Why is it so quiet in the Duchy?

It's very, very quiet in the Duchy these days. You might almost call it ominous. Of course, Dotland is quiet all the time without Pink and Navy, although Pink came back for visit today. However, even the villages and libraries seem very quiet. Several weeks ago the Black Queen called for meetings and focus groups and committees and possibly even covens but no one has seen any signs of even small committee meetings. And Silver has been wondering what happened to her promised new robes. Of course, they were to be designed by one of the committees. This disturbed some of Silver's friends. However, Silver reads Vogue. She knows that great costumes take collaboration, multiple brains, a gathering of specialized talents, the pattern maker, the seamstress, the bead embroidery specialists, the braid makers. However, there has been no sign of committees much less any braid making, sewing, weaving, dyeing or other design activity. Has the Black Queen managed to silence everyone by dangling committees in front of them? Is this the ominous silence of waiting for the Sword of Rightsizing and the Axe of Nickleby to fall? Or is it the grateful silence of villagers being let alone to do their jobs? But never mind all that. What happened to those robes?!