*Isolde*
“So you flew a kite and then you climbed a tree?” Brielle’s brow furrows. “It sounds most peculiar to me.” We retreated to her bedchamber after the evening meal.
“The kite was stuck in the tree,” I explain.
Brielle puts down her cup of tea. “When are you going to grow up, Isolde?” Her tone is uncharacteristically sharp.
I feel a pucker of hurt. “I consider myself to be grown up.”
“You climb trees,” Brielle says, counting off the fingers on her left hand. “You think it’s amusing to insult a Luna princess. You bring Lucy into the house when you know that you could simply put her in the stables; Rupert would never be the wiser. You jest about with beta Justin as if you and he were the same age… and he is a very young sixteen.”
“I could not lie to Rupert about Lucy,” I say, seiz
