Grandmamma’s gaze flicked from Erica’s hem to her face, then to the way Erica stood half a step between her mother and the room. Approval flickered so quickly it could have been a trick of the light.
“We have rooms aired,” she said. “Hot water. Bread in a moment. The road takes its due. We feed what it took.”
“Ye are kind,” Lady Bryden said. “We are grateful.”
“Kindness is cheap when it keeps a castle steady,” Grandmamma said, and kissed the air near each cheek with brisk affection. “Girls, show that ye ken yer manners.”
Bettie and Katie curtsied, quick and proud.
Alex looked at his grandmother. “I will show Erica to her rooms,” he said. “She needs rest.”
“Aye,” Grandmamma said, watching both of them with a mind that missed little. “We will leave ye to it. Girls, with me.”
Katie opened her mouth to ask for something, but Bettie squeezed her hand, and the question shrank to a grin. They followed their grandmother toward the side door, eyes cutting back over their shoulders as if a story might fall from the arch.
Alex lifted a hand toward the inner passage, and Erica guided her mother with a palm at her elbow and followed.
The corridor quieted the hall to a murmur. A maid carried a jug the other way and dipped into a neat curtsy without spilling a drop.
Erica kept her back straight and her breathing even. The newness of the place pressed close, and it soothed her, the way order ran like a thread through every step.
They reached a chamber with a small antechamber and a fireplace laid but not lit. Alex opened the door and stood aside. Erica led her mother in first and closed the door behind her. She then turned once they were alone in the passageway.
“This is fake,” she said. The words came out faster than she meant. She kept going. “And fake means fake. Nay touching. Nay confusion.”
Alex folded his arms and leaned his shoulder against the frame. He listened without blinking. “Good,” he said. “We agree.”
The answer stole the argument she had braced for.
She found a steady tone. “We keep it so.”
“Aye,” he said. “We will. Now, hear the rest. We need to be convincing.”
“Convincing how?” she asked, though she knew.
“In the hall. In the yard. In any room that carries words to ears that want them,” he said. “Ye take me arm when I offer it. Ye sit where I put ye. Ye speak when it helps and keep still when it doesnae. That is the shape of it.”
Her chin lifted. “I willnae be made a puppet.”
“Ye wouldnae last the week as one,” he said. “Then again, I daenae mean to control ye. I only ask for sense. We will set the measure before we cross a room. After that, we keep to it.”
The fire in her chest cooled to something firm. “Tell me what ye need to ken for yer house to make room for us.”
He nodded once, as if she had chosen the right road at a fork. “The girls keep lessons after the morning meal,” he said. “They will test ye. Answer everything they ask as simply as ye can. They can be a bit overwhelming, but they mean nay harm. If ye daenae ken a thing, say so. Grandmamma runs the table. She will make ye feel welcome while taking yer measure.”
“Is that what she was doing back in the Great Hall?” Erica asked, folding her arms. “Taking me measure?”
Alex laughed. “When she starts, ye will ken.”
For some reason, the words felt like a threat, but he either didn’t notice or simply refused to acknowledge it.
“Ye ken, when ye said ye had daughters, I thought they were bairns. What if they get hurt by this development? They seem mature enough to understand what is going on.”
A brief chuckle escaped Alex’s lips. “Trust me when I say this, Erica. Hearing the council ask for an heir every week hurts them more.”
Erica absorbed the response without flinching. “I see,” she repeated. “Very well.”
After a brief moment of silence, Alex knew the only question that remained in her mind. It would be odd if she weren’t thinking of it in the first place.
