Divana couldn’t help but chuckle. Replenishing the water in the bathhouse seemed easy compared to daily survival on Hyskeir. “How long have ye been at Achnacarry?”

“All of my life. My father is the stable master, and Ma is a lady’s maid.” Fiona worked through a clump and started at the ends of another. “I’m hoping to be a lady’s maid one day.”

“For Her Ladyship?”

“Aye, if Ma retires, or for Sir Kennan’s wife—or one of the other sons’ wives. If they would ever grow serious and wed. Since Miss Janet married Laird Grant, there hasn’t been a need for a second lady’s maid.”

Though Divana had spoken to Kennan about his eventual marriage, having someone mention his nuptials as if they were written on the stars and about to happen on the morrow made her hackles rise. She took in a breath and let it out slowly.

Sir Kennan is not for me. How many times must I remind meself of that fact?

Regardless of their differences in station, he’d come to mean so much to her in such a short time. And now that they had been rescued, things would change entirely. He wouldn’t be whittling driftwood across the bothy, his green eyes shifting her way now and again. He wouldn’t be helping her dig for clams or fixing the thatch on the roof. He was the son of a great laird, a sea captain. And by the size of Achnacarry, he was likely one of the most sought after bachelors in the Highlands.

How will I endure it?

She regarded her reflection and turned her chin, running her fingers along the pocked scars. Divana had known they were there, but it had been difficult to picture them. Before she’d been stricken with smallpox, there wasn’t a blemish on her face aside from a splay of freckles across her nose. Kennan would most likely want a wife with creamy smooth skin without a single spot.

Fiona tugged the comb so hard, if felt as if Divana’s hair would come out at the roots. “You’ll be working alongside me to begin with.”

Gulping, Divana tried to smile, though her heart was twisting in a hundred knots. “I should like that.” Hopefully, she sounded sincere. In truth she just wanted to crumple to the floor and weep. So much had happened since they’d left Hyskeir. It was difficult enough not to have Kennan nearby to answer questions or to protect her with his brawny arms. Yes, she wanted to enter into service and make her own coin. She desperately wanted to find a place to call home. But things had changed so fast, it overwhelmed her.

“Tell me, what is your age?” asked Fiona.

Blinking back the sting of tears, Divana cleared her throat. “I reckon I’m nineteen, or near enough. Ye?”

“Nineteen as well.”

“We’re the same age?” Divana’s spirits dove a bit further. “Here ye are in training to be a lady’s maid and I’ve never had a position in a castle afore.”