Chapter Fourteen
Amelia slipped into the corridor outside her room. Even though she’d been given permission to roam freely days ago, she hadn’t taken advantage of it until now. If it hadn’t been for how small her room felt when she awoke hours earlier, she still wouldn’t have ventured out.
“Do ye ever feel trapped?” she asked the painting across from her quarters.
The woman depicted stared back at her, her expression serene. Though as Amelia took a step closer, she noticed that the woman’s eyes were alert. Her expression, it seemed, was a facade.
“Ye werenae weak,” Amelia whispered, observing her posture which seemed at odds with the books she was posed next to. “But they wanted people to believe ye were.”
There wasn’t a response. Still, she stood in front of the painting for longer than was entirely necessary. Finally, she stepped away, feeling as though she would have gotten along with the subject.
The interior of the castle was beautiful, but she didn’t think she could take being inside for much longer. Grateful that she’d memorized the path from her chambers to the entrance, she set off. She made it as far as the great hall when she was stopped by Isla.
She stared up at Amelia, her head cocked to the side as she examined her. Nothing was said, no indication of what she was seeing. Finally, Amelia couldn’t take her scrutiny much longer.
“Is there somethin’ I should be aware of?” Amelia asked, smiling a bit despite herself.
“Overthinkin’ is nae good for recovery,” Isla said.
A wee lass like her shouldnae be so perceptive. It’s unsettlin’.
“Am I nae allowed to go on a walk?” Amelia challenged, keeping her expression neutral despite being so caught off guard by getting scolded by an overly serious child.
At that moment, hurried footsteps approached them from behind. Then, Jinny said, “Nay! Not when ye’re movin’ so fast I couldnae keep up with ye.”
“I dinnae intend to leave ye behind,” Amelia said, feeling a bit guilty for slipping away from her maid. “But I was also hopin’ to walk on me own.”
“Nae while ye’re healin’,” Isla said, crossing her arms and raising her chin, exuding an authority that felt incredibly similar to Mrs. Rowan’s. “Ye require a proper distraction.”
“And what,” Amelia asked, raising an eyebrow, “do ye suggest?”
Isla’s eyes drifted between Amelia and Jinny. A playful smile appeared on the girl’s face before she tempered it back to her normal, serious expression. What she said next was almost comical in its deadpan delivery.
“Hide and seek.”
“Isla,” Jinny said, the protest weak, “I daenae think that’s a good idea. Ladies daenae crawl under tables nor run about the corridors.”
“If ye daenae wish to hide, ye can guard the stairwell,” Isla told Jinny. “Alert us if there is anyone comin’.” Then, she turned back to Amelia. “I will count first. Ye will find somewhere clever to hide. Aye?”
A laugh bubbled out of Amelia’s belly. The words, delivered in the same manner that a general would address his troops, struck her as soabsurdthat she couldn’t control herself. The sound surprised not only her but the other two as well.
“I suppose,” Jinny said, smiling from ear to ear, “that ye two could play for a bit.”
“Now ye hide,” Isla announced, giddier than Amelia had ever seen her.
Then, without waiting for Amelia to respond, she put her hands over her eyes and began counting. For a moment, Amelia simply stood there in disbelief. It wasn’t until Isla’s counting became more dramatic that Amelia spun on her heel and began searching for a place to hide.
She took off down the corridor, wishing she knew which doors would open easily. The last thing she needed was to burst into a meeting or someone’s private chambers. Relief flooded through her when she spotted a small alcove leading to the servants’ stairs.
As she slipped inside the narrow hallway, Isla’s counting continued, though it was muffled by the growing distance between the two of them. The steps were steep, but Amelia continued climbing them. This may be a childish game, but she was confident she could win.
Her ascent slowed as she approached a platform at the top. It smelled of dust and old parchment, as if the place hadn’t been used in years. Though, as she looked around, she realized that some items hadn’t been here long enough to collect dust.
Seems I’ve found the storage area. And there are nay wee footprints. Isla may nae ken this bit of the castle exists.
“Ach, what’s this?” she murmured as she ran her hands over a tall object covered by a sheet. When she pulled the fabric aside, she was greeted with a distorted reflection of herself. “Aye, I wouldn’t want ye in me chambers either.”
She chuckled to herself as she let the sheet fall over the surface again. Then, she picked her way through the dim maze of old furniture and retired paintings. One of the paintings stuck out to her, a portrait of a laird that looked as if it were painted at the same time as the painting she’d spoken to this morning.
