A slow, tense breath passed between the men.
“I would caution ye to adjust yer tone,” Maxwell said, his voice soft but heavy with warning.
Ariella stepped between them at once. “Enough of this!Bothof ye.”
Frederick exhaled hard, the sound full of protective fury. “Ariella, I came because I feared the worst.”
“And ye found me well,” she said, firm. “I am standing. I am safe. And I have been treated with respect and honor.”
Frederick’s head jerked slightly, taken aback by her certainty. His gaze darted to Maxwell again, suspicious, assessing.
Maxwell’s eyes softened. Though it was not visibly, like in a way someone else might have noticed. But Ariella felt the shift like a faint warmth across her skin.
She laid a hand on her brother’s arm. “Truly, Frederick. I am well. Be at peace. Daenae let maither get ye all dizzy withhernonsensical worries.”
He swallowed, shoulders easing a fraction. “Forgive me. I… our maither can be quite persuasive when she desires something.”
“Braither, ye overstepped in yer quest for a truth ye had but to ask of,” she whispered.
Maxwell looked at her then, just a flicker. She felt it.
Frederick drew a breath, nodded stiffly, then turned to Maxwell with forced courtesy. “If I overstepped, Maxwell. I apologize.”
Maxwell dipped his head the faintest inch. “Accepted.”
Ariella released a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. The atmosphere remained tense, but no longer braced for a fight.
“Come inside,” she said, taking Frederick’s hand. “Ye must be frozen through. And hungry.”
“Starving,” he admitted.
And so they walked toward the hall together, tension trailing behind them like smoke.
But for the first time, the worst of the storm had passed.
Supper thawed the last of the frost.
Frederick sat beside her at the long table, eating with the ravenous appetite of a man who had ridden hard for too long. As the first courses were cleared, his shoulders loosened, his temper cooled, and his familiar warmth began to resurface.
“So Skylar sends her love,” he said between bites. “Says she misses ye terribly. Is cross with ye about nae invitin’ her to the nuptials.”
Ariella brightened. “Skylar? Truly?”
“Aye. She wrote me a letter before I left. She wants ye to visit when ye can. Says Zander is a tyrant and refuses to let her leave the keep.”
Ariella laughed, warmth spilling into her chest. “I miss her.”
Maxwell sat across from them, silent, almost still, one hand wrapped around a goblet. But he watched them both.
It was not possessive, nor suspicious.
It was… attentive. Quiet. As though he could not help but look at her when she smiled.
Frederick continued, face animated. “Uncle Ian is thriving. Says the rains have blessed the barley. And ye will be pleased to know that Cousin Enna has finally taken an interest in a lad.”
Ariella gasped. “Enna? That shy little mouse?”
Frederick grinned. “Shy until she is nae.”
