“Aye! ’Tis ye.” Violet’s familiar smile widened at once. “I have been searching for ye.”
She placed a hand on her hip as she tried to catch her breath, though her expression quickly shifted once she took in Edith.
“Why are ye covered in dirt?”
Edith stepped back, glancing down at her hands as though they had not just been buried in soil moments ago.
“Ah.” A small laugh escaped her. “Daenae mind me, Violet. And daenae fret over this dress, either. ’Tis me field dress now.”
“Field dress?” Violet blinked. “Since when do ye work the fields?”
“Since I stumbled upon an invaluable patch of burdock.” Edith smiled faintly. “Now, pray tell, where do the farmhands keep the tools?”
“Edith…”
“Daenae try to talk me out of it, Violet. Ye already ken that it is a lost cause.”
“I willnae, but?—”
Edith lifted her hand, cutting her off once more. “And ye cannae refuse to tell me where the tools are either. I will simply find them meself, and that will be a far greater inconvenience for everyone involved.”
“The Laird is asking for ye.”
Edith froze. Her heart stumbled hard against her ribs.
“Forme?”
Violet nodded slowly. “Has been for a while,” she said more quietly, with a look of pity. “He seems rather keen on finding ye.”
The warmth from moments ago drained from Edith’s chest.
This cannae be good.
She took a slow step forward, though her thoughts had already begun racing ahead of her.
Since Scarlett departed for her husband’s castle on the other side of the Highlands, Aaron had scarcely acknowledged her existence at all. On most days, she hardly saw him beyond brief glimpses in crowded corridors or the Great Hall. And truthfully, that had been a comfort.
The less she crossed paths with him, the easier it was to forget that she remained in Hallow Castle on borrowed grace.
Her mind flashed to the previous day, when she barged into the council chamber.
Perhaps I shouldnae have.
Her fingers curled tightly into the folds of her skirt as she recalled the hard line of Aaron’s mouth when she had interrupted the council meeting.
Aye. I put meself in front of him, and now he wishes me gone.
Her throat tightened painfully at the thought.
By the time they neared the castle entrance, Edith had gone silent beside Violet, too consumed by her thoughts to manage even polite conversation.
“Hold still.”
She blinked rapidly as Violet suddenly reached for her face.
“Ye have mud there,” Violet murmured gently, wiping her forehead clean with her thumb.
“Thank ye.”
