Page 83 of The Laird's Secret Bairn

Skye blushed.

“A cèilidh,” Lily supplied. “For me! Because I was sick, but I’m nae sick anymore, so we’re celebrating. That’s why Skye was teaching me to dance! I daenae think we were doing well, though.”

Freya covered her mouth. “Is that so?” Her gaze flicked to Skye, something knowing in it. “Well, it sounds like a fine reason for celebration, indeed. Though if ye want some proper dance lessons, it’s best to come to me, Lily. I can teach ye to dance.”

Lily jumped up and down. “Really?”

“Aye, I’ll teach ye before the cèilidh.”

Skye smiled. “And when yer da comes home, ye’ll surprise him with yer new dancing skills.”

“Is Freya really that good?”

She nodded. “I promise ye, Lily, she will make a dancer out of ye yet.”

Kenna whisked Lily off to the kitchens with a promise to sample the honey cakes before anyone else got the chance, leaving Freya and Skye alone for the first time since Skye had left Castle Muir. Lily was almost always at her side now. If not Lily, then it was Kenna or Dougal.

“Now,” Freya said, the moment they were alone, steering her toward a quiet corner. “Tell me everything. And daenae ye dare leave anything out, Skye MacLeod. I ken that look in yer eyes, so ye must tell me everything, otherwise I will be forced to take measures ye cannae even begin to imagine.”

She sighed. Best to pretend that she had no idea what Freya was talking about. It was safer that way, and if she got lucky, her sister would drop it.

“What look?” she asked innocently.

Freya gave her a look, and her resolve crumbled instantly.

Why did she think she could fool her sister at all? She had gotten ahead of herself.

“That look. The one that says ye’ve things ye’re nae saying.” Freya studied her closely. “Where is he, this Lion of yers? Iexpected to be glared at by a masked brute the moment I arrived. Instead, I found ye teaching a child how to dance.”

Skye was grateful her sister hadn’t asked about Lily’s existence. She trusted her sister more than anything. Freya would never be a threat to Lily or tell anyone the truth, but Dougal wanted to keep Lily’s origins a secret. The fewer people who knew, the safer she was.

It was already tragic that Angus knew. Dougal was still trying to figure out how he had learned of Lily’s existence.

“He’s away. Business, he said.” Skye’s voice caught slightly on the words. “He’s been gone nearly a week now, but he will be back in time for the cèilidh. He wouldnae miss it for the world.”

“And ye miss him.” It was a statement, not a question.

The fact that Freya said it so brazenly and openly made Skye’s cheeks heat up. She turned round, but Freya was quick to turn her back. Skye almost expected to see a smug expression on her face, but the emotion flashing in her eyes was hard to read.

She sighed in resignation. “I didnae expect to. But aye, I do miss him. Far more than I ought to, considering everything.”

Freya’s teasing expression gentled into something more serious. “Oh, Skye. What has that man done to ye?”

“He has done nothing to me!” Skye snapped, her cheeks flaming.

“Strange how ye are the one who is getting flustered, which makes me wonder whatyehave done.”

Skye dropped her face in her hands. “Freya, we shouldnae speak of such things!”

“The child is away with her grandmaither. Give me one reason why we shouldnae think of such things?”

“It’s improper,” Skye whispered.

Freya smiled. “Aye, but when has that ever stopped a lass before?”

Skye found she didn’t have an argument against that.

Why did she ever think she could keep something from her sister? It was pointless to contemplate not telling her everything, when the first chance she had, she sat down and told her everything that had happened over the past weeks.