"The king and queen, of course. Only, you missed them. They were here two weeks ago and they don't make appearances too often. As for me, it's been four months since I first arrived." He scratched the back of his neck, only now having a thought he hadn't had before. "Might have been the first time they'd collected anyone like us. At least, for a while. There weren't any other shardholders at the castle who'd been there more than a day."