Shady

"But trees drown if submerged in water," Lia said, furrowing her brow. She was weirdly fixated on this point for some reason.

"Yes, through their leaves," Lia answered matter-of-factly. "They breathe in bad air and then breathe out good air for land-dwelling animals." (little know it all lol)

"Not if they can't breathe," Lia pointed out.

Lia looked as confused as she felt. "So they're not alive?"

"In the sea?" Lia asked in surprise. "They have gills?" Rana resisted the urge to facepalm.

"Full of lovely birds," Rana said with a charming grin. "They're so endearing."

She clearly didn't make a habit of visiting the East, if she thought the "worst" that could happen was a rainstorm. But, Rana figured she wasn't supposed to bring up ...

"Seems it," Rana agreed with a nod, mind flailing for some topic -- any topic -- but the man Father was trying to marry her off to. "Do you visit ...

"Quite nice," Rana answered. "Ewan was a perfect gentleman and showed me around. It was a nice visit."

Rana glanced between them, not quite sure what that was supposed to be. "Can I see?" Lia piped up.

(yeahhh the downside to new characters in old settings lol) "How was it mounted?"

"It seems well worth it." Rana dipped her head. "And that snake... statute is... good." She blushed. She hated when her language skills escaped her. Snake statute? What an idiot.

"Yes, ma'am," Rana said, the lie well-practiced and sliding off her tongue easily. "I had the chance to browse your library earlier and am enthralled by it!" At least that ...

Rana hesitated a moment, then shook her head. "No, ma'am... I just heard her name mentioned earlier is all." This was getting weird. Was she about to go meet a ...

Rana blinked at her. "Ky... Ruiarc, by any chance?" She eyed Gaius.