She swung one leg up and placed her boot on the middle stone, poised to pull herself up.
Apollo barked and jumped up, placing his paws on the bottom ledge of the wall like he wanted to join her.
“See?” Odette said, glancing back with a triumphant smirk. “Even Apollo gets it.”
Penelope laughed and stepped closer, lifting her skirts slightly to follow. Then, just as Odette was about to hoist herself fully over the top, a sound broke the quiet.
“Odette.”
Both Odette and Penelope turned sharply. Alexander stood several paces away, his expression fuming.
Odette slid back down to the ground, shoulders stiff, and looked at Penelope.
“We were just going for a short walk,” Penelope explained. “Only a little past the fence.”
Alexander did not even acknowledge Penelope.
“Go inside,” he said evenly to his daughter.
Odette opened her mouth. “But Father….”
Fergus and Lewis appeared just behind the trees. They said nothing, only nodding once to the Duke and then flanking Odette.
Odette gave a single, small nod. Whatever words she’d been about to say died on her lips. She turned away with a frustrated exhale, her fists clenched tightly at her sides.
Apollo barked once and padded forward as if to follow her, then stopped halfway. He looked from Penelope to Odette, clearly torn.
“Go on, boy,” Penelope whispered. “Go with her.”
But Apollo didn’t move. Instead, he trotted back to her and sat firmly by her side, eyes trained on Alexander.
Alexander watched the dog for a short moment. Then his gaze shifted to Penelope.
“Was this your idea?”
“She just wanted a moment of freedom.” Penelope straightened her spine, matching his stare. “We were not going to go far.”
He took a few steps closer, stopping only a breath away from her. “That’s not your decision to make.”
“Yes, but I did nothing wrong. We were not going to put ourselves in danger.” Penelope blinked, her chin rising. “She’s not a prisoner, need I remind you.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“And she’s suffocating,” Penelope shot back before she could stop herself. “Can’t you see it? She wasn’t trying to rebel or run away. She just wanted to breathe.”
“There are safer ways to breathe,” he said through clenched teeth.
“She wasn’t going to vanish into thin air the moment her foot crossed the fence,” she countered. “There’s no threat out here, Your Grace. It is all in your head.”
“Once again, I would advise you not to speak about things that you do not know,” he warned.
“I know that fear has made you build walls so high even she can’t see over them,” Penelope snapped. “She’s a child. She needs boundaries, yes, this really was not an issue.”
“You think that the world outside is safe,” Alexander chided. “But I keep telling you that you are mistaken and naive.”
“Don’t call me naive,” she argued.
“But that is exactly what you are,” his voice raised slightly. “Odette could have put herself in some serious danger here today, if it was not for my intervention.”
