All right, the more I read about Colette, the more I vehemently dislike her. I suppose she's more of the 'tough love' variety, perhaps trying to teach Fara of being worthy of her name and status, but there's such a lack of support and guidance for her daughter that's going to bite her in the end if she's not careful. (I'm not referring so much to the sledding fiasco, since I'm betting she didn't know the half of it, but the casual dismissal of Fara when she said the other kids were being horrible to her.)

I do love Jael, though--what a spitfire! Even if she wound up getting hurt, she really did hold her own back there. But it's still not Fara's fault she's so gentle-hearted.

Your imagery and world-building is wonderful, as always--somehow that casual light spell in the morning with that maid really brought things to life!