Highlander’s Frozen Heart by Shona Thompson
Chapter Seven
Determined more than ever before, Adelleine packed a few personal belongings and some food, just enough to sustain her for a few days, before she snuck out of the house. It didn’t matter to her if Magnus, or anyone really, would offer her any help, because she was determined to get out of Dalelry before the baron could get his hands on her.
It didn’t matter where she would go. It didn’t matter what she would do. All that mattered was that she had to get out of her house and travel as far away as she could, so that her aunt and the baron would never catch her.
Ever since Magnus had rejected her and her pleas, Adelleine had come to realise that she didn’t need him or anyone else. She was capable of hard work, and she had plenty of knowledge that could come in handy when seeking employment, and besides, any fate other than the one that awaited her if she remained in Dalelry was good enough for her.
Even death was preferable to marrying the baron. At least in death, she would be free.
The streets were dark when Adelleine snuck out the door, footsteps light as feathers. She had to admit that she was scared; how could she not be, when she was all alone, in a world where men were used to taking what they wanted? She knew that she could be assaulted at any time. She knew that she could end up abused, beaten up, or even murdered, and yet she still chose to leave, seeking out a new life, a better life.
Before she could go too far, though, she noticed a figure in the dark. Adelleine could only see a silhouette, but she knew it was a man, because the shape was large and imposing, and the sight made her stop dead in her tracks.
She couldn’t possibly believe that her journey had ended before it could even start.
“Adelleine!”
The whisper that came from the figure made Adelleine frown in confusion. The voice sounded familiar, though it took her a few moments to place it, and once she did, it was her turn to frown.
“Magnus?”
It was Magnus, indeed, Adelleine saw once the man approached her. Hands on her hips, she glared at him, though she was certain that the effect was lost in the darkness.
“What are you doing here?” she asked him, “I thought you were gone.”
“I came back for ye,” Magnus confessed, “I . . . I couldnae bring meself to leave ye here with that man.”
“Oh?” Adelleine took a few steps closer to the other man, until there was nothing but a few inches between them. “And what changed your mind? Because when I last saw you, you seemed perfectly happy to leave me here, even though I told you that I didn’t wish to marry that man.”
“If ye come with me, I’ll explain everythin’,” Magnus promised, “But we must go, we must go right noo. The longer we stay here, the more we risk bein’ seen by Caton’s men.”
“You know who he is, then?” Adelleine asked. It shouldn’t surprise her as much as it did, of course. Magnus was a laird, after all, and it was only natural that he would know most of his fellow noblemen. “I’m not going anywhere with you! Between you and the baron, I’d rather jump in a lake!”
Adelleine was being stubborn, perhaps, she thought. Magnus was right there, offering the help that she had asked from him in the first place, but she didn’t want to take it. She was bitter, bile rising up her throat as she recalled what had happened between them only the previous night.
She could hardly face him. How was she supposed to travel with him all the way to the Highlands?
“I’ll help ye, lass!” Magnus insisted, “What else do ye want? I’m here to help ye, and I’ll do what I can to make sure that yer safe, but ye must come with me.”
Adelleine stood her ground, shaking her head as she once again refused to follow the man. Before she could say anything else, though, Magnus had snatched her belongings right out of her hand, and he was running away.
“Stop!” Adelleine shouted, before she remembered that she couldn’t alert the neighbourhood—and certainly not her aunt or the baron—to her presence and that of Magnus and his men. Clamping a hand over her mouth, she ran after Magnus, only to find him on his horse, his men surrounding him.
“Weel . . . yer here noo,” Magnus pointed out, “Ye may as weel come with us.”
Adelleine wanted to scream. She wanted to tell Magnus that he was a vile, terrible little man, and that she had made a mistake trusting him in the first place. She wanted to tell him that Jacob had made a mistake by being his friend, and that had he known how he had treated his sister, then he would never speak to him again.
Of course, Jacob was dead, and he wouldn’t speak to anyone any time soon.
Besides, everything that Adelleine wanted to tell Magnus was a lie. Certainly, she was furious with him, her anger bubbling up inside her and threatening to spill all over, but the words that she wanted to speak came from that place of anger, and not from reality.
It had taken a lot, it had taken something that Adelleine wasn’t aware of, but in the end, Magnus had come back to help her.
“Come, lass,” he urged her, as he offered her his hand, “We dinnae have a horse for ye, but ye are more than welcome to share mine.”
Hesitant and exhausted after a day of planning and half a night of staying awake, Adelleine glanced over her shoulder. She could still see her home, right behind her, a shape in the dark, and she felt nothing while she gazed at it.
There was nothing for her in Dalelry. There was nothing to make her stay.
Adelleine took Magnus’ hand, and she jumped onto the saddle. Immediately, she could feel the heat radiating off him in waves, his chest brushing against her back as the horse moved, but she quickly pushed all such thoughts away from her mind.
She wasn’t joining him so that she could have a grand romance. She was joining him to get away from one that had failed before it could even start.
Once they were out of Dalelry, Adelleine considered it safe to ask the questions that had been burning in her mind ever since she had found out that Magnus had returned for her. They were far away from the baron and his men, and no one would even know that they were gone, at least not until the following morning.
“Why did you come back?” she asked, “What changed your mind?”
Magnus hesitated, and his body turned stiff as a board, something that Adelleine could feel now that they sat so close to each other on the saddle. She didn’t push him, though. She gave him all the time that he needed, knowing from her experiences with her aunt that sometimes it was better to let people speak on their own.
“I ken who the baron is, as ye said,” Magnus admitted eventually, “Me men ken who he is, too. Everyone kens who he is, because he is a monster.”
Adelleine wished that she could say she was surprised. She had always found the baron unsettling, though, ever since their first meeting, and no matter how charming he attempted to be, Adelleine could see right through his façade.
“What has he done?” she asked.
“Ye dinnae wish to ken.”
“Yes, I do.”
Whatever it was that the baron had done, Adelleine wanted to know. She wanted to know what kind of man her aunt wanted her to marry, she wanted to know about every atrocity that he had ever committed.
And yet, Magnus didn’t answer her question.
“Magnus,” she barked, turning her head to glance over her shoulder at him, “What did he do?”
The sigh that left Magnus’ lips was a heavy one, and for a moment, he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the look he gave Adelleine was one of pity, much to her displeasure.
“There are rumours that he . . . abuses women,” Magnus said, “Some say that he has even killed three lasses who were his servants.”
“And how much weight do those rumours have?” Adelleine asked.
“I think they’re all true, lass,” Magnus said, “I’ve seen him with me own eyes, he is hardly a man at all. I couldnae leave, nae when I kent that he was the one ye were meant to marry.”
Even though Magnus hadn’t wanted to take Adelleine with him at first, she was glad that he had come back for her once he knew that the baron was her intended. It said a lot about him, she thought, that he had put himself and his men in danger for her, and she knew that if Jacob was watching, he would be happy with his friend.
“Thank you,” Adelleine told Magnus, “I’m still not happy with you, but thank you. You saved me life.”
Magnus laughed at that, though Adelleine couldn’t see the humour behind her own words. Perhaps he thought that she was joking, but that was certainly not the case.
It had taken a lot for Magnus, after all, to come to her rescue. Even though she was grateful for it, she wasn’t going to forgive him so easily.
Adelleine travelled with Magnus and his guards throughout the entire night, only stopping when they needed to relieve themselves or to eat some food, as Magnus refused to stop for the night. His reasoning was that they were still too close to Dalelry, and that the baron had his men and his connections, and he could easily send them all after their party once he found out that Adelleine was gone.
She couldn’t argue with that. The Baron was the kind of man who got anything he wanted, and if what he wanted was her, then she had to be on the run.
So, Adelleine persevered, just like Magnus and his men. She found herself dozing off every now and then, and even opened her eyes once to find out that her head was leaning against Magnus’ shoulder, the man patiently waiting for her to awake instead of pushing her off him. It was a rough night for everyone, but by daybreak, they had already passed two more towns and were well on their way to the Lowlands.
The last time that Adelleine had travelled had been when she and her brother had been sent to her aunt. She remembered that trip clearly, as though it had taken place only the previous day, and she would take physical hardship over the pain of losing her parents and having to move away from her home any day of the week.
She couldn’t say that she enjoyed her current trip, though. It wasn’t so much the exhaustion, but rather the thought that she had lost her second home, too. She had spent so many years in Dalelry that she could only consider it her home, even though she always dreamt of having something more in her life.
“Whatever it is that yer thinkin’, stop,” Magnus told her then, pulling her out of her thoughts. She couldn’t help but frown to herself, wondering how he could possibly know that she was thinking about unpleasant things.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that I can feel that yer whole body is rigid,” Magnus said, “Whatever it is that’s on yer mind, it cannae be a good thing. So stop thinkin’ about it.”
“It’s easy to say that,” Adelleine pointed out, “It’s not as easy to actually do it.”
“What if I tell ye that the stiffer ye are, the more likely it is ye’ll fall right off the horse?” Magnus said, and though his tone was teasing, Adelleine knew that there was truth to it.
The last thing that she needed was to fall off the horse and get herself injured or killed, so she took a deep breath, trying to will her muscles to relax. Just as she had suspected, though, it wasn’t easy, not at all.
All her worries and all the unpleasant memories of her childhood had suddenly flooded her mind. Usually, when such a thing would happen, she would write to Jacob, as it was the only thing that made her feel better. She didn’t have Jacob anymore, though. He was dead, just like their parents, and she was all alone in the world.
It was that train of thought that had her eyes filling up with tears, and she bowed her head, hoping that no one would notice that she was crying. Soon, her body began to tremble, though, and it didn’t take long for Magnus to take notice.
“Lass . . . what is it?” he asked, “Are ye alright?”
How could she tell him what was wrong? How could she explain any of it to him?
She couldn’t, and so she didn’t. Instead, Adelleine remained silent, her soft sobs the only indication that she was still crying.
Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder, warm and gentle. It was all the consolation that Magnus gave her, but it was also all that she needed.
She didn’t want to make a big deal out of her grief. She could deal with it on her own, in her own time, but it was nice to have the comfort of Magnus’ touch.
The hand didn’t leave her shoulder until their next stop, but once it did, Adelleine hated to admit just how much she missed it.
