Baird’s jaw tightened, but he nodded. “Aye.”
Davina’s mother stepped forward, touching her daughter’s cheek. “Write tae us,” she whispered. “Often.”
“I will,” Davina whispered. She sounded as if she were on the edge of tears.
Ramsay turned to her, cupping her face briefly between his large hands. “Ye dae what ye must, me sweet lass,” he murmured. “Ye’ll make a fine Lady Kincaid. I’ve nay doubt of it.”
Davina tried to smile. “Thank ye, Faither.”
Then a few steps, a bowed head, the turning of cloaks in the wind, and suddenly they were gone, following the departing horses toward the gate. The Fletcher banners dipped once before disappearing beyond the walls.
Davina stood very still. Baird watched her from the corner of his eye. She looked… small in a way she hadn’t before. She did not appear weak, but rather alone, just like him. He understood that feeling too well.
He cleared his throat. “We should head inside,” he said quietly. “The air’s cold.”
Her steps faltered though as her gaze lingered on the path where her family had disappeared. He didn’t think. He simply offered his arm. She hesitated before taking it, her fingers curling lightly around his sleeve.
They walked together toward the keep: two people bound by marriage, duty, and a grief neither yet knew how to share.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Ye’ve a full day ahead of ye, me lady.”
Davina nearly dropped the ledger she’d been handed. “A full day?” She lifted the heavy volume, which looked as though it had endured a decade of neglect. “It’s only breakfast, isnae it?”
Ailis, standing beside her with a basket of folded linens in her arms, gave a sympathetic smile. “Aye. And after breakfast comes the rest of it.”
Davina blew out a slow breath, glancing around the solar where she’d been attempting to organize tasks for the morning. She had imagined her first full day as Lady Kincaid would be overwhelming, but she hadn’t realized how deeply disorganized a clan could become without a woman overseeing the inner workings.
“It’s been some time since we last had a lady in the castle,” Ailis continued. “Years, in truth. The men dae their best, but…” She lowered her voice. “When left tae their own devices, they only remember the things that concern sword or shield.”
Davina pressed her lips together. “Then the rest falls tae us.”
“Aye.” Ailis nodded with a note of relief in her expression, as though she’d been waiting a long time to say that to someone who would actually listen. “There’s much tae be done. But not all at once.”
Davina opened the ledger again, only to discover another page of items scribbled in different hands: winter tallow, spare blankets, barley stock, broken hearth tiles, spoiled apples. The list seemed endless.
She sank onto a nearby bench. “I dinnae even ken where tae start.”
Ailis placed the basket aside and came to sit beside her. “Well, ye could start with the kitchens.”
“The kitchens?” Davina blinked.
“Aye,” Ailis confirmed, folding her hands neatly in her lap. “Ye’ll want tae understand our winter stores, if there is food enough fer the people, and what’s running low. And ye should meet the cook and the servants who keep the castle fed. They’ll ken more about what’s needed than any ledger.”
Davina exhaled, feeling the tension loosening slightly. That made sense. It was practical and manageable. “Aye. The kitchens. That seems like a reasonable place tae begin.”
Ailis grinned. “It is. And it’ll give ye a proper sense of the people’s needs. Winter always hits hard, and harder still when there’s nay lady tae keep things in order.”
Davina’s heart tightened. “Has it truly been so long since anyone oversaw these things?”
“Nae since Lady Kincaid passed,” Ailis said softly. “The men tried… but a household runs better when someone cares fer more than just weapons and walls.”
Davina nodded slowly. She had seen the disarray already in the scattered duties and the half-tended tasks. It wasn’t neglect, so much as the absence of a steady hand.
“Well,” she said, straightening her shoulders. “If the household needs a lady, then I suppose I shall have tae become one quickly.”
Ailis beamed. “I dinnae doubt ye will. Come on, then. Let’s start with the kitchen.”
