"After you M'Lady?"<br/>Ingram stepped towards her so that he could speak quietly.<br/>"And with a less sour face I think, we wouldn't want the children to be<em>upset</em>now would we?"<br/><br/>With a nod to the guards, two young girls, no more than ten appeared in front of them.<br/>Fresh faced and dressed in ivory silk, their hair brushed and adorned with ribbons, they were hardly recognisable to the two daughters of the Councilman, that Sonja knew.<br/>They looked up expectantly at her, excited that they had been chosen, baskets of rose petals at the ready to throw on the ground before her feet.<br/><br/>"See how beautiful our little princesses are Lady Sonja?"<br/>Ingram, now speaking in a louder voice hunched down so that his eyes became level with the girls.<br/>"They have a wonderful life ahead of them, don't you think?"