Kai giggled quietly, watching him fondly until he was no longer in sight and she was getting quiet grumblings for standing around the door but not going through it.
Mumbling her apologies to their staff she turned quickly and rushed upstairs. Her mind whirled with excuses she hoped she wouldn't need to use as she reached the main floor and hurried to the stairs that would take her up to the wing shared between herself and the High Lady. Ideally she would be "found" quiet and unassuming in her bedroom when her sister might need her assistance next.
As she rounded the final banister, though, her foot slipped on the last step and she found herself stumbling quite gracelessly. She recovered quickly but it was already too late, the noise alerting Eyla and the door to her study flinging open as Kai was rushing past.
The young woman froze, eyes widening with guilt for a moment as she turned to face her elder sister who was looking at her with concern. "Are you alright? Sounded like you tripped," she mumbled, looking Kai up and down and raising a brow pointedly at the sight of her scuffed slipper.
Kai nodded eagerly, struggling to look put-together and unsuspicious as she smoothed out her skirts. "Just a little, I'm alright. Wandering mind," she giggled, tapping her head and smiling like it should have been expected of her. "Sorry to disturb you."
Eyla shrugged, though Kai noticed how her posture slumped a little. Upon further inspection she realized how tired she looked, the normal sharpness in her eyes seeming a bit dulled. The High Lady was quick to mask it, though, a carefree smile on her face as she reached out to smooth back an out of place strand of her sister's hair. "You never disturb me, Kai. I was just worried you'd fallen on your way in. You've been gone nearly half the day."
Eyla frowned slightly at that, Kai wincing that it was a fact she couldn't hide and something she'd known probably for much of the time she'd been away. "Yeah, just some shopping in town," she offered innocently, knowing it wasn't a complete lie.
"I was going to rest for a little and then...maybe I could join you for dinner downstairs?" Kai offered.
Eyla rolled her eyes at the odd formality her sister was taking with her. It was clear there was something she was keeping from her but she thought too much of her sister to suspect there was anything less than innocent going on. "It would be my honor, Lady Riordan," she teased, pulling her sister in close for a moment and dropping a quick peck atop her head before releasing her, pushing her gently back towards the hall.
"Freshen up first, you smell like...wood shavings," Eyla chastised gently, wrinkling her nose a bit. Kai made an affirmative squeak as she hurried to hide away in her rooms for a bit, silently thanking the Gods that was all her sister could smell on her.