It was less what the Queen had said, and more that she had said it at all that surprised Kiara. It was obvious that the King and Queen cared for their son, but Kiara knew it was not the only reason they wanted him to fight. As Hugo had said the previous day, they also urged him because it was the "Berinike way." She suspected that this was part of the reason Lamont rebelled against learning. That, and perhaps he was just not very good at it. Kiara knew that whenever she failed at something, it was much too hard to keep trying.
And then there was the fact that every one of his brothers had died despite all of their training. That didn't seem very encouraging. It was a sad fact that sometimes fighting skills couldn't keep you alive, and sometimes you didn't need them to keep from dying. It was a strange world, but even so, the ability to use a weapon was useful. For Kiara, her bow and arrow training had served as a way to calm herself, as well as protect. This was why she had been so devastated the day she learned she may never be able to lift one again.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the Queen's comment about her "exotic" looks, and Kiara found herself rather offended. And then she added the part about falling for a peasant girl, and a small gasp left the princess's lips before she could stop it because that was almost exactly what she had done, despite her better judgement. She'd just been about to excuse herself, to hide the blush that was creeping into her cheeks when the Queen practically thanked her and sent her away.
The idea of her taking food to Lamont was despicable. There was no reason for it when he had two good legs that he could use to walk to the room they were eating in, still, it gave her a reason to leave and escape the Queen's perceptive gaze. So, without touching her own, she packed up a plate and began the walk to the library that she suspected he was in, fully planning on throwing the food right in his face.