Caelan seemed to be struggling with them, so he stepped in, only intending to join for a few minutes. He had not expected the children to be so taken by him and him by them. But now that it was over, he couldn’t be more relieved.
He folded his arms across his chest, his brow rising slightly as a carriage approached them from a distance.
“Did ye send for a carriage?” Edith’s voice carried in the air, sounding slightly emotional. “Daenae tell me ye are leaving.”
“We arenae leaving,” Scarlett said, laughing softly. “Me husband merely needs to rest, as do I.”
“Perfect.” Edith’s face lit up. “I have already prepared yer chambers.”
Aaron scoffed. She had spoken those words as though she were the lady of the castle. And yet it did not annoy him.
The carriage pulled to a stop beside them, and Robert put his arms around Scarlett’s waist. He murmured something, drawing a playful laugh from her lips, before guiding her toward the carriage, leaving Edith to stare after them.
Perhaps the alliance hasnae been as terrible as I feared.
Aaron watched their carriage roll away across the amber fields, and soon, the only people who remained under the tree were him, Edith, Caelan, and Violet.
His brows arched slightly as Caelan approached Violet, just as music began to play.
Those two…
Violet smiled as Caelan approached her, and it became clear to Aaron that he had missed their first conversation at the very least.
Perhaps the lass is also taken by him.
She took the hand Caelan offered, and he gently placed his other hand on her waist as though he were afraid to break her, guiding her through a dance near the playing pipes.
The song was hardly meant for dancing. Their laughter rang loud as the steps became too fast for them to keep up.
Aaron rolled his eyes.
Nonsense.
Yet he was hardly able to look away.
He realized at that moment that he envied it—their smooth connection, their easy laughter, the helplessness with which they both looked at each other, though they had only recently met.
He frowned, pushing off the tree.
“Why do ye nae believe in it?” Edith’s voice came quietly beside him.
He started slightly, having not heard her approach. He turned. She had drawn closer than he expected, her expression unreadable in the dimming light.
“In what?” he asked.
She gestured toward Caelan and Violet, toward the easy laughter and careless dancing. “That,” she said. “Simple things. Joy.”
Aaron exhaled lightly, looking back toward the dancers rather than at her. “Distractions,” he muttered. “Temporary.”
Why is she asking me this?
There was something deliberate in the way she had approached him, something that suggested she had been thinking about this for longer than the moment required.
“Caelan seems quite taken,” she observed.
“Aye,” Aaron agreed. “He is.”
She studied him for a long moment, her gaze far too perceptive for his comfort.
