Despite everything, Magnus felt his mouth twitch. "When ye put it like that, it daes sound bad."
"Itisbad!" She made a frustrated sound. "Could ye at least turn around completely? I cannae have a proper argument with ye while I'm standin' here in me shift!"
Magnus turned to face the door, his shoulders shaking slightly with suppressed laughter. This was absurd. Completely absurd. He'd faced down raiders and storms and clan feuds, but one half-dressed Highland woman had him acting like a green boy.
Behind him, he heard fabric rustling as Ada struggled into her dress. "I cannae believe ye," she muttered. "Just walkin' in like ye own the place."
"I dae own the place."
"That daesnae give ye the right tae see me undressed!"
"Technically, ye were nae undressed. Ye were wearin’ a shift."
"That's practically the same thing!" More rustling. A muffled curse. "And now I cannae reach the laces on the back. This is all yer fault."
Magnus's traitorous imagination immediately supplied an image of her standing there, dress half-on, back exposed, struggling with laces she couldn't reach. He closed his eyes. "Dae ye want me to call Isla?"
"Nay, she's busy in the kitchens. Just stay turned around and dinnae look."
"I'm nae lookin'."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
More rustling. Then Ada's footsteps approaching. She stopped directly behind him, he could feel her presence, warm and close.
"I cannae reach the top laces," she said quietly. "Could ye help me? Dae ye mind?"
Magnus turned slowly. Ada stood there in a simple wool dress, the front pulled together but the back hanging loose. She'd gathered her damp hair over one shoulder, exposing her neck and the pale skin of her back.
"Just the top ones," she said, not meeting his eyes. "I can manage the rest meself."
Magnus's hands were steady as he reached for the laces. His fingers felt clumsy now, too large for the delicate work.
He pulled the first lace tight. Ada's breath hitched slightly.
"Too tight?" he asked.
"Nay. It's, it's fine."
He moved to the next lace. And the next. His knuckles brushed against her spine, and he felt her shiver despite the warmth of the room.
"Magnus?"
He paused, hand still on her dress.
"Next time," Ada said, and there was the hint of a smile in her voice, "knock first. And wait fer me tae answer."
"Where's the fun in that?"
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Still locked. Still empty.”
Ada stood in the corridor outside the healer's chamber, staring at the closed door.
Mairi hadn't returned yet from Lewis, and Ada was beginning to feel the weight of that absence.
