Catriona brightened immediately. “Already?”
“Aye.”
He gestured vaguely toward the table now covered with books, herbs, and Catriona’s enthusiastic curiosity.
“And I’ll pray, too,” he added.
Catriona blinked. “Fer what?”
Duncan considered this gravely. “Fer the safety of the castle.”
Elaina’s shoulders shook slightly as she tried to suppress another laugh. Catriona grabbed a small bundle of dried herbs from the table and tossed it toward him. Duncan caught it easily.
“Out,” she ordered, pointing toward the door. “Ye are disrupting me studies.”
Duncan held up the bundle of herbs she had thrown.
“Ye probably dinnae even ken what this is,” he teased.
“That is rosemary.”
“Fer memory?”
“Aye.”
“Good,” Duncan said, tossing it lightly back onto the table. “Perhaps it will help ye remember nae tae poison the laird of the castle.”
Catriona rolled her eyes. “Go.”
Duncan chuckled under his breath. “Aye, aye.”
He turned toward the corridor, pausing just briefly in the doorway, but still long enough for his gaze to flick once more toward Elaina. Then he stepped out into the hall and left the two to their work.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Elaina watched the doorway for a moment longer than she intended. Then she turned back toward the table, a small smile still lingering at the corners of her mouth.
“It is nice,” she said gently.
Catriona looked up from the book she had opened, her finger still marking a page.
“What is?”
“The way ye and yer braither speak tae one another.” Elaina nodded as she began carefully sorting the crushed mixture from the mortar into a small glass jar. “It is obvious how close ye are, and how much ye care fer each other.”
Catriona leaned back slightly, and the wooden chair creaked beneath her as she considered the remark.
“Well,” she said after a moment of deep thought, “we have only ever had each other.”
Elaina glanced at her. Catriona gave a small shrug.
“Duncan has always been like that,” she continued. “He may look stern and grave most of the time…”
Elaina almost laughed at how accurate that description was.
“… but he is very protective of those he loves.”
Elaina placed the jar on the table and wiped her hands on a cloth.
