When they reached the clearing,Piper set down the basket and began pulling out its contents. A thick wool blanket that she spread on the ground. Several cushions for comfort. Wrapped bundles of bread, cheese, cold meat, and fruit. A flask of cider and cups.
“A picnic?”Connor’s face lit up. “We’re havin’ a picnic at night?”
“Nae just a picnic,”Piper said, arranging everything carefully. “Tonight is a special lesson. One where I’ll be learnin’ right alongside ye.”
“A lesson?”Masie’s enthusiasm dimmed slightly. “Ye brought us out here for lessons?”
“A different kind of lesson,”Piper assured her. She looked up at Elijah, who was watching with an unreadable expression. “Yer da is goin’ to teach us about the stars.”
Connor’s eyes went wide.“Really? Da, ye ken about stars?”
Elijah cleared his throat.“Aye. A bit.”
“More than a bit,”Piper said firmly. “Yer maither told me ye used to study them all the time when ye were young. That ye ken all the constellations and their stories.”
“That was a long time ago,”Elijah said, but Piper could see something shift in his expression—a softness, a hint of the boy he’d once been.
“But ye still remember,do ye nae?” Piper pressed gently.
Elijah looked at his children—Connorpractically vibrating with excitement, Masie trying to hide her interest behind skepticism—and something in his face cracked.
“Aye,”he said quietly. “I still remember.”
“Then sit,”Piper said, patting the blanket. “All of ye. Let’s eat first, and then when it’s dark enough, Elijah can show us.”
They settled onto the blanket—Connorimmediately claiming a spot and patting the space beside him for his father. Elijah hesitated only a moment before sitting down, and Connor’s face split into a grin so wide it made Piper’s heart ache.
Masie saton Elijah’s other side, maintaining more distance but still closer than Piper had seen her sit to her father in weeks.
Piper distributed the food,making sure everyone had something to eat and drink. The conversation began awkwardly with stilted comments about the weather, the castle, anythingneutral. But gradually, as they ate and the sky darkened, things began to ease.
Connor tolda rambling story about a frog he’d found in the garden. Masie corrected several details, but without her usual bite. Elijah listened, actually listened, asking questions and even laughing at Connor’s dramatic reenactment.
Piper watchedit all with a warmth spreading through her chest. This. This was what they needed. Just time together, without the weight of duty or grief or distance.
“Look!”Connor pointed up suddenly. “The first stars are comin’ out!”
Sure enough,pinpricks of light were beginning to appear in the deepening blue of the sky.
“Can ye teach us now, Da?”Connor asked, his voice eager. “Please?”
Elijah lookedat the emerging stars, then at his son’s hopeful face. “Aye. I can do that.”
He shifted sohe was lying back on the blanket, his hands behind his head. Connor immediately copied him, pressing close against his father’s side. After a moment’s hesitation, Masie did the same on Elijah’s other side.
Piper felther throat tighten at the sight, three people who’d been so distant finally coming together.
“Come on, Miss Armstrong,”Connor called. “Ye said ye were learnin’ too!”
Piper glanced at Elijah,who caught her eye and—was that a smirk?
“Ye planned this,”he said quietly. “Ye might as well see it through.”
Piper lay down beside Connor,close enough to be part of the group but far enough to maintain some propriety.
“Now,”Elijah began, his voice taking on a different quality—softer, almost reverent. “What do ye ken about the stars already?”
“They’re pretty?”Connor offered.
