Emily wanted to trust it, but she had made the mistake of placing her trust too easily into people before, and she wasn’t about to do so again just because they seemed so kind.
“It is a pleasure to meet ye both. I thank ye kindly for the greeting. But if it’s all the same to ye, I have had a very long ride… I wish to head inside and ready meself before I meet with Laird Muir.”
Emily felt horrible for brushing them off, but perhaps distancing herself from the sisters would be for the best. This was not to be a real marriage, after all. She did not wish to give them false hope.
The two sisters quickly exchanged looks with one another. “We would be happy to show ye to yer chambers!”
If there was any way to know what sort of relationship Kaden had with his sisters, she might have felt less apprehensive. For all she knew, they were devious sorts that kept him on his toes.
Perhaps they were the source of the rumors about him? With all that was circulated about their brother, they and their mother were rarely mentioned. Were they only here to greet her because they were worried that she was going to step on their toes? It was always hard for a change of power to happen in your own home.
But she didn’t think that she needed to explain herself either. Emily had no desires or intentions of running this castle like it were her own. Lady of the castle wasn’t the role she had ever felt born to. It was second best to the thing that she actually wanted.
“Aye! I can even hold yer puppy if ye like? What’s her name?” the younger sister asked, bouncing forward onto the balls of her feet.
Emily angled herself away from the girl. “Most kind of ye, but perhaps I ought to meet with Laird Muir directly after all.”
“I’m Freya, and that’s Skye,” the older sister offered. “Ye daenae have to speak so formally with us if ye daenae wish to. We are to be sisters, after all.”
There was no way to get out of this, was there?
Emily smiled tightly. “Aye, I suppose that we will be.”
“This way, then!” Skye started to lead her to a part of the castle that she hadn’t been offered to see when they had been visiting for the cèilidh.
“Kaden doesnae like to have people in this part of the castle, or knowing these paths, but since ye’ll be living here, we are happy to show ye all the shortcuts. There’s so much space to cover that if ye daenae use them, ye are likely to be dripping sweat by the time ye arrive at yer destination,” Freya said.
“And that willnae please anyone.” Skye laughed softly. She had such a pleasant voice.
How had Emily never spoken to her before? Was that more of Kaden’s doing?
Even as she tried to focus on the path they were taking, it would likely take her a few tries before she committed it to memory.
After what felt like forever, they finally came to a dark wooden door and pushed it open. Emily noted that the heavy lock on theinside of the door seemed to be perfectly functional.Good. She would at least be able to get a good night’s rest, then.
The familiar feeling of being in a strange place all alone was starting to settle within her. Just like the other times she had been sent off like a lamb to slaughter, she had been forced to acclimate quickly on her feet.
The first castle had, naturally, been far more difficult than the second. Every day there, she had felt like a pawn, moving carefully across a chessboard filled with trap after trap. Never mind that being on the said chessboard meant that she was a part of a game that she had never agreed to play in the first place.
But the furnishings in this room seemed plentiful enough. The bedding looked soft and inviting, the small vanity was larger in surface than she would need, and she could already see a large wardrobe full of dresses awaiting her. Then, there were all of her trunks and things waiting for her to unpack, stacked neatly by the side of the bed.
It would be nice to be allowed to make even just this much of this place feel cozy and more to her tastes. Perhaps when she did get to speak with Kaden, she could force him to agree that her new bedroom was off-limits. She would like to have a place that only she was allowed to go.
Memories of the first castle she had been forced to live in threatened to surface again, but she quickly shoved them down.
Freya lingered in the doorway, watching as Emily studied the room. She didn’t even bother to hide the open scrutiny on her face as Emily turned back to her. Her hands were clasped loosely in front of her. Whatever was behind that expression, Emily couldn’t guess. Had she suddenly done something wrong?
“Well, I suppose I shall go and fetch me braither. Ye two shouldnae keep each other waiting for too long,” Freya said flatly, and like a wisp, she was gone.
Emily’s brow furrowed as she moved to close the door so that she could set the puppy down and let her stretch her legs and sniff around the room. The puppy’s small, fuzzy paws made almost no sound against the stone floor as she happily moved about, dragging the ribbon leash behind her without a care in the world.
“Daenae mind me sister. She always moves that quickly. I swear, sometimes I think that I am alone in a room, and she will jump straight out of a shadow like she had been there with me the whole time.”
“Terrifying,” Emily remarked without any real fear or venom.
Silence stretched out for a long moment.
“Well then!” Skye clapped her hands once. “Shall I help ye unpack? It likely will take a while for ye to feel settled, I imagine. Not that I would ken, I have never really been too far from the castle. But I do read, ye ken, so I ken some things!”
