This is a great chapter. You really made me feel sorry for Amaranthe and you've got me rooting for her and Garvin to eventually truly fall in love as a married couple.

I love fantasy novels that involve politics and scandals, so this sounds great. Pretty good writing too, although you tend to overuse commas. First sentence, no need for the comma after Lady Sienne. There are a few other places, though I'm not going to point out them all.

Good start. I hope to see the next chapter soon.