Eihpos, unable to contain her giggle, broke into hearty laughter. The sound bounced lightly against the surrounding space, too full and genuine to be restrained. With both their attentions fixed on her—one curious, the other patient—she felt no reason to stop.
Both of them watched her, but Ajab's stare sharpened first, the humor draining from his eyes as they settled into their familiar darkness.
"My apologies, Your Highnesses," she said between smiles. "It escaped me."
"Ajab," the Queen said, her tone settling into fond familiarity, "meet your aunt—my baby sister, Eihpos." She tilted her head slightly toward her sister, as though presenting a well-loved relic rather than a person.
Eihpos chuckled. "With how freely you wave that 'baby' title around, one might start believing it's true."
"But it is so," the Queen said. "You're my baby sister—would something have changed?"
"The gap isn't even a full year," she said. "And yet I'm the 'baby' sister?"
