Lots of action on the castle grounds

A princess is allowed to do nothing on her balcony, especially if a prince isn't likely to appear.

All it takes is a little attention to detail to see things that otherwise get missed. Princesses are notorious for missing details because they're much too preoccupied with themselves.

Today, while doing nothing on my balcony, knowing a prince wasn't likely to appear, and disgustingly preoccupied with myself, I had a little thought. It was Look! It was such a tiny thought that I almost didn't think it.

Look!

So I did.




And the first thing I saw was a castle guard on the lavender. He was shorter than most, only about 1" long. But he had made it this far so I knew he'd grow big and strong.










Which is good because there was a thief in the castle!!! Ugh!!! The thief had already stripped dozens of leaves from Fair Bianca and was in the process of taking more. We quickly pulled him off the rose and gave him a grisly end.













It's a good thing we got rid of the thief because the queen had left bowls of emeralds all around one of her lavender plants. That was a totally irresponsible thing for her to do. tsk tsk. The glittering emeralds surely looked tempting to a thief.



The glitter no doubt attracted all manner of folk to the castle. Such as the masses of maidens and noble ladies.

















They flocked through the halls, giggling and whispering, shocked and intrigued at the queens lavish display of her wealth.








Meanwhile, a small troupe of jesters and acrobats carried on across the courtyard. The maidens giggled at the jesters' antics as they juggled their sunny yellow clubs.






















It was the job of the acrobats to entertain the queen. But the queen was much too hot and bored to appreciate their riotous tumbling.













I looked over at the queen. She was so hot that she didn't even bother to arrange her robes neatly. Rather, she semi-reclined in her throne, her skirts all in disarray.














A peasant looked on from afar, wondering if he should hold his petition for another day. With all the heat, the cucumbers were failing and the queen simply had to do something about it.











The peasant waited until one of the queen's advisors appeared. Alas, his pinched scowl didn't make him appear approachable on this hot day. The peasant sighed.






The best action was taking place near the railing. I noticed a young princess leaning against the terra cotta wall demurely covering her face with her fan. No doubt a suitor must be near.













Ah yes, a noble prince stood handsomely across the castle grounds, watching her intently.









And that's what I saw when I looked.