"Where are we goin'?" Ada asked as they led the horses into the courtyard.
"There's another place I want tae show ye. A spring beyond the eastern ridge." Magnus swung into his saddle. "It's hidden, quiet."
"Sounds perfect." Ada mounted gracefully, settling into her seat with the confidence of someone who'd been riding since childhood. "Lead the way, husband."
The word sent warmth through Magnus's chest.Husband. He was getting used to hearing it from her lips. Getting used to the way she said it—not with resignation or duty, but with something that sounded almost like affection.
They rode out through the eastern gate, the guards nodding respectfully as they passed. The path wound through rocky terrain, climbing gradually toward the ridge that overlooked the sea. The sun hung low on the horizon, painting everything in shades of gold and amber.
Ada rode beside him in comfortable silence, her face turned toward the fading light. She looked peaceful. Content. And watching her, Magnus felt some of his earlier fear begin to fade.
Maybe he couldn't protect her from every threat. Maybe the world would always be dangerous, always uncertain.
But right now, in that precise moment, she was there. She was safe. She was his.
CHAPTER 28
The path narrowed as they climbed, winding through stands of pine and birch that filtered the fading sunlight into patterns of gold and shadow. Ada breathed in the clean air, letting it chase away the worry that had been building in her chest since she'd heard about the captured prisoner.
They rode in comfortable silence for a few more minutes before the trees opened up to reveal a small clearing. A spring bubbled up from between smooth rocks, forming a pool that reflected the amber sky.
The water was crystal clear, flowing over stones worn smooth by centuries of current.
"It's beautiful," Ada breathed, dismounting before Magnus could help her. She moved to the edge of the pool, knelt to trail her fingers through the water. "How did ye find this place?"
"Me faither showed me when I was a boy." Magnus swung down from his stallion, began loosening the girth. "He liked to come here tae think. Tae escape the demands of bein' laird fer a few hours."
"And ye've kept comin' back."
"Aye. Especially after Freydis died. I came here almost every day fer months." Magnus moved to sit on one of the larger rocks near the water's edge. "Tryin' tae make sense of what happened. Tryin' tae understand how I'd been so blind."
Ada rose, brushed off her skirts, and moved to sit beside him. "Ye told me she betrayed ye. That the bairn wasnae yers. But ye never explained why people think ye killed her."
"Because I let them think it." Magnus's voice was flat. "Because the truth was worse than the lie."
"How could the truth be worse?"
Magnus exhaled slowly. When he spoke again, his voice was distant, like he was reciting facts rather than reliving pain.
"Freydis seemed completely healthy. We'd argued that night—nae about anythin' important, just... small things. The kind of disagreements married people have. I thought she was tired from the pregnancy, so I let it go. Told her to rest and went tae me study." His hands clenched into fists on his thighs. "I wenttae check on her a few hours later and found her collapsed on the floor. She was still breathin', but barely."
Ada's hand found his, squeezed gently.
"Ye ken the rest. The bairn... there was so much blood, Ada. I dinnae think I'll ever forget the sight of it." Magnus's voice cracked slightly. When he looked up at Ada, and the devastation in his eyes was almost unbearable. "So I buried them. And when people asked what happened, I said naethin'. Let them assume what they wanted."
"But why let them think ye killed her?"
"Because if I had told them the truth—that me wife had betrayed me, that I was fool enough nae tae see it—I'd have looked weak. Pathetic. And a laird cannae afford that, Ada. Nae in front of his people." Magnus's jaw clenched. "So I let them think I was a murderer. Let them fear me. It was easier than admittin' I'd been used."
"That's why ye refused a proper mournin' period."
"Aye. I couldnae stand there and pretend to grieve for her. Couldnae let people see how much she'd destroyed me." He turned his hand over, laced his fingers through Ada's. "Fer months after, I came here. Sat by this water and tried tae understand where I'd gone wrong. What I'd missed. How I'd let meself be so completely fooled."
Ada squeezed his hand tighter. "Ye didnae dae anythin' wrong. She's the one who betrayed ye."
"Maybe. But I'm the one who chose her. Who trusted her when I shouldnae have." Magnus's voice turned rough. "That's why I was so afraid with ye. Because if I could be that wrong about Freydis, how could I trust me judgment about anyone else?"
"But I'm nae her," Ada said softly. "I've never been her."
