Edna enjoyed having her sister in the keep. She was the youngest of the four, and it had gotten a mite lonely having them all move on with their lives.
Though it had been Edna’s plan to do so as well until the tragedy had befallen her.
The pang in her chest hit her with full force, so much so that Edna had to stop at the top of the stairs to catch her breath. She thought that losing James would grow easier with time, but instead, it felt like it was only growing harder to picture her life without him.
Swallowing the tears, Edna forced herself to move forward. He wouldn’t want her to cry so, but she missed him something dreadful. They were supposed to be wed by now, moving into the small farm that had been in his family’s name for generations.
Instead, she was alone in the keep, with no thoughts to her future now.
Edna moved on to her sister’s chamber, finding Elise on the bed. “Tell me I can get up now,” her sister groaned, her feet dangling over the side of the bed. “Vance, he refused tae allow me tae even wash mah face this morning.”
Rolling her eyes, Edna shut the door behind her. “Of course, ye can get up. The midwife says that movement, as long as ’tis not sudden, is good for ye.”
“I love him, I really do,” Elise grumbled as she stood. “But he’s being far too overprotective of me. I will never make it the next six months if he doesnae loosen up.”
“He’s worried,” Edna reminded her sister gently. “After all, ye arenae a young lass any longer.” She had watched her brother-in-law with her sister, and the love between them was apparent. It was only natural for him to be concerned about his wife, given her struggles.
Elise narrowed her gaze. “I’m only thirty—not as old as Ma! Ye are being ridiculous, Edna, just like the rest.”
Edna tugged on the laces of her sister’s nightgown, helping her pull it up over her head. “Perhaps, but once this bairn is safely born, then ye will see that our concern was well placed.” Handing Elise her gown, Edna stepped back and watched as her sister dressed. While she knew that her sister was perturbed, she was also just as worried about not being able to carry the bairn to term. They had buried far too many of them already.
“Are ye going tae participate in Marymas then?” her sister asked as she deftly did up the laces. “Ye know ye can.”
Edna swallowed. “I dinnae ken. It doesnae feel right.”
Elise finished with her laces, her expression gentle. “I know it doesnae feel right, but at some point, ye need tae move on with yer life, Edna. James would want ye tae.”
“James isnae here tae tell me wot he would want!” Edna replied hotly, the unexpected spark of anger catching her off guard. She was tired of everyone acting like they would know what her beloved, the man she loved above all else, would want her to do. “I’m vera sorry,” Edna said quietly a moment later. “I shouldnae have raised mah voice at ye.”
Elise shook her head, turning so that Edna could plait her long, wavy hair into a serviceable braid. “’Tis alright, Sister. I know that ye’re grief is still raw. I cannae imagine wot I would be like if I lost mah dear Vance. A love like that, ’tis not something that comes around vera often, and ye have every right tae mourn its loss.”
Edna’s fingers paused their work. “Wot if I told ye that I think that James is still with me?”
Her sister turned, concern flickering over her gaze. “Wot?”
Edna tried to find the right words so her sister wouldn’t think she had hit her head and become daft. “Ye know the old wall near the moors?”
“Of course,” Elise murmured. “Everyone does.” It was no secret about the wall that used to border the McGregor lands generations ago. Many a couple, including Edna and James, had spent some time there, under the shelter of the crumbling stone wall for a bit of privacy in the evening.
“I think he saved me,” Edna confessed, her cheeks burning. “I went out there, hoping tae recapture our memories there, and one of the stones got dislodged. Had I not moved in time, I would have been hit.”
Elise pursed her lips. “That sounds like ye just moved at the right time, Edna.”
“But that isnae it,” Edna continued hurriedly. “I heard his voice, Elise. I heard James speak tae me.” It was as clear as day, his voice urging her to get up and move right before the stone had rolled off the wall, landing where her head would have been. At first, she thought it was the trick of the wind, but the more that Edna thought about it, the more she realized that his spirit had been there with her that day, attempting to contact her.
Not only that, but he was also protecting her still, even in death.
Elise reached for Edna’s hands, clasping them gently in her own. “I know ye loved him,” she said softly, sadness in her eyes. “But he’s no longer here, Edna. Ye watched his ashes yerself. He’s with the gods now.”
“Then why does it still hurt?” Edna whispered, the tears crowding her eyes. She wanted the pain to go away, the gut-wrenching pain that robbed her of her breath and made her wish for death at times as well.
Perhaps death would be easier, given that her own sister couldn’t understand what she was going through.
“Och, lass!” Elise cried out, pulling Edna into a fierce hug. “It will get better, ye will see! Robert, Bruce, and I are all here for ye, not tae mention Ma and Da. We all will see ye through this, I promise.”
The way they wanted her to deal with her loss was to forget James ever existed and move on. Edna wasn’t so certain she would ever be able to do such a thing. James was her heart, and right now, it felt like her heart no longer beat inside her chest.
“Well, now,” Elise stated, wiping her own tears from her cheeks as she released Edna. “Let’s no longer tarry. I cannae wait tae leave this chamber!”
