Blue and Kat talk Growing Up

**Katherine:** (adjusting her bracers) “Your aunt—the Reeve—she’s... intense. Met her once. Didn’t say much, but it felt like she could see right through me.”

**Blue:** (spinning effortlessly, feet light as air) “Yeah, that’s Aunt Wonderful. Calm as a pond, deep as... a, uh... really deep lake.”

**Katherine:** (smirks) “Right. A really deep lake. My mother would rather I sink in one than pick up a sword. But Father...” (shrugs) “He just handed me the wooden practice blade and said, ‘Make it count.’”

**Blue:** (twirls again, her movements almost hypnotic) “Aunt W said to make everything count. Dance steps, bar tabs, broken noses. ‘Keep the beat, keep the room.’ That was her motto.”

**Katherine:** (watches Blue’s footwork, shakes her head) “Your aunt taught you to dance. My mother dragged me to court balls and told me to curtsy and smile. I stepped on Duke Orenic’s foot three times in one waltz.”

**Blue:** (laughs, spins closer) “And Aunt Wonderful taught me to dance on tables and count coppers while doing it. Said it was good practice for life.”

**Katherine:** (grins, trying to follow Blue’s footwork and nearly trips) “I can’t dance to save my life.”

**Blue:** (catches her with a grin) “Good thing you’re a knight then. Leave the fancy footwork to me.”

**Katherine:** (still holding onto Blue, steadies herself) “Thanks. You know, for someone raised in a bar, you’re... surprisingly graceful.”

**Blue:** (shrugs, releasing her) “For someone raised in a keep, you’re... surprisingly stubborn.”

**Katherine:** (laughs) “I’ll take that.”