Mairead gave a soft laugh. “In a place like this, everyone is waitin' for somethin'. Even meself,” she said.
Eloise watched as Mairead's demeanor shifted to a forlorn look as she looked out the window. Then she shifted back to Eloise with a smile.
“But I have heard so much about ye and it is good to finally meet ye proper.”
Eloise stepped further into the room, her posture steady. “And what do they say about me?” she asked.
Mairead’s gaze sharpened just slightly. “That ye came from nowhere,” she said. “And claimed a place that has long been expected to belong to another.”
The words were gentle, but the meaning beneath them was not.
Eloise did not flinch. “Expected?” she repeated.
Mairead’s smile faltered just a fraction.
“Expectations can carry weight,” Mairead said. “Particularly when they span years.”
Eloise met her gaze without hesitation. “Then perhaps they should have been spoken plainly,” she replied.
What is this lass trying to tell me? I am confused.
Mairead studied her more closely now, something shifting in her expression. “Ye’re bolder than I expected,” she said.
Eloise allowed herself the faintest smile. “I’ve had to be,” she answered.
The silence that followed was not entirely hostile, but it was far from warm.
Mairead turned her book over in her hands, thoughtful. “And are ye happy here, Miss Eloise?” she asked.
The question caught her off guard, though she hid it well. “I am… settlin',” Eloise said carefully.
Mairead nodded slowly. “Aye,” she said. “That is one way to describe it.”
Her gaze lingered a moment longer before she stepped back, her fingers brushing the spine of a book as though she had all the time in the world.
“I’ve only just returned,” she said lightly, her tone smooth as silk. “I was visiting me family for a short while. Me father is Laird Cameron.”
Eloise nodded once, though her brow furrowed faintly. “Then ye daenae live here?” she asked.
Mairead’s lips curved in a small smile. “Oh, but I do,” she said. “This castle has been me home for most of me life.”
Eloise blinked, confusion settling more firmly.
“But ye are the daughter of Laird Cameron,” Eloise said carefully. “Why would ye live at Calibroch?”
Mairead’s gaze softened, though something measured lingered beneath it. “I was fostered here,” she explained. “Sent as a child, part of an agreement between our clans.”
Eloise tilted her head slightly, listening.
“I grew up within these walls,” Mairead continued. “It was… a close upbringing. Children are often placed where bonds may grow stronger.” She paused briefly, then added, almost idly, “And where futures may be… encouraged.”
Eloise felt the subtle shift in meaning. “Encouraged?” she echoed.
Mairead met her gaze fully then, her expression calm but deliberate. “Aye,” she said. “It was always understood that I would have a place here.”
Her voice remained gentle, but there was a quiet certainty beneath it. “Some things daenae need to be spoken plainly to be known.”
Eloise felt something peculiar deep in her belly. “I see,” she said, though she was no longer certain she did.
