Fourteen
A sense of disbelief descended upon Ada as she said marriage vows for the second time in three days. She was beyond weary from the nonstop galloping across the countryside, and her body ached all over. She also had a gnawing worry that Freya might have simply decided to follow her, and the knowledge that she needed to find a way to escape Connor pressed on her. She had a very strong sense that the opportunity to run would present itself soon, so she had to maintain the pretense until then. If she did not, Connor would be so livid that he would very likely kill her.
She fought a tide of revulsion as the priest instructed Connor to kiss her and he pressed his mouth to hers. His kiss was nothing like William’s and did not sweep her into passion as William’s had.William.Just thinking his name shot a deep pain to her heart. He would come for her. Of course he would. He needed her to help him save his brother and the king. She wished her gift had nothing to do with why he would come for her. She wished that the possibility she had felt for them had not been a lie.
“Ada, come.”
She blinked, staring at Connor’s outstretched hand. She did not know what Connor had said to her because of her pondering over William. “Are we riding again so late?”
The desirous look Connor gave her made her stomach dip with anxiety. She could just kick herself for the words that had suggested she wanted to stay here in the woods, to sleep here beside him, giving him the opportunity to—
She could not even think it. Her marriage to William may be one that was forced upon her, but she was wed to him, and at least she desired William. She wanted Connor’s touch like she wanted leaches upon her body.
“Nay, we’ll bed down here for the night and consummate our marriage.” With that, he grabbed her hand and tugged her past his men, who were all snickering. The ill sensation roiling within her became greater with each step she took away from the others and toward the trees. This was her chance to escape! If she could get away from Connor, she could run.
She slid her gaze over the landscape and listened. In the distance, she could hear water rushing. She’d follow the water west, which would take her in the direction of the Iona Nunnery. That was the only place she knew where she would be safe, and the sisters would aid her.
“Connor, do ye have any wine?” she asked, hoping he would leave her to get some. “I’m anxious, and—”
“I brought some with me, Ada.” He stopped suddenly and swung her to face him. “Here,” he said, reaching into his sporran and bringing out a wine skin, which he opened and offered her. “I thought ye might want some.”
That gave her hope. Maybe she could appeal to his softer side. “Connor, I’d rather nae consummate our marriage on the ground. A bed would be so much nicer.”
Connor’s eyes narrowed upon her. “Ye will bed me, Ada. Ye will nae shame me again.”
“Again?” she asked.
He nodded. “Ye chose MacLean, who is nae even a laird, over me. I’ve been shamed enough by ye and my mother.”
“Yer mother?” She had no notion what Connor was talking about.
“Aye. Do ye think that yer stepbrother is the only bastard of the Steward?”
Ada’s mouth slipped open.
“Now ye see,” Connor said, his words heavy with sarcasm, “I’m a bastard, too. And ye are my only hope to deal my father the blow he so richly deserves for refusing to acknowledge me. He bed my mother, left her with child, and did nae give a care what happened to her or me. He’s nae ever even seen me!”
Pity blossomed inside her. The Steward, it seemed, was a man with much lust and no care for the consequences of that desire. “Connor—”
“Nay!” He cut her off and grabbed her shoulders, his fingers biting into her skin and making her wince. “We will consummate our marriage tonight, and ye will use yer gift to help me become king. Ye are the King Maker! And when I’m king, I’ll imprison my father and he’ll endure what I had to endure all my life at the hands of the man my mother wed because he was actually willing to pretend I was his. But the lie had a price, Ada. He hated me. Beat me. Until I could nae take any more. I finally killed him, but now it is my true father’s turn to pay.”
“Connor…” Ada swallowed. She’d not truly seen the pain in Connor, and she regretted that. She touched her free hand to his cheek, the instinct rising in her that she should offer him honesty in this moment, because that is what would save her—and possibly him—but what she needed to say was a hard truth, one she herself did not care for. Unfortunately, that didn’t make it any less true. “Without being legitimate, most Scottish lairds will nae ever support ye.”
“Ye will make them support me,” he said.
She shook her head. “I kinnae. I support King David. I—”
The hit stung like a hundred bees, and the shock of it vibrated down the length of her body. Connor drew back his open palm, his mouth parting with obvious shock at his actions, but then his lips pressed into a thin, hard line. “I am sorry, Ada, but ye kinnae say such things. I kinnae tolerate disloyalty from ye.”
A strong sense of fear swept over her, leaving gooseflesh across her skin. She clenched her teeth on the desire to scream her frustration. Those fairies had given her a faulty gift—or mayhap it was just her. But whatever was wrong with her power, all her instincts were screaming at her to run, and she was going to do just that the moment Connor released her wrist. She had to get him to lower his guard.
“Do ye forgive me, Ada?”
She nodded. “Aye. It’s just that my father supported King David, and—”
“Ye wish to follow yer father.” Connor smiled. “Ye are a good person, Ada, and ye will make me good.”
The strange wistfulness of his tone filled her with unease. It seemed he had imagined a great deal about what she would do for him,coulddo for him. Pity for him battled with her fear as he raked his gaze over her. “Come,” he said, tugging on her so that she had no choice but to follow. He led her along a meandering path through thick woods, and as they walked, the rushing sound of water became louder. A chill had set in the air as the sun was mostly gone from the sky, and she shivered from concern as well as cold.
