She gave her brother a disapproving look, though Eva couldn't say she wasn't surprised he hadn't visited Ember. True, Dayne hadn't been much of an older brother to anyone but herself--and her only because she'd chased him around when they were younger and given him no peace. Just now he'd smiled and put his arm around her, though, and it was hard to stay mad. She sighed. "I'm glad it cheers you. Just don't go too far with that style, Ember," she said, fondly and a little wearily. Thank goodness I'm here, or Dayne and Ember would've been past speaking by now. She laughed at Ember's assessment of their brother's personality. It was perhaps a little true. She couldn't blame him for being self-centered, but she doubted it would serve him at court.
She blushed at Ember's exclamation. "Oh, don't be silly, Ember," she said quickly. She could remember a summer long ago when she'd had a painful crush on Jaehaerys. Then that common boy had teased her, and Dayne had beat him up...and that was the end of playing with the dragons. Nowadays they were more like to fight the dragons than marry them, if she'd understood right. "And if somehow any of us were to be queen, it would be far more likely you than me." A queen would need to have a court, and manage it. Just the thought of that many people made Eva wince.
She turned to Dayne. "Mother will come in her own time. She has a great many more things to take care of than any of us do," said Eva reasonably. "You may as well wait here, I suppose." She paused. "I don't know if you've heard, Dayne, but Father won't let us go to Summerhall by ourselves. Especially now that Ember's nearly well enough to come with us." It was disappointing, but she smiled for Ember's sake. "I don't know how long the King intends to stay there, either. There's a chance we'll miss Summerhall entirely," she said wistfully, thinking of the soaring aqueducts and marvelous gardens with regret. And a new library to explore, too. It really was too bad, though it would be nice to have Ember along whenever they did leave. She'd go down to dinner tonight and try again, with Ember too this time, but...