“What is the other table for then? If we have all this food?” Emilie asked, pointing to the table pushed against one of the walls that was laden with dishes.
Archer bit into the roasted leg of a chicken, the grease from the meat dribbling a bit into his beard, which he wiped off with the back of his hand.
“That’s where the clan will eat from,” he advised, “this food here is all for us.”
Emilie nodded.
She thought it was a bit wasteful, all the food heaped upon the table for only the six people who were now sitting at it. But she didn’t think it would be a polite thing to say.
Although maybe bein’ impolite might help her here.
“Who are ye?”
A small voice rang out to Emilie’s right, and she turned, finding the children staring up at her with curious expressions.
The girl, she thought Archer had said her name was Aurora, had clearly been the one who had spoken. She was sitting the closest to Emilie, her expression hard as she glared at her.
“Me apologies,” Emilie said quickly, astonished with herself that she hadn’t yet greeted them. “Me name is Emilie. Yer faither and I got married today. Ye must be Aurora and Louis. Yer faither’s told me all about ye.”
The lie slipped from her lips quickly, before Emilie had put any kind of thought into it.
She hadn’t been sure why she said it. She wasn’t someone who made a habit of lying. Because of course, Archer had done no such thing.
The only thing her new husband had told her was that they were his children and their names.
Now that Emilie thought about it, did Archer even greet the children when he approached the table?
She didn’t think that he did. From what she saw, he walked straight to the table and then immediately began piling food onto his plate.
Why would he nae greet his own bairns?
They were staring at her now, skepticism written on their small features.
“Faither told ye about us?” the boy, Louis, asked.
Emilie nodded. She didn’t want to lie to them again, so she didn’t offer any more details. She just gave them what she hoped was an encouraging smile, praying that they would begin talking again to change the subject.
The two children shared a quick glance, clearly not believing her. Aurora narrowed her eyes at Emilie, while Louis gave her a shy, hesitant smile.
“Well, just in case he dinnae tell ye,” the young boy began, “me name is Louis. And me sister, Aurora. We’re twins!”
“Twins?” Emilie parroted, unable to stop the shock from leaking into her voice. “I’ve nae met twins before.”
“If Faither told ye about us, why do ye nae ken we’re twins?” Aurora pressed.
Emilie’s eyes flicked to the young girl. Her eyes were still narrowed on Emilie, still studying every one of her movements.
Mayhaps it’s time for a little bit of truth. That might be just the thing to win them over.
“He dinnae tell me a lot,” she admitted, shrugging one shoulder a bit sheepishly. “But he did already tell me yer names. And, he told me that I was to be yer new maither. Which, I think, is quite excitin’.”
Almost immediately, Emilie knew that she had said the wrong thing. Aurora’s gaze, which had already been filled with disbelief and distrust while she was glaring at Emilie, turned outright hostile.
The young girl’s cheeks grew pink, and her small hands fisted in her lap.
“I daenae need a maither,” she growled in a voice so like her father, Emilie would have thought it was comical had the malice not been directed at her.
Emilie opened her mouth, her mind casting about for the right thing to say to ease the girl’s worries. But before she could, Aurora pushed her chair back from the table.