Chapter 18
Emma was already in the carriage when Thomas climbed inside as if she’d been there the whole time. He was still reeling from what he had seen. It had looked so much like what he feared.
Calm down. There’s probably a logical explanation. Don’t go jumping to conclusions.
He eyed Emma closely. She was pale, sure, but she flashed a smile anyway.
“Sorry to keep ye waiting,” he said lightly.
This was her cue to say something, anything. But she only smiled and kept quiet.
“Were ye waiting a long time?”
“No more than a few minutes,” she responded.
He chewed on his lip. The carriage lurched forward, carrying them on their way. With the bright lights of the Sinner falling far behind, darkness enveloped them so that he could no longer read her expression. He was sure she wasn’t looking at him, anyway.
“Did ye wait in the carriage the whole time?” he asked, as casually as possible. He didn’t want it to sound accusing.
Careful not to look at Emma, Thomas pretended to be absorbed in staring outside. He was sure that she was staring at him.
“Aye,” she said after the silence had stretched out for longer than it should. “I did.”
Thomas’s heart clenched. She’d lied to him, plain and simple. That meant that whatever reason she had for meeting that man up on the hill, she wasn’t about to share it with him.
He nodded and forced a smile, although he was sure that she couldn’t see it.
They didn’t speak another word for the rest of the journey.
“We’re out of brass berries,” Delphine announced.
There was a long pause, and she glanced at her apprentice.
Emma was staring down into the mortar of half-ground herbs and spices, the pestle hovering in her hand. She didn’t seem to have heard a word that Delphine had said.
“Lassie? Are ye seeing yer future in those herbs?” Delphine asked as gently as possible.
Emma flinched, glancing up with wide eyes. “I beg yer pardon, Delphine, I didn’t hear ye. I was… I was in a world of me own.”
Delphine nodded and smiled, making a dismissive gesture. “Not to worry, lassie. I was only saying that we were out of brass berries, and I’d be obliged if ye would go out to get some today. Day after tomorrow, we’re on our rounds again, and you know we’ll need brass berries.”
Emma swallowed hard and nodded, bending her head over her work again.
Delphine watched her for a minute or two, nibbling her lower lip. She was worried about her.
At first, everything had been fine. Privately, Delphine had been pleased to see her pretty young apprentice going off to a pub to have a good time. Emma was far too serious, and she needed friends. She needed fun.
Then, Emma had come home all subdued, worry etched on every line of her face.
Delphine had known immediately that something was wrong, but she couldn’t persuade her to tell her what it was.
The girl had clammed up whenever Delphine had tried to get the truth out of her. It was infuriating but also worrying.
Something was wrong, plain and simple, and the longer Emma refused to divulge what it was, the more Delphine worried.
Yesterday, when they had been meant to go on their rounds in the village, Emma had pleaded a headache and asked to be permitted to stay. Now, that was not like her at all.
Delphine had agreed, of course, and fixed up various headache potions and teas, which had seemed to do the trick. But Emma still hadn’t smiled, still bowed under the weight of some unseen burden that she still wouldn’t share.
What was more, Thomas hadn’t come to visit her, not once.
That had made Delphine angry. She had been ready to stake her pension on the chemistry developing between the two and could have sworn that Emma was starting to feel something real, something that could make its way through the walls of distrust and isolation she’d carefully set up over the years.
Thomas, of course, was head-over-heels, whether he’d admit it or not.
Delphine had known him since he had been a child, and she could tell.
And now, this.
I swear, if he’s bedded her and gotten tired of her right after, I’m going to slip a handful of Adder’s Curse in his tea. Let’s see how smug and charming he is when he can’t stir off the privy.
Aloud, she said, “Actually, Emma, would ye mind fetching the brass berries now? It’s a fine day, and I fancy ye could do with some air.”
Emma hesitated, chewing on her lip. “I… I don’t feel very well. I don’t suppose somebody else could fetch it?”
Now, that was out of character.
Delphine tilted her head to one side. “Well, it’s too far for me to walk, lassie. I’d send a soldier, except they’re likely to come back with yellowberry instead, and ye know how poisonous that is. If ye are ill, of course—”
“Nay,” Emma interrupted with a sigh. “It needs to be fetched. I’ll go for it at once, Delphine.”
Delphine watched her prepare to leave, removing her apron and putting on the special one designed for gathering herbs, with a dozen large pockets sewn into the front, all secured with a button. The girl seemed to be moving in a daze, not seeing or hearing anything.
Is sending her out a mistake?
“Have a care, lassie!” Delphine called.
Emma paused at the door, smiled weakly, and slipped out into the hallway.
“Ah! There ye are!”
Emma flinched, nearly dropping her basket.
She felt vaguely sick when she saw Astrid scramble to her feet and hurry towards her.
The woman had been sitting on the ground beside the Keep wall, a cloak wrapped around her.
Emma glanced nervously back at the open gates, beyond which she could see the inside of the courtyard.
Safety. She could just dart back inside. Astrid might follow her, but…
“Please, hear me out,” Astrid said breathlessly. “I know that ye and I are not friends…”
“I have no reason to dislike ye,” Emma said dubiously. “I am working, I’m afraid. I can’t stand and chat.”
She turned on her heel and began to march away towards the secluded woodland path. To her horror, Astrid followed.
“I’m here to apologize,” Astrid explained. “I… I let myself be blinded by my feelings for Thomas. It’s silly, really. It’s not like he would love me if it wasn’t for ye.”
“He doesn’t love me,” Emma snapped, walking a little faster. It did no good. Astrid and her long legs easily kept up the pace.
“Oh, I think he does. I saw it when ye came to the Sinner. I’m sorry I tried to cause trouble between ye. As ye may have guessed, Thomas never did give me that necklace. It’s not something he usually does, I expect. Ye truly are special to him.”
Emma’s shoulders sagged at that. She hadn’t worn the necklace since or even showed it to Delphine. She’d tucked it away in a drawer, along with the memories of the night she’d spent with Thomas.
It wasn’t even a full night, really. How long had they even spent in that office, anyway? A few snatched moments, half an hour, or an hour. It was nothing, really. She was foolish to think that it had meant something.
“For what it’s worth,” Emma said, sighing, “he hasn’t spoken to me since then. I’ve not seen him since.”
Something crossed Astrid’s face in a flash. Was it pity? Triumph? Emma couldn’t tell and honestly didn’t have the energy to work it out.
Now that they were a fair distance from the Keep, she started to keep an eye out for brass berries. The things were wretchedly hard to find.
“Well, I’m sorry,” Astrid said, still keeping pace. “I’ve been thinking and thinking about it, and I wanted to apologize. I’ll not get between ye again, I swear.”
Emma waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it. There’s nothing to forgive, really. If he chooses ye, then good luck to ye. Ye would make a fine Lady MacPherson.”
A flash of hunger flickered across Astrid’s face.
“Aye, I think I would. Tell me, what are ye looking for?”
“Brass berries.”
Astrid wrinkled her nose. “What are they?”
“They’re tiny yellow-brown berries. Ye can use them to treat stomach aches, indigestion, the pain ye get from yer monthlies, and so on. As ye can imagine, they are very popular. But they’re hard to find. They only grow under wide, leafy plants. Like this one, for example.”
Emma squatted down and lifted the heavy, broad leaf of a rhubarb plant. She peered underneath and gave a crow of delight.
“See! Here are some.”
She gathered the half-dozen hard little berries, carefully pouring them into an apron pocket. There were two raspberry-shaped yellow berries beside them. They were yellowberries. Poisonous but useful in things like rat poison. She gathered them too, slipping them into a red pocket near her ankle.
“Oh, I saw a place with lots of those berries!” Astrid exclaimed. “All hid under leaves like that. There must have been hundreds.”
Emma sucked in a breath. Hundreds of brass berries would last them for months, and they were difficult to find. It would be just her luck to spend hours searching for the berries only to find that Astrid had stumbled on a great crop by accident.
“All right,” she said reluctantly. “Ye can show me.”
Astrid beamed and skipped away, leaving Emma to follow.
They didn’t follow the proper paths through the forest. Astrid stepped confidently into the undergrowth, and Emma hesitantly followed.
They walked for five minutes, ten, fifteen, then half an hour, and Emma was beginning to panic.
She was used to crisscrossing the forest for hours in search of various herbs and berries, but this didn’t feel right somehow.
“Is it much further?” she asked, a feeling of foreboding churning in her gut. “We might get lost.”
“I know the way,” Astrid assured her, glancing over her shoulder to flash her a grin.
“I… I think we should turn back now.”
“I’m afraid it’s far too late for that, lassie.”
Lachlan stepped out from behind a grove of trees.
Astrid came to a halt, turning around to face Emma with a grin.
Emma stopped dead, fear coursing through her veins like ice.
She heard the snapping of twigs behind her and didn’t need to turn around to know that Gregor was there, grinning evilly at her back.
“This was a trap,” she said, feeling like a fool.
“Aye, and ye waltzed right into it.” Astrid tittered. “I must say, I’ve never coaxed someone into doing what I wanted by promising them berries.”
“Since ye will not help, and Flora has disappeared, damn her, I’ve had to take matters into my own hands,” Lachlan said shortly. “Fortunately, sweet Astrid here offered to help. She’s no friend of yours, lass. I can tell ye that.”
Emma swallowed hard, lifting her chin. “If ye are going to kill me, I’d rather ye just get it over with. Hearing ye rabbit on like this is boring.”
If they were going to kill her quickly, fine. However, if Lachlan intended to make her suffer, Emma briefly thought of the two yellowberries in her apron pocket. They would kill relatively quickly. She swallowed hard and banished the thought.
Ye are not beaten yet, lassie.
Lachlan chuckled. “Kill ye? No, no, that would defeat the purpose. Not yet, at least. See, we need dear Laird MacPherson to dance to our tune. He’ll not do that of course, not unless we have something valuable of his.”
Realization seeped in, and Emma felt sick.
“If ye are thinking of using me as blackmail, ye can think again,” she said, her voice weak and unconvincing. “Laird MacPherson doesn’t care for me. He doesn’t!”
Lachlan turned away, already bored. “Bind her, Gregor. We have work to do.”
Emma barely had time to turn and face the approaching Gregor before something heavy crashed against her head. There was an explosion of pain, and everything went dark.
The last thing she saw was Astrid’s beautiful, grinning face, upside down, and crunchy leaves beneath her cheek as she crumbled to the ground.