“I didn’t.”
“Lucky guess then.” She grins. I like her smile. “What’s your name?” she asks between bites.
“Kian, but my friends call me Ki.”
She screws up her nose in the cutest expression. “That doesn’t make sense. If your name is pronounced ‘key-inn’”—she draws out my name—“then why in the gods’ names would they call you something that rhymes with ‘sky?’”
I laugh and shrug. “No idea, but you shouldn’t swear.”
“I can do what I want,” she says defensively. “Sort of.”
“Ladies aren’t supposed to swear,” I retort.
“Ladies aren’t supposed to do a lot of things.” She sighs. “I bet you get to play outside all the time and climb trees and have adventures like I read about in books.”
I frown. “You’re not allowed to play outside?”
“Papa says it’s not safe.”
“Why? Because you’re a girl?”
She shrugs. “He’s never really explained it. Just says it can make me sick.”
“That seems silly.”
She nods.
“What if you went outside with an escort? Would that make it safer?”
She shrugs again. “I don’t know . . .”
I look around the room, noting that Father and Mother are completely distracted by Lord and Lady Astoria and the babies, who finally stopped crying. Colin is perusing a large bookshelf and appears to be reading the titles. Finally, I spot a glass door that leads out onto some kind of terrace, and an idea pops into my mind.
“How about we find out?” I ask.
Raelyn frowns. “Find out what?”
“If it’s safe to go out . . . with me.”
She bites her lip and shakes her head. “Father would never allow it.”
I shrug. “Our parents look rather busy right now, wouldn’t you say? My brother always says it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.”
She hesitates for a moment before a sparkle of mischief lights her eyes. “Okay, maybe just real quick.”
A thrill of adrenaline courses through me as I offer my hand and she takes it. We casually walk toward the table of treats, as if we’re just getting another snack. I peek over my shoulder and see the adults are still lost in conversation, so we veer off to the side and try the door.
To my excitement, the door is unlocked, and we slip out onto the terrace that’s aglow in the late afternoon sun.
“Well?” I ask. “You haven’t burst into flames. Are you all right?”
Raelyn giggles and twirls in a circle. “It smells so fresh and clean out here.”
I scrunch my nose and sniff. Smells normal to me. “Want to go explore?”
“Sure!” she says excitedly.
I take her hand again, and we run toward the gardens.
