“Daenae stray too far,” Iona called.
“I will nae,” Jamie replied, already halfway there.
Erin wiped her hands on a cloth. “I will keep an eye on the bairn,” she said. “There is a patch beyond that might hold interest.”
Jamie did not need to be told twice.
Within moments, Erin had guided the child away, leaving Iona and Ariella alone among the rows of green and growing things.
For a time, neither spoke.
Iona moved slowly along one of the beds, brushing her fingers lightly over the leaves of a plant she recognized. The scent rose sharp and clean beneath her touch.
Ariella watched her.
“I wished to speak with ye,” she said at last.
Iona stilled, then nodded. “I thought as much.”
“I would rather ye hear things plainly than piece them together through half-truths,” Ariella continued. “It is easier that way.”
Iona turned slightly to face her. “Then speak plainly.”
“I hear,” Ariella said, her tone turning just slightly mischievous, “that ye refused me brother.”
Iona’s fingers stalled on a petal she had been inspecting, but she hummed in agreement once.
Ariella watched her for a beat, then laughed softly. “Good.”
Iona blinked. “Good?”
“Aye,” Ariella said. “It was time someone brought him down a peg.”
A laugh escaped Iona before she could stop it, and the sound surprised her.
“Go on then, and let it out! I made sure to laugh at him the entire way back to the keep from the stables when I found out. Maxwell couldnae contain hisself either!”
Iona let herself join Ariella, who was apparently her second round of laughter on the topic.
“He did nae seem particularly humbled,” Iona admitted.
“Nay,” Ariella agreed. “He rarely is. But I am certain it unsettled him more than he cares to admit.”
That, Iona could believe.
Ariella’s expression softened then, losing its teasing edge. “As I said, he is a hard man, but he is a good man.”
“I reckon I believe ye.”
“Good! Now, my second order of business is to tell ye that we have a cousin. Skylar. She is Lady Strathcairn, but to family, she is just Skylar.”
The name meant nothing to Iona, but she listened all the same.
“She became the healer for her clan,” Ariella said. “Nae by birth, but by hard work and dedication. She taught herself when she could, learned from whoever had time to teach, studied the books of the masters, and made herself indispensable in ways that did nae always sit easily with others.”
Iona’s brow furrowed slightly. “That sounds familiar.”
“Aye,” Ariella said. “It should.”