Despite her brisk pace, she wasn’t able to make it back to her room before being intercepted by Freya and Skye, who were heading down to breakfast.
Freya paused, her spine stiffening as it often did. Skye, on the other hand, perked up and waved enthusiastically, before bounding over.
Emily knew that it would be best to stay and speak with them, but the knot in her chest wouldn’t loosen, and she didn’t think that she had it in her to converse with them.
“Good morning, Sister!” Skye greeted, grabbing her hands and spinning in place with her. “How are ye? First morning as a married woman!”
Emily tried to appear excited, or content, or anything other than annoyed and hurt. “It is. I imagine there are still a great deal of things left for me to learn.”
Freya stepped forward to join them. “Aye, I imagine Maither will take great joy in teaching ye all about the ways to support the Laird.”
Emily wanted to tell her that she would have been perfectly happy being a laird herself, but that would get her nowhere. “Perhaps someday ye will have lairds of yer own to support.”
Freya’s eyes narrowed at that, like she was unsure what Emily’s meaning was but considered it some sort of insult all the same.
Skye giggled. “Perhaps. I daenae care if I marry a laird. I just want a kind man who has a good cook!”
“A good cook has nay bearing on whether or nae a man will be a decent husband, Skye,” Freya chastised.
“I ken that well enough, but I have me priorities. A lot of character flaws can be easily overlooked with a good cake or two.” Skye giggled again. “Do ye nae agree?”
It was hard not to feel more upbeat with her around. She was just such a bright light.
“I suppose ye have a point,” Emily relented.
Skye looked positively triumphant. “See? At least our new sister kens what I’m talking about!”
Freya’s expression didn’t change; it stayed generally disapproving of Emily. “I wasnae sure that ye would actually make it down the aisle, so I suppose there will be a good number of things that I shall need to properly learn about ye as well.”
Emily nodded once, unsure of what that meant.
“And ye will have to make an effort to learn about our family and our clan, as well,” Freya continued.
Emily understood that Freya wanted her to put in more effort. Would she be allowed to pick their brains to learn more about their brother though? Would they even know anything more than what he had already told her in the first place?
Other than recounting stories of his childhood, weren’t they all in the same boat when it came to learning more about Kaden?
No, she was here for another reason, and now she was allowing thoughts of Kaden to ruin her morning.
She slowly extricated her arm from Skye’s with a rueful smile. “I daenae mean to cut this short, but there is something that I must attend to. I shall certainly see ye all for tea?”
She quickly excused herself before Freya could finish whatever comment she was about to make.
“I daenae ken if this is something that can wait, actually,” Freya called as she took one step forward.
There was no time for this. Emily felt that she was only a few moments away from bursting into tears, and attempting to navigate this conversation was something she didn’t have the capacity for.
“Every time I try to speak with ye, ye scurry away. When will be a good time if nae now?” Freya insisted.
Emily shifted her weight from one foot to the other and then nodded. “I really can only spare a moment.” She took Freya’s elbow and pulled her to the side. Once they had a modicum of privacy, she admitted, “In truth, I did have something that I wished to ask ye as well.”
Freya looked taken aback. “Ye do?”
Emily nodded.
“Well, go ahead.” Freya clasped her hands in front of her expectantly.
“I just daenae understand how ye can be so insistent to speak with me and also so cold and standoffish every time we encounter one another.” Emily could barely keep eye contact when she said it.
