Highlander’s Frozen Heart by Shona Thompson

Chapter Two

The words kept floating in Adelleine’s mind, repeating themselves over and over. There was nothing that she could do to stop it, and there was nothing that she could do to avoid the one simple truth.

Jacob was dead. He was dead, gone forever, and Adelleine would never see him again, she would never talk to him again, she would never laugh with him again.

She couldn’t wrap her mind around the news. She couldn’t bring herself to believe that her beloved brother was gone from her life, because she knew that the moment she came to terms with it, she would also break into a hundred pieces.

She missed her brother terribly, and she wished that they would have had more time to spend together. She wished that things were different, she wished that he would have never left their home, but wishing did nothing but make her grief seem insurmountable.

There was no point in wishing. There was nothing that she could do to bring Jacob back.

“Adelleine . . .are you alright, girl ?”

Her Aunt Victoria was sitting next to her in their sparsely decorated kitchen, her hands on top of Adelleine’s own where she had laid them on the wooden table. Adelleine could barely hear her aunt’s words, the buzzing in her ears obscuring everything else, but when she gripped her shoulder and gave her a gentle shake, she finally looked at the other woman.

There were no tears in her aunt’s eyes, but then again, Adelleine couldn’t even remember if she had ever seen her cry. Victoria was a strong woman, and ever since her husband had died, she had been ruling over her family with an iron fist, even though it was her son, Fin, who had become the man of the house.

“I’m alright, Aunt Victoria,” Adelleine lied, and even to her own ears, it didn’t sound like a good lie. She could do nothing to conceal her grief and her pain, and the pity in her aunt’s face told her that she didn’t believe her either.

“It’s really a shame what happened to Jacob,” her aunt said, “Such a shame . . . he was a good man.”

“Yes.”

It was all Adelleine could say before the words died in her throat. How could she talk about him? How could she say anything about him when the wound was still so raw?

There was a stretch of silence between the two women, but it was one that didn’t last long. Soon, her aunt cleared her throat with a quiet cough, just enough to get her attention.

“We must find you a man to marry soon,” she said.

Adelleine could only frown at that, her mouth hanging open as she looked at her aunt. She stared at her in silence, blinking a few times as she wondered whether or not she had heard her right.

“Aunt Victoria, what . . . what does it matter?” she asked, “What does it matter whom I marry and if I marry at all right now? It doesn’t matter to me at all.”

“Well, it should,” her aunt said, her voice stern and cold, “You have no dowry, nothing to your name. I was hoping that your brother would be able to send you some money to marry, but now that he is dead, there is no money. There is nothing . . . nothing but yourself.”

That didn’t surprise Adelleine in the slightest. With the six daughters and the son that she had to raise, along with her and her brother—at least until Jacob had left for a life in the sea—her aunt had gone through the money that Adelleine’s parents had left her and Jacob in a short time. It was all she had had after their deaths, and it was money meant to secure her future, but she couldn’t blame her aunt.

She was a widow, after all, and she had to raise nine children on her own.

Of course, she would have liked to have kept some of the money, but as things were, she could only do as her aunt said. She had to find a man to marry, and she had to do so quickly, because she knew that her aunt wouldn’t be able to afford having her in the house for much longer.

“Who . . . who will I even marry?” Adelleine asked, “I can’t think of anyone with whom I’d like to share the rest of my life.”

“You don’t need to like the man you marry,” her aunt said with a small shrug, as though love didn’t matter to her at all. As far as Adelleine knew, Aunt Victoria had loved her husband dearly, and so she couldn’t understand how she could be so dismissive of feelings. “You only need to secure your future. Even if you never love him, you’ll have your children to love and care for. When it comes to your husband, you’ll only need to perform your duty.”

Adelleine wasn’t naïve; she knew precisely what kind of duty that was, and she couldn’t even imagine giving herself to a man that she didn’t love. How could her own aunt expect her to do so?

Aunt Victoria laughed, then, as though she could read her mind. She tutted at Adelleine, and then stood, walking around the table until she could put her hands on Adelleine’s shoulders.

“Don’t look so shocked, Adelleine,” she told her, “Sometimes we must do things that we don’t wish to do. It’s no different for you.”

Adelleine wondered what it was that her aunt had been forced to do, if anything at all. Aunt Victoria was hardly the kind of woman to do something that she didn’t wish to do, and Adelleine couldn’t help but think that her words didn’t apply to herself.

Of course, she didn’t dare say that to her.

Adelleine then began to think about her life. She began to think about what would happen to her, about the man that she would end up marrying only for stability and money, and the future that she saw ahead of her was a grim one. She sat on her chair, shoulders slumped under the weight of her aunt’s hands, and she stared at her own hands as she fidgeted with the end of her sleeve, her fingers bunching up the fabric until it was wrinkled.

What other option did she have? If she didn’t do as she was told, her aunt would one day throw her out of the house; and that day would come soon.

“I see . . .” Adelleine said softly, her hand coming up to wipe the tears off her face. She hadn’t even realised that she was crying, and she didn’t know what it was that she was crying about.

There were too many things that saddened her, too many to count and too many to handle.

“I have a few men in mind for you,” her aunt informed her cheerfully, as though it was good news, “All of them wealthy men, who would kill to have a girl as pretty as yourself.”

“Are they kind?”

That was all that mattered to Adelleine. She didn’t mind hard work, and so if she needed to work, she would. What she was worried about was marrying a cruel man, someone who would make her despise her life.

“I’m sure they are perfectly kind,” her aunt assured her, though Adelleine could hear the hesitation in her voice, “And what kind of man would hurt the mother of his children? Don’t worry. . . you’ll be just fine. No man will hurt you.”

It wasn’t much of a reassurance, but Adelleine decided to take it anyway. It was better than thinking that her life would soon be over, and that the only thing she would have to look forward to would be the births of her children.

She wanted more. Just like Jacob, she had always wanted to leave her hometown and see other places, to meet other people and create a life for herself, without having someone like her aunt to dictate what she should and shouldn’t do.

Jacob was born a man, though, and she wasn’t. She was a woman, and so she had a duty.

“Who do ye have in mind?” Adelleine asked, taking a deep breath to steady herself, “Who are the men?”

“Well . . . I’ve been thinking that your best choice is the baron,” her aunt said.

Adelleine froze, her eyes going wide. “Baron Caton?” she asked, “Aunt Victoria . . . he is twice my age! How can you say that? How can you think that he is a good match for me?”

“He’s a baron!” her aunt said, as though that made any difference to Adelleine.

She knew the man; everyone did. She had met him several times, especially since he seemed to have taken a liking to her family, and he often helped them financially, becoming a sort of benefactor for them. The baron was always polite, always with a smile and a kind word in his mouth, but there was something about him that Adelleine couldn’t quite pinpoint, something that made a shiver run down her spine every time she met his gaze.

And he was twice her age. He wasn’t an old man, but he wasn’t the kind of man that Adelleine would want for herself, either, regardless of the wealth that he had.

“Aunt Victoria, I beg you . . . don’t make me marry that man!” Adelleine cried, suddenly realising the gravity of the situation. When her aunt had her mind made up about something, there was no stopping her, and so Adelleine was certain that she would end up married to the Baron in no time at all. “I don’t wish to marry him! Please! Anyone but him!”

“Hush now!” her aunt hissed at her, leaning over so that she could look at Adelleine in the eyes, “Don’t say things like that, and don’t let anyone else hear you say that. The baron is your best option, don’t you see that? He can take care of you. He can give you anything that you ever wanted!”

“Tell me one thing, Aunt Victoria,” Adelleine said then, “Is he helping us because he wants me for his wife? Is he trying . . . is he trying to buy my affections and force me into this marriage?”

Her aunt stayed silent for several moments, her hands eventually sliding off Adelleine’s shoulders. She sat back on her chair, facing her, and worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

“All I know is that he has an infatuation with you,” her aunt admitted, “You’re a beautiful girl! Of course he wants you as his wife!”

“But is he trying to buy me?”

Adelleine couldn’t bear that thought. She didn’t want to be yet another pretty thing that the baron would put in his house, a pretty thing that he would play with until he would lose interest and move on. She didn’t want to be an object, and she certainly didn’t want the man to think that money was all that mattered to her.

“Oh, don’t be foolish,” her aunt said, waving a hand dismissively, “He is only trying to be kind to us. No one is trying to buy your affections. That man could have any woman that he wanted, but he wants you. You’re a lucky girl, Adelleine. I don’t know how else to explain this to you so you can get it through your thick skull.”

Adelleine didn’t feel very lucky. She became more and more desperate at the thought that she would have to marry the baron, and it brought fresh tears to her eyes to think that she would be his. Her breath began to come out in shallow puffs, and she couldn’t stop her sobbing no matter how much she tried to bite those wails back.

There was a hint of pity in her aunt’s gaze, but not as much as the situation warranted in Adelleine’s eyes. She knew that Aunt Victoria didn’t feel sorry for her, at least not enough to put an end to her marriage to the baron before it had even started.

In that moment, she felt alone. She felt as though she had no one in the world anymore, and her entire world was crumbling down faster than she could rebuild it.

Jacob was gone. Her parents were long gone. Fin, her cousin, the only other person that she could trust and rely on, was far away, and her own aunt was willing to sell her to the highest bidder.

Adelleine didn’t care whether her intentions were pure or not. Perhaps her aunt was simply trying to ensure that she would have a good future in the only way that she knew, or perhaps she was trying to get that future for herself and her daughters. It didn’t matter either way; the result was the same for Adelleine.

Before Adelleine could protest any further, there was a knock on the door, and both she and her aunt looked at it with a frown. They weren’t expecting any guests, after all, and it was an odd thing for them to have guests in the first place.

Adelleine wiped the tears off her cheeks once more, taking a few deep breaths so that she would look presentable, and then she followed her aunt as she opened the door, standing a little further inside the house.

Behind the door, there was a man, tall and graceful, with black hair and a pair of brown eyes that reminded Adelleine of pools of honey. Behind him, there were three other men, who looked like guards, and Adelleine couldn’t help but wonder who the stranger was.

He was certainly very different than anyone else she had ever seen in her hometown. She had never seen clothes as fine as his, and she had certainly never seen a man being followed by guards.

“Good afternoon,” the man said, “I am lookin’ for Adelleine.”

Adelleine froze, her eyes narrowing as her brow furrowed.

Who could the man be? And what could he want from her?