Kiara

“No, I don’t, Mom!” she roared into the phone. This was the fifth time they’d had this conversation this week. Merida had reluctantly agreed to join her family for their biyearly charity dinner, but they fundamentally disagreed on what constituted “appropriate” clothing.

“I told you, I’m wearing my docs, or I’m not going!… why does it even matter?… Oh please, no one is going to look at me and think ‘well I better rescind my donation, she’s in boots!’… call me back when you’re ready to listen, I’ll be here.” With that, she hung up, groaning and throwing her head back in frustration. It was only then that she noticed she was not alone.

“How much of that did you hear?”

Kiara had been walking by, seemingly in her own world. But when the girl screamed well, she’d be lying If she said it didn’t cause her to jump nearly 2 feet in the air. Guards on her heels, she turned the corner urgently. She was relieved when she saw it was only someone who seemed to be arguing on the phone. “I more heard yelling than the content.” she admitted. “Are you alright? That didn’t seem to be going to well.”

“There you go, little one.” Marian spoke softly and smiled as she gently set the little duckling in the water, at which point the fluffy little creature swam off happily. She could see its family near the center of the little pond, and she laughed as the other ducks finally noticed the duckling she’d saved, quacking loudly and swimming toward it en masse. She heard footsteps and looked up with a soft smile, standing up and brushing the dirt of the bank off her knees. “I found that poor little duckling by the fountain all on his own,” she said. “I thought his family might be here, so I brought him over. I was right, look! Isn’t that darling?” She smiled sweetly at them.

Kiara watched the woman, nodding as she watched her. “He probably ventured out too far. Good thing you were there to get him back to his family.” she said with a half a smile. She knew what it was like to want to explore to adventure. She didn’t get far normally. Especially with her security team. That was the life of a politician's daughter. “That was very kind of you.”