Iliana might have argued with the little man over his obstinate behavior, but his stance had quickly been backed up by Ebba, the women she had hired to work the garden, and even Giorsal and the other servants from the castle itself. Under such unanimous insistence, Iliana had been forced to give in gracefully and retire to the great hall.

Ebba had then suggested she relax by the fire and start work upon the apron she had promised Elgin. The idea of sitting about, plying her needle, had not truly appealed to her. She was eager to finish with the great hall and move her cleaning efforts on to the bedchambers. For that reason, Iliana had decided that finishing cleaning the wall tapestries was a more attractive endeavor.

Unfortunately, the moment she had started to work on the tapestries, several women hurried over. Taking over the task from her, they had claimed they would be “well pleased” to fill their time while waiting for their turn in the tub by helping her with “sech and the like.” And why did she not go fix up that apron for Elgin?

Iliana had seemed to have little choice but to turn to that task, but had been less than pleased with the knowledge. It was not that she minded needlework, and she truly wished to see Elgin with an apron to protect his plaid, but she was feeling oddly restless and would have preferred to do something a bit more physical. While she had collapsed from exhaustion the day before, and had still been a bit tired that morning, she found herself oddly energized now. She suspected that it had something to do with the episode in the bedroom but did not wish to ponder the idea too closely.

“All done?” she asked Janna, and the other woman nodded.

“Cook said sup would be ready as soon as he finishes his bath.”

“Which should not be long; he was in the tub almost ere ye were out o’ it,” Giorsal commented dryly.

“Aye.” Janna laughed. “I have never seen a man so eager to bathe.”

“’Tis not the bath he is eager fer,” one of the women said with amusement.

“Aye,” another agreed. “He’s gone on all afternoon about his new apron and hat.”

Biting her lip, Iliana glanced anxiously at Ebba. Once she and the other women had finished whitewashing the walls, Ebba had offered to assist with the making of the apron. Iliana had handed over the nearly done item, leaving her maid to merely finish the hem, as she herself turned her attention to making the hat. Unfortunately, Ebba had a tendency to chat as she worked and she did seem to find it difficult to concentrate on the two things at the same time. Her work on the apron had gone much slower than it should have. “How much more is there for you to do, Ebba? Mayhap I could help.”