Ada's head snapped up. So did Donnan's. Magnus had risen from his seat, his attention fixed on Donnan with an intensity that made the temperature in the hall seem to drop.
"The lady has everythin’ she needs," Magnus continued, his tone pleasant but edged with something dangerous. "Ye can return tae yer meal. Thank ye fer askin’."
Donnan's smile didn't falter. "Of course, me laird. I only wished tae ensure Lady Ada's?—"
"I said thank ye." Pleasantness that disguised a cold command.
For a moment, Donnan held his ground. Then he inclined his head, respect that looked more like mockery, and moved away.
Ada released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Magnus's gaze flicked to her briefly. She mouthed "thank ye," though she wasn't sure he saw it. He'd already sat back down, returning to his conversation with Torvald as though nothing had happened.
But something had happened. Magnus had defended her, sent her father's man away with nothing more than a command.
It shouldn't have warmed her. Shouldn't have mattered.
But it did.
The meal ended shortly after. Ada excused herself, grateful to escape the weight of too many eyes. She made her way back to the east tower, her footsteps echoing in the empty corridor.
As she rounded the corner near her chamber, voices drifted from an alcove ahead––low, rough Highland accents. Ada slowed. These weren't Magnus's people.
"––cannae believe the king's forcin' this match."
"After what Haraldson did? Aye, it's madness."
"Hush. Ye shouldnae speak of it."
"Why nae? Everyone kens what he did. Poor woman was with child, and he killed her."
"Ye dinnae ken anything. None of us dae. We werenae there."
"But she died, didnae she? Young and healthy one day, dead the next. And the laird wouldnae even hold a proper mournin'. Just buried her and the bairn in the dead of night like they were criminals."
A pause. Then, quieter: "Dae ye think he'll dae the same tae this one?"
"God help her if he daes. I wouldnae want tae be in her place fer all the gold in Scotland."
Ada pressed her back against the cold stone wall, her heart hammering. The men's footsteps faded as they moved away, their conversation shifting to safer topics.
But Ada couldn't move, couldn't breathe properly.
She'd heard the rumors before, of course. Everyone had. Magnus Haraldson, the Serpent of Barra, who'd murdered his pregnant wife. But hearing them spoken aloud here, in his own keep…
It made them real in a way they hadn't been before.
Ada forced herself to move, to continue down the corridor to her chamber. Her hands shook as she pushed the door open, stepped inside, and closed it behind her.
She leaned against the door, sliding down to the floor.
CHAPTER FIVE
"There's sickness in the southern villages."
Magnus looked up from the ledger he'd been studying, squinting against the morning light streaming through the narrow window of his study. Torvald stood in the doorway, his expression grim.
"How bad?"
