Highlander’s Frozen Heart by Shona Thompson
Chapter Eighteen
Isla’s suggestion had been one that Adelleine didn’t know whether she could follow. It seemed cruel, flirting with another man just to make Magnus jealous, both towards him and towards the man that she would have to use.
Perhaps it would be easier if the man that she would choose would be clued into what she was doing, but the mere thought of approaching someone who would be fit for the task left her mortified.
She could just imagine walking up to Duncan or another one of Magnus’ men and asking him to go along with the plan. It left her blushing, her stomach tying itself into an uncomfortable knot. She could never do such a thing, not with someone she knew, and her options were limited when it came to men that she didn’t know, as she had come to meet everyone in the castle.
Adelleine decided that Isla’s plan wasn’t the solution that she was looking for. She would simply have to force Magnus to talk to her, perhaps corner him when he would least expect it and force him to tell her the truth, even if the truth would be painful to hear. She just needed to know if there was even anything between them at all anymore, and if not, what had changed in Magnus’ mind.
She wouldn’t believe for a moment that he had led her on for his own amusement. He wasn’t the kind of man who would do such a thing.
With a heavy sigh, Adelleine stood from the bed, making her way over to the window and gazing outside. She could see the courtyard from where she stood, and in it, the sea of people who had made their way to the castle in the previous few days, and some who were still arriving in a hurry to be there for that day’s meeting.
Magnus had called it a meeting, at least, claiming that he had invited the lairds of the surrounding clans to secure the borders. To Adelleine, it seemed more like a feast, or at least an excuse to have one. Mrs. Blair had been working day and night ever since she had found out about the meeting, making sure that the castle was sparkling clean and lavishly decorated.
Adelleine couldn’t help but wonder whether such fanfare and luxury were necessary, but then again, she didn’t know what the nobility expected from each other.
To her, it seemed terrifying. She had considered claiming that she was still feeling weak after her ordeal at the lake, but it had been a week since then, and the truth was that she had regained her strength fully, something that everyone knew because she was back to taking care of Fergus every day. She could hardly lie about her condition, and she knew that she would simply have to put up with the lairds, their wives, and all the men that accompanied them.
She tried to tell herself that it could be fun, in the end. Perhaps she would enjoy it. Perhaps it was foolish of her to fear the crowds.
The truth was, though, that she had never been one for such feasts nor for such crowds.
There was a knock on the door, one that drew her gaze away from the window, and before she could say anything, Isla was making her way inside. She was wearing a dress that Adelleine would have never thought she would see her wearing, the red fabric draping beautifully over her body, the ruffles on her sleeves and around the collar graceful and feminine.
She looked miserable.
“Look at me!” Isla said, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation, “Look at me! Look at what Mrs. Blair made me wear!”
Adelleine couldn’t hold back a small, amused smile, no matter how much she tried, and so she brought a hand to her mouth to hide it. Even though it was a beautiful dress, one that Adelleine would love to have, she felt for Isla, if only because she looked so uncomfortable in it.
“I’m sorry,” Adelleine said, “But it’s only for a few days . . . once they’re gone, you can go back to wearing . . . well, still dresses.”
Isla huffed and puffed at that, like a bull that was trapped and didn’t know what to do with its bonds. In the end, she flopped herself down onto a chair, her legs spreading under her skirt in a way that made her look utterly dejected.
“Do ye ken that I had to beg and beg for me parents to allow me to learn how to fight?” Isla asked, “Mrs. Blair would put me in these dresses every single day, and me parents would always say that I shouldnae run, I shouldnae fight, I shouldnae sit on the grass . . . what is there left for me to do?”
“Isla, you do all those things,” Adelleine reminded her.
In fact, she had seen Isla train with Magnus and his men, she had come to terms with the fact that she would always have to run by her side if she wanted to keep up with her, and she had seen all the grass stains on her clothes.
“Aye, but only noo that nay one can tell me what to do,” Isla said, “When I was a bairn, they would all tell me I couldnae do those things because I was a lass and I shouldnae get me dresses dirty. And Magnus could run around all he wanted. And noo I’m back in these dresses!”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, you look beautiful,” Adelleine said, and she meant it wholeheartedly. She had always known that Isla was a beautiful woman, but she had never seen her look quite so charming before.
That seemed to give Isla pause, and she hummed thoughtfully, leaning almost all the way out of her chair. She twirled her thumbs around each other, a small frown on her face as she looked at Adelleine.
“Do ye think that Hendry will like it?”
For all that Isla tried repeatedly to prove that there was nothing between her and Hendry, she seemed to care a lot about what he would think. Adelleine gave her a smile as she approached her, crouching down in front of her and taking her hands in hers.
“I’m sure he will,” she assured Isla, “But he seems to like you no matter what dress you wear. Why won’t you two admit it?”
Isla gave her a small shrug, and she looked more uncertain than Adelleine had ever seen her before. “Ye ken Magnus,” she said, “Do ye think that he’ll let us be together if he finds out?”
Adelleine did, in fact, know Magnus, and she knew that he didn’t want someone like Hendry for his sister, but he couldn’t blame him. The Hendry that she knew was chasing after women day and night, and Adelleine didn’t know how someone like Isla could have fallen in love with him.
Then again, when she thought about it, she came to realize that she hadn’t seen Hendry flirt with a woman for a long while.
“Isla, when did this . . . this thing, whatever it is, begin between the two of you?” Adelleine asked, “How long have you been seeing each other?”
Isla gave Adelleine a small shrug. “I dinnae ken . . . not too long. I . . . I always liked him, but nothin’ happened between us, nae until recently. It’s been a few weeks noo.”
Adelleine hummed, her suspicions confirmed. No matter how much of a dishonest fool Hendry had been when it came to other women, he seemed to genuinely like Isla. If anything, their relationship seemed to be more stable than the one that she had with Magnus.
“I think the two of you should tell Magnus about it,” Adelleine said, “I think it’s time, Isla. And something tells me that he won’t be as upset as you think he will be. Well . . . perhaps at first, but then he’ll calm down.”
“Ye think so?” Isla asked, sounding so hopeful that Adelleine couldn’t help but wonder just how much that entire situation, the lying and the hiding, was eating her alive, “I dinnae ken. I dinnae ken if it’s the right thing to do. What if he becomes so furious that he hurts Hendry? What if he exiles him from the clan?”
“Isla, they’re friends,” Adelleine reminded her, “I’m sure that no matter how terribly he takes the news, he’ll get over it. Especially when he realises that Hendry hasn’t seen another woman ever since the two of you began to see each other.”
“Och, what do ye take me for?” Isla asked, all the shyness and uncertainty that she had only moments earlier disappearing within a single moment, “Do ye think I’d be seein’ him if he was chasin’ after other lasses? I told him when he first kissed me. I told him, he can either have only me or nae have me at all.”
That didn’t surprise Adelleine in the slightest. In fact, she was beginning to think that if anyone was going to hurt Hendry if he ever dared to look at another woman, that would be Isla herself.
Adelleine laughed softly, giving Isla’s hand a pat with her own. Then she stood and headed to her vanity, where Mrs. Blair had left a dress for her. It was not quite as nice as Isla’s own, naturally, but it was still fit for a noble girl, reminding Adelleine of the dresses that she used to wear when she was a child and was still living with her parents. She didn’t even want to think about how much it must have cost Magnus to get such a dress for her, and she wondered why he had done so in the first place.
Perhaps Mrs. Blair had convinced him, she thought. Perhaps she had told him that everyone needed to look their best while the neighbouring lairds were visiting.
“I suppose it’s time to get ready and go out there,” Adelleine said, with a sigh that was full of regret.
She let her fingers slide over the green fabric, its emerald hues perfect to compliment her eyes. She began to dress, and soon, with Isla’s help, she was ready for the feast.
Adelleine looked at herself in the mirror, and she couldn’t hold back the smile that spread over her lips. She liked the way that she looked, and something told her that Magnus would like it, too, though she didn’t get her hopes up when it came to the man talking to her about anything other than Fergus or the weather unprompted. If she wanted to get a compliment out of him, she knew that she would have to fight for it.
Adelleine and Isla made their way out of the room and headed down to the great hall, where the lairds had already begun to gather. Adelleine didn’t fail to notice that all eyes were immediately drawn to the two of them.
She also didn’t fail to notice that Hendry was so surprised that his mouth fell open just as he was drinking wine, and he spilled half of the contents of his cup all over himself.
“It seems like someone can’t believe his own eyes,” Adelleine whispered to Isla, who had a smug smile on her face, “I told you that he would like it.”
“Seems to me like someone else is havin’ the same reaction, only about ye,” Isla said, nodding her head subtly towards the end of the room, where Magnus stood, a man talking to him while he paid no attention to anyone but Adelleine.
When Adelleine caught his gaze, though, he swiftly looked away, and that only served to frustrate her.
“I told ye, ye should make him jealous,” Isla said, “There are all these lairds here. Take yer pick.”
“I’ll try to speak to him first,” Adelleine said, “It doesn’t seem right, flirting with another man.”
“Suit yerself,” Isla shrugged, but Adelleine knew that she wouldn’t leave it at that, at least not for long, “But when all else fails, because it will, remember my advice.”
Isla fell silent as the two of them reached Magnus. Adelleine knew that she would want to be involved in the conversations with the lairds, even though they were bound to claim that she had no place in them and she would end up infuriated. So she left Isla with Magnus and then found Fergus, who was dutifully sitting all alone at his father’s table. Adelleine could still remember what it felt like, being a child and having to sit through such feasts until an adult decided that she couldn’t be there anymore, and she felt terribly for Fergus, who looked as though he was about to fall asleep right in his chair.
When Adelleine sat down beside him, Fergus looked at her, and then he beamed at her when he realised who it was.
“Adelleine!” he exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her neck and all but pulling himself into her lap. Adelleine laughed, and entertained the boy for a while, until Mrs. Blair ordered her to take him to his rooms, just as she had been expecting.
After a promise that she would come back and the two of them would spend some time playing, Adelleine made her way back to the feast, her gaze immediately finding Magnus, who seemed to be a few drinks in, and a little looser than usual.
It was time to talk to him, she decided. All she had to do was try to find a way for them to be alone, while surrounded by so many people.
