Though some ingrained maternal instinct that never withered from Adair's psyche twisted and pulled at a long-stilled heart, simply at the sing-song tone he used, she was still reluctant. Long fingertips steepled at her abdomen, flexing and bowing. The image of the older Cat's probable reaction to Judas's very innocent request was still a bit troubling. Yi tended to swipe at anything, even the hands that pet her.
Then there were the guests. People came to the Carnival specifically to be scared, but a loosed monster like Ruby wandering the grounds, regardless of how tame and intelligent the animal was, just begged for disaster.
"Perhaps we can find a compromise," Adair started, granting the lovely Judas a delicately pointed smile. Her cool touch curled beneath his forearm with a gentility that completely shadowed her true potential strength--she walked with him in the proper way she always did when in the company of a man. Another habit that she'd never been able to break.
"I fear for Ruby's safety if she had free reign over the grounds--but ask Ophelia if she has a training pen we could put behind the trailer?"