to her friend. "I wonder what he would do if I pretended to show him some interest."
Avril was not the kind of girl to give any man such encouragement, she was too innocent of them for that. Still, she didn't know how to appeal to Lambert that Alessandra had no interest.
"It's a shame you don't have someone you like that you could tell him," she said. "Is there no boy in the kingdom which attracts your eye?"