None of that really made any sense to Cassie aside from the fact that this garden reminded him of some royal garden. "Imperial like an Emperor?" What had Briar been doing, rubbing elbows with royalty? That was definitely leaps and bounds away from being a street kid. She knew his studying had taken him out of that life but she hadn't thought it had been that far.
She looked around, trying to imagine something more than this but still somewhat similar. "What-" Cassie bit back the end of that question, were you doing in a royal garden?, and took a beat to figure out another question that wouldn't be too much like she was prying. It was always important to let someone open up in their own time but Briar was definitely taking longer than she'd expected.
"What's different about this place compared to the Imperial Gardens?" she asked. Maybe that would help remind him that it wasn't the same place.