Page 64 of Laird of Wrath

Lara hesitated. “I cannae remember.”

The silence lasted a heartbeat before the room burst into laughter.

Rhea shook her head, but when she glanced at Lara’s reflection in the mirror, she found her red-faced, her eyes filled with concern.

“Ye cannae remember?” Sienna echoed.

“I ken it’s somethin’,” Lara insisted.

“Somethin’ terrible?” Rhea asked.

“I think so!”

“Ye only think so?” Sienna arched an eyebrow.

Lara hesitated. “Or it might be very good.”

Sienna leaned back in triumph as the room erupted in laughter once more. “There,” she said. “If ye’ve forgotten what it means, then I’m sure it’s nothin'.”

“I havenae forgotten,” Lara protested.

“Aye, ye have.”

“It’ll come back to me.”

“I'm sure it will, Lara,” Rhea assured her.

Lara looked genuinely troubled for several seconds before brightening all of a sudden. “Och! I remember!”

Everyone looked at her, waiting to hear what she would say with bated breath. Even Sienna, who teased her for her superstitions more often than not, seemed to be hanging on her every word.

“It only applies to left slippers.”

All eyes turned to the slipper as Elsie bent to retrieve it. She held it up, showing it to the room, the relief on her face evident. “It’s the right one.”

Lara visibly relaxed, her shoulders dropping. “Och, thank goodness.”

Even Mabel laughed then, quietly enough that it might have escaped Rhea’s notice had she not been listening for it. She reached over and squeezed her sister’s hand as Mabel passed behind her with a tray of hairpins.

It was nice, hearing her sister laugh again. They had been apart for too long, and Rhea didn’t know how often Mabel laughed at home, if at all.

Lara tapped her gently on the shoulder. “Me Lady.”

“Aye?”

“If ye continue twistin’ about, I will never finish stylin’ yer hair.”

Rhea looked over her shoulder, doing her best to mask her grin. “Am I twistin’?”

“Ye’ve turned around six times,” Lara said, exasperated.

“I was speakin’.” Rhea shrugged.

“Ye may speak facin’ forward.”

“I like seein’ people.”

“Ye’ll see them perfectly well once we’re finished.”