All three stopped short, water splashing around them as the laughter ended abruptly. They snuck quick, wide-eyed looks at one another. Fear made Genna's heart thump faster as she looked at her mother's face.
Probably they should have been faster.
"Your Grace," Genna managed to greet Kaelyn.
"Uh huh," Lucius said beside her. Mathis was staring at his mother in absolute dread and wasn't making a sound.
"We were just... washing... up?" Genna suggested with a vague hope that it might help. "We were really muddy and you'd said not to get the baths dirty and... we... didn't want to... get them dirty. So. We. Um..." She lost track as Kaelyn's expression didn't seem to change. Uh oh.