Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Elaina stepped out of the armory with a small breath of relief. The scent of oil and iron still clung faintly to her clothes. She brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she walked down the corridor, her thoughts drifting back toward the garden.
There was still time before dinner. In fact, she had just enough time to check the herb beds.
The thought settled her. The garden had quickly become her quiet refuge in the castle, somewhere she could work with her hands and allow her mind to rest.
She descended the narrow stairs toward the courtyard, relishing the cool stone beneath her fingertips as she lightly traced the wall.
Outside, the late afternoon air greeted her with the soft scent of damp earth and herbs warmed by the day’s sun.
The sky had begun to soften toward evening in the pale gold that was lingering behind the towers.
Elaina crossed the courtyard slowly, heading toward the path that led behind the southern wall where the small healer’s garden rested. Halfway across, she noticed movement near the outer gate.
One of the maids struggled slightly beneath the weight of two wooden boxes stacked awkwardly in her arms. The girl stepped carefully across the stones, clearly trying not to drop them as she carried them toward the storage room.
Elaina slowed. The maid’s steps were small and cautious, and the boxes were tilting dangerously with every movement.
“Elspeth,” Elaina called gently.
The girl looked up with surprise.
“Oh! Mistress Elaina.”
Elaina approached with a friendly smile.
“May I help ye with those?”
The maid shifted the boxes slightly in her arms, clearly considering the offer.
“Oh nay, thank ye,” she said quickly. “I can handle it.”
Elaina glanced at the stack, which wobbled again in a rather alarming way.
“Are ye certain?”
The maid laughed softly, adjusting her grip. “I promise, I have carried worse.”
Elaina smiled at that and stepped toward the courtyard gate that led to the garden path. The evening air had cooled slightly, and she could smell the faint sweetness of the herbs even from there. She was just about to pass through the gate when the maid called after her.
“Mistress Elaina?”
Elaina turned. The girl had managed to steady the boxes against her hip, though they still looked somewhat precarious.
“Ye might nae want tae go too far,” the maid said kindly. “There’s a storm coming.”
Elaina glanced up. The sky above the courtyard walls had begun to shift while they were speaking. The pale gold of evening was now threaded with darker clouds rolling slowly in from the hills.
“The rain can come quickly,” the maid added. “Stronger than one realizes at first.”
Elaina followed the girl’s gaze toward the gathering clouds. The air did feel heavier now that she noticed it.
“I will nae be long,” she said with a reassuring smile. “Only a moment.”
The maid nodded. “Well then, be careful.”
“Thank ye,” Elaina replied warmly.
With that she stepped through the gate and onto the narrow path that led behind the southern wall. The garden waited just ahead, quiet and fragrant in the fading light. Though the clouds were gathering slowly above the castle, Elaina told herself she would be back long before the storm arrived.
She moved slowly between the narrow beds of herbs, brushing her fingers lightly across the tops of the plants as she passed. The scent of lavender, rosemary, and damp earth rose gently around her, comforting in its familiarity.
She knelt beside the sage bed for a moment, loosening the soil around the roots and removing a few small weeds that had appeared since the morning.
“This will nae take long,” she murmured to herself.
The evening air had grown strangely still.
At first, she did not notice it. But as she rose and stepped farther along the garden path, the breeze that usually stirred the herbs had disappeared entirely, leaving the air heavy and quiet.
Elaina straightened slowly and glanced toward the castle.
The walls stood only a short distance away, their grey stone beginning to darken as the clouds thickened above them.
She felt she should go back. Yet her steps carried her farther down the narrow path that curved beyond the last row of herbs.
It was a habit she had fallen into more than once since arriving at Castle Grant, which was to follow the small trails that wound just beyond the garden, curious about the surrounding grounds.
She meant only to walk a little farther before turning back. The grass grew thicker here, dotted with small wildflowers that had escaped the carefully tended beds. The castle walls were still visible behind her, though the garden itself had already disappeared from sight.
She paused beside a low stone boundary marker, studying a patch of unfamiliar leaves growing near its base.
“Hm.”
She crouched briefly to examine them, turning one of the leaves between her fingers. The plant was unfamiliar. She leaned closer, and that was when she felt it. A small, cool drop landed softly on the crown of her head.
Elaina blinked. Another followed, then another. She lifted her face toward the sky just as the first low rumble of thunder rolled across the hills.
“Oh dear.”
The maid had been right. The storm arrived with startling speed. Within seconds the gentle drops became a steady patter against the grass and leaves around her. Elaina rose quickly, brushing her hands against her skirt.
The rain grew heavier, striking the ground in quick silver streaks as the wind returned suddenly, bending the taller grasses.
Her cloak was already beginning to darken where the water touched it.
She glanced toward the castle walls, now half obscured by the rising curtain of rain.
Running back through the open field would only leave her soaked before she reached the gate.
Then she spotted it. A broad oak tree stood several yards away, its thick branches spreading wide enough to offer at least some shelter.
Gathering her skirts slightly, Elaina hurried toward it as the rain began falling harder.
By the time she reached the tree, the storm had broken fully across the land.
She stepped beneath the shelter of the branches just as the rain began pouring in earnest, drumming loudly against the leaves above her.
Well, she said softly to herself, peering through the curtain of rain toward the distant castle walls. It appears I may have been slightly overconfident.
The rain came harder now. It drummed steadily against the thick canopy of the oak above her. The branches were catching much of it but not all. Water slipped through the leaves in cold drops that struck her shoulders and the top of her head, slowly soaking into her cloak.
Elaina wrapped her arms tighter around herself and waited.
Surely the storm will pass quickly. Highland storms often dae.
For several minutes she stood beneath the tree, listening to the wind push through the branches and the steady hiss of rain against the grass beyond the shelter.
But the rain did not ease. Instead, the wind strengthened, sending colder gusts through the clearing. Elaina shivered, then stepped away from the trunk, deciding it would be better to return to the castle despite the rain.
But the moment she moved, something tugged sharply at her leg. She frowned and took another step. Her foot did not follow. Looking down, she realized what had happened.
The storm had softened the earth beneath the oak, turning the soil around the thick surface roots into slick, heavy mud. One of those roots had caught the hem of her skirt and worse, her foot had slipped into the softened ground beside it.
She pulled gently, but nothing happened. The mud clung stubbornly around her boot, and the twisted root pinned the fabric of her skirt tightly against the ground.
“Oh, nay.”
Elaina crouched, trying to free the cloth carefully without tearing it. Rainwater dripped steadily from the leaves above, sliding down the back of her neck and soaking the collar of her gown. The cold seeped into her sleeves as she worked, and her fingers were already beginning to numb.
She tugged again, but the root did not budge. The mud sucked stubbornly around her boot.
Another gust of wind swept through the clearing, sending a fresh cascade of rain through the branches. Elaina gasped softly as the cold water struck her shoulders. Now her hair was damp as well, and loose were strands clinging to her cheeks.
She tried once more, pulling harder this time. The mud squelched, but her foot remained firmly trapped. The realization settled slowly.
She was stuck.
Cold rain continued to fall through the branches above, soaking deeper into her cloak and skirt with every passing moment. Elaina leaned her shoulder against the rough bark of the oak and exhaled slowly, her breath fogging faintly in the chill air.
“Well,” she said softly to the empty clearing. “This is decidedly nae how I intended tae spend the evening.