"I am sure she will be delighted."

And the following day:

I got a pigeon. I was not expecting literally a pigeon.

Oh, man. Was it one of the fancy ones with a feather collar thing?

And a little ribbon!!!

Oh, fancy. What was the content of the message?

I'm to be there tonight at twelve past eight, formally invited by the Queen through her Voice, Dear Kind Sweetness, yadda yadda.

Gosh, so formal.

Very fancy paper and ink, too.

Scented? Maybe flower petals fell out when you opened it?

Yes scented, no petals, sadly.

Too bad. Maybe next time.

Maybe! Anyway, are you going to be there tonight?

Of course!

So that evening, ten minutes before she's supposed to show, she's in the park, sitting on a bench.

"Hi, gorgeous!"

She looks up from her phone. "Hello! Can you help me solve a little riddle?"

"Of course!"

"The letter I got does not specify whether I should be in front of the tree at the appointed time or in the court, and I'm pretty sure that was on purpose so that I'm wrong no matter which option I take: if I go in, how dare I be so insolent; if I don't, what was I waiting for, a personal invitation?"

"I honestly don't know."

"Oh well," she sighs. "Then what image do I want to project? I want to be—respected, they're not supposed to underestimate me, but I don't want to be too insolent..."

"I would always err on the side of caution and try not to insult them. Do you think you can project both confidence and deference?"

"I can, but I'm not sure it's the right image to."

"Perceptive and deferent? You respect them and maybe even kiss their asses, but you notice things so they won't trick you or anything."

"No, the opposite, I approach them as equals."

"Risky, but could work. It's not like you live here."