After only two days in Princess Amaya's presence, Vitara found it harder and harder to summon the bitterness she'd once clung to. Despite herself, she couldn't hate the princess. She was impossible to dislike — disarming in her sincerity, her joy so pure that it was like watching sunlight pour through stained glass. She was genuinely happy for her and Raquim to be together. When Raquim paid the princess more attention, Amaya did everything to turn that attention into opportunities for her and the crown prince to become more intimate.
Now she understood why Tamara adored her, and why Amaya was Raquim's "white moonlight." There was something in her — a brightness, a gentleness — that made people gravitate toward her without realizing it. Her smile wasn't calculated; it was simply real. And when she laughed, her eyes sparkled with an innocence untouched by the world's malice.
