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Christal lifted a brow, folding her arms. “Ye’ll find that Jonet is very good at protectin’ herself when needs to.”
“She is. I’ve seen that with me own eyes. Why, I might have been dead had she nae taken her horse and kicked that brigand in the chest. But I want to do all that I can to keep her safe, whether she can do it on her own or nae.”
“I like this one, Jonet. He’s a good one.” The sides of Christal’s mouth turned down in acceptance.
“Oh my,” Jonet gasped. She leaned closer to Matthew and whispered, “She’s never said those words before.”
“Should I bow?” Matthew whispered back. “Should I get on me knees and thank her? What should I do here?”
Jonet giggled and Christal, who had overheard them, rolled her eyes. “I assumed ye two had a reason for disturbin’ me peace?”
“Ye werenae doin’ anythin’ when we came,” Jonet pointed out.
“I was thinkin’. Ye should ken that well enough. Yer mind is always wanderin’ at times it shouldnae.”
Jonet laughed. It felt easy, lightening her heart as if to erase the fear that resided in them. Between Rinalda, Christal, and Matthew’s constant presence, she was beginning to feel a little better.
“All right, yes,” she nodded. “We did have somethin’ we wanted to ask ye about. We think there is a chance that whoever is doing this is someone who is jealous of me. Do ye have any idea who that might be?”
Christal made a show of thinking about it, then nodded. “Aye, I can see why ye would think so. There might very well be people in the Castle who is jealous of ye, but whether they are vindictive enough to send ye threats, I daenae ken.”
“Does nay one person come to mind?” Matthew asked.
“Jonet is well-liked, which also comes as nay surprise. Even if they are jealous, I cannae think of anyone who might envy yer life enough to kill ye for it. If it were a case where they might gain somethin’ from yer death, then perhaps that is another influence, but that isnae likely either. The only thing I can think of is that that jealousy is born from somethin’ that ye cannae see just by lookin’ at ye from the outside.”
“Are ye suggestin’ that the likely culprit is someone close to Jonet?”
“I’m nae suggestin’ anythin’.” Christal shook her head. “I’m speculatin’ based on very little information. But it is the only thing that makes sense to me. Say, a kitchen hand would see Jonet as the beautiful daughter of the Laird who has a Castle filled with servants and handsome gentlemen to marry. But someone closer might see the little things that others willnae, the things that might allow that jealousy to progress into somethin’ dangerous. But,” Christal shrugged. “As I said, it is only me speculations. I daenae ken if what I’m sayin’ is right or nae.”
“But ye’ve really given us somethin’ to think about,” Jonet spoke her thoughts. “If we apply that, we may be able to narrow down the search.”
“Is that so? Then, I’m happy to have been of help.” She leaned off the counter and flashed her hands at them, indicating that it was time they should leave. “All right, begone with ye two. I have dinner to prepare for.”
“Thank ye, Christal. Ye’ve helped a lot. Like ye always do.”
“Thank me by sendin’ me new kitchen hands that doesnae jump every time I call to one of them.” She looked Matthew up and down, eyes glittering. “This one might do nicely.”
“Oh, ye flatter me,” Matthew smiled. “Though, do ye really want to risk being outdone?”
“Oho! We’ll see about that.”
Jonet watched on happily as Matthew charmed yet another person important to her. Christal was by far the most difficult one, but he had managed to do it in such a short amount of time. The love she had for him grew.
Yet Christal’s words tinged her happiness with darkness. She was not close to many servants. She was close to Georgie, but Georgie being the one who sent the threat sounded as likely as the Earth being split in two. It felt especially unlikely since he had been the one to find the letter in the first place.
The other person that came to her mind was Freya, but Jonet dismissed the thought instantly. Freya had been
by her side through everything, even if she had an odd way of showing it. Jonet could not believe she would ever betray her in this way.
The search would continue and each second it lasted, Jonet wondered if it was only bringing her a second closer to her death.
Chapter 23
Matthew had managed to drag Jonet away from the Castle once he realized that she was committed to questioning every servant she came across. It had taken more effort than he had expected, her stubbornness had joined forces with her determination to get to the bottom of the dangerous mystery. He did not think she was considering the fact that her questioning could prove riskier than she thought.
He had not taken her far, remembering the orders the Laird had set out. He debated taking her to the training yard, but then thought that it might be best that she not see anyone involved in the investigation. If she saw Jonathan or Dougal, he had no doubt she would bother them with her questions, wanting to know their progress.
Matthew wanted her away from it all, not running headlong into it.
