“Good morning!” The voice arrived before the rest of her did.
Catriona swept into the room like a gust of bright Highland wind, her arms stacked precariously with a collection of books that looked as though they had been rescued from several different corners of the castle library. Her dark curls bounced around her face as she crossed the room with determined cheer.
“Elaina, I found them!” she announced triumphantly. “Or at least I think I did. Some of them might be about farming, but the words look medicinal.”
She dropped the pile onto the table with a heavy thud that sent a small cloud of dried herbs dancing into the air. Only then did she seem to notice her brother standing in the corner.
“Oh!” Catriona beamed. “Duncan, ye’re here, too!”
Duncan blinked once. “What,” he asked slowly, “is all this?”
Catriona clasped her hands together with visible excitement. “Elaina has agreed tae teach me!”
Duncan looked from the books to Catriona, then to Elaina.
“Teach ye what?”
“Healing,” Catriona said happily, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Elaina, Duncan noticed, did not look nearly as surprised as he felt.
“Ye agreed tae this?” he asked her.
Elaina lifted one shoulder lightly. “She asked.”
“And ye said aye.”
“She seemed enthusiastic.”
Catriona nodded vigorously. “I amveryenthusiastic.”
Duncan rubbed a hand across his jaw.
“This castle went years without a healer,” he said thoughtfully. “And now, apparently, we’ll have two.”
Catriona’s eyes lit up. “Och! That makes it sound official.”
“It was nae meant tae,” he replied dryly, though a hint of amusement tugged at his mouth. He glanced at her sidelong. “Unless of course, ye’re ready tae take on the responsibility. Long hours, stubborn patients, folk who think a cup of broth will cure a broken bone.”
Catriona lifted her rebellious chin. “I’ve dealt with worse.”
“Aye?” he asked, with a raised brow. “Then, I’ll be sure tae send the most difficult cases straight tae ye.”
She ignored him entirely. “Elaina says the first thing I must learn is identifying herbs,” Catriona continued, already pulling one of the books toward her and opening it with great determination. “Which is excellent because I once mistook something poisonous for sage and the cook refused tae let me near the kitchens for a month.”
“That sounds wise of the cook,” Duncan muttered.
Catriona waved a hand dismissively. “It was an honest mistake.”
“Ye nearly killed half the household.”
“It never happened.”
Duncan sighed slowly, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck as if the effort of reasoning with his sister had suddenly become too great for one morning.
Elaina made a soft sound that might have been laughter, though she quickly disguised it by reaching for another small bundle of herbs. Duncan noticed anyway. He always seemed to notice her.
“Well,” he told them, “I believe I’ll leave ye tae yer healing business.”
