"I can't believe you!" Poppy raged. "I thought you were behaving so well all night, and then-!" she couldn't even finish her sentence, she was so outraged.
"I think Bosco will make a fine king!" Toph argued playfully. "If anyone dares to stand against him he can eat them!" She was still giggling; she'd been having a hard time stopping since Bosco was named heir of the Earth Kingdom.
"Stop it!" Poppy snapped, and Toph bit her lip. Poppy was silent for a moment, watching the streets pass by. She had rushed in to take Toph home soon after the Earth King's announcement, hoping to flee back to Gaoling as quickly as possible, before the wrath of the other noble families' gossip could descend on them. Now she sat across from Toph in their carriage on the way back to the Kang's house, and Toph almost regretted laughing, if it caused her mother so much pain. But at length, Poppy spoke again, and she said, "You know Bosco would never eat a human anyway. He's going to make a terrible king." And they both burst into laughter.
Beside them, Lao sighed.