Emma crossed the room and pulled her into a quick, fierce hug. “Oh goodness, I still cannae believe ye’re here!”
They broke the hug, and Emma stood back to examine her sister again, dust and all.
“What brings ye here anyway?”
Ava exhaled, looking down at her cloak. “Uncle sent me with wedding gifts. He wants to be the first to bless ye… ye ken,ifit happens. Ma is right behind me, by the way. I thought ye should ken.”
Emma looked past her sister and watched their mother step inside, practically right behind Lara.
“Ye had to come see Ava, did ye nae?” she asked dryly.
Olivia shut the door after Lara scurried out. “I am here to seebothme daughters. I daenae ken what the problem is with that.”
“Aye,” Ava said.
“Whatever ye say, Ma.” Emma rolled her eyes.
They all laughed, and something about that sound loosened something inside Emma, a knot she had been carrying since the day she had arrived. She hadn’t known she’d been holding her breath until now, at this moment, with Ava right beside her.
Her sister dropped her bundle onto the chair and spun once, taking in the chamber, one wall after the other. “So this is where they’ve put ye,” she remarked. “Nae a bad prison.”
“‘Tis nae aprison,” Emma countered, narrowing her eyes at Ava’s clear attempt at mischief.
“Aye, aye,” Ava uttered, raising a not-so-apologetic hand. “‘Tis a poor joke. But seriously, ye look well.”
“Thank ye. So do ye,” Emma said. “Ye’ve lost some weight.”
“Emma, stop it, ye sound like Ma,” Ava pointed out.
Olivia shook her head, though she was smiling. “But yer sister is right.”
“See?” Ava laughed as she flopped into the chair by the window, right where Emma had been sitting earlier, then she bounced up because she couldn’t keep still.
“So what exactly are these gifts ye’re bringin’?” Emma asked, folding her arms and watching her sister sink onto the bed instead.
“Oh, ye ken, the ones Uncle had prepared the first time ye almost married the Laird too, and three parcels from the housekeeper and people desperate for news. Everyone’s speculating about the laird who stole one of MacFinn’s nieces.”
Emma snorted. “Stole? I walked in.”
“Ach!” Ava groaned. “Their side of the story is more fun.”
“Aye, I suppose. I would want to hear their side over mine any day.”
“I do want to hear the truth from ye, though.” Ava tugged the ribbon on her sleeve until it lay flat. “How is life at the castle? And I daenae want ye to lie to me.”
Emma glanced at their mother and then back. “I mean, the castle is… vast.”
“Vast and beautiful,” Olivia added, settling into a chair with a small, pleased sigh. “The light is good in the mornings, and the maids in the kitchens ken their work.”
Ava’s eyes sharpened. “And the Laird?”
Emma reached for the quill she’d dropped and set it in the inkwell to keep her hands occupied. “He is the Laird.”
“That tells me nothing,” Ava scoffed. “Except that he breathes.”
Emma’s mouth quirked up. “Well, there is nothing much to say than… he keeps his word.”
Ava narrowed her eyes, and Emma hoped desperately that her twin sister would not push this any further than necessary.
