For a long moment after, they stayed locked together. Both breathing hard, both trembling, neither willing to let go.
Magnus felt something wet against his neck and realized Ada was crying. He pulled back immediately, concerned.
"Did I hurt ye? Ada, if I was too rough?—"
"Nay." She smiled through her tears, her hands coming up to cup his face. "I'm nae hurt. I'm just... I dinnae ken how tae explain it. What I'm feelin' right now."
Magnus understood. Because he felt it too. This overwhelming sense of connection. Of barriers finally broken. Of two people who'd been forced together by politics discovering something real in the wreckage.
"Aye," he said quietly, his thumb brushing away her tears. "I ken."
He lowered her carefully, helped her straighten her gown while his own hands shook. The vulnerability of the moment was almost overwhelming. He'd given her something he'd sworn never to give anyone again. And now that it was done, now that there was no taking it back, Magnus felt exposed in a way that had nothing to do with the physical.
Ada seemed to sense his turmoil. She reached for his hand, threaded her fingers through his.
"Nay regrets?" she asked softly.
Magnus looked at her. At that woman who'd fought her attackers with desperate courage. Who'd trusted him enough to be vulnerable despite knowing how damaged he was. Who'd just given herself to him completely despite every reason she had to guard her heart.
"Nay regrets," he said, and meant it. "But Ada, I need ye tae understand somethin'."
"What?"
"This changes things between us. I cannae go back tae keepin' ye at a distance. Cannae pretend I dinnae... that I'm nae..." He struggled for words. "What I'm tryin' tae say is, ye're nae just me wife anymore. Ye're somethin' more. Somethin' I dinnae have words fer yet. But it means I'll nae be able tae be reasonable about yer safety. About keepin' ye out of danger."
Ada's smile was tremulous. "Good. Because I dinnae want reasonable. I want ye. All of ye. Even the possessive, overprotective parts."
Magnus pulled her close, pressed a kiss to her forehead. And as they stood there in the hidden garden, still trembling from what they'd shared, he made a silent vow.
He would keep her safe. Would protect her from her father and whatever threats came. He would give her everything he had to give.
Even if it terrified him.
Especially because it terrified him.
Because that fear meant she mattered. And for the first time since Freydis died, Magnus was willing to risk his heart on someone mattering.
CHAPTER 26
"Tell me again how ye managed tae fail at somethin' so simple."
Conall MacTavish stood at the edge of the camp, his hands clasped behind his back, watching Donnan shift uncomfortably in the firelight.
"The alarm rang before we could get her through the gate," Donnan said, his voice tight with barely suppressed anger. "Someone saw the smoke from the fire she started?—"
"The fireshestarted." Conall's voice was soft. Dangerous. "Ye're tellin' me me daughter—a slip of a lass who's never held a weapon in her life—outsmarted me men?"
"She knocked over a torch during the struggle. It was an accident."
"Was it?" Conall turned slowly, his dark eyes finding Donnan's. "Because it sounds like Ada was clever enough tae create a distraction while me man fumbled like a green boy on his first raid."
Donnan's jaw clenched. "The Serpent apparently came out of nowhere. Moved fast. By the time they realized what was happenin', he'd already taken down Fergus and went fer Malcom."
"And he ran."
"He got away so he could report back tae me. So, we could regroup."
"So ye could all save yer own skin." Conall moved closer, each step deliberate. "Dinnae dress it up as strategy, boy. Malcom panicked. Left Fergus tae rot in Magnus's dungeons because he was too afraid tae stand and fight."
