"I'd liketo survive the day, if it's all the same to you," she answered as confusion pricked at the edges of her mind. What sort of question was that? She tried to glance over her shoulder to glare at him, but her braid trailing over her shoulder took up too much of her view of him.
"Just the day?"he asked as he gave the horse some cue and it started walking toward the wall of fog and shadows. "Or is this a goal that ye have every mornin' when ye get up? And a follow up question to that, at night before ye say yer prayers, do think that since ye dinnae die, it was a successful day?"
"I don't understand,"Izzy answered as she pondered his question. She couldn't figure out what was most absurd about it, perhaps the fact that he didn't understand the want to survive. His hearty laugh filled the grove causing the birds perched in the boughs of the trees to take to the sky.
"Where's the confusion?"Aaron asked as the fog cloaked the forest. Izzy's body tensed. Aaron's arms curled protectively around her as Rupert meandered along a road, Izzy couldn't see.
"Where's the road?"
"What doesthat have to do with me question?" he asked. Izzy's body tingled as his hot breath caressed her neck and ear as he spoke. Little bumps scattered over her skin, but they weren't caused by the nip in the air. She turned to glance over her shoulder at him, giving him a side eye.
"How areyou not worried whether your horse is going to meander us right off a cliff?"
"There'snay cliffs around for miles. And we'd come to where we're goin' before then. So, again, why the fear? Even if he does, why the fear? We end up in heaven or, in yer case, England, and all will be well."
"As much asKing James wants England to be heaven on earth, it never can be."
"Would ye look at that— we found somethin' we agree on," Aaron touted as the gray rolling fog around them slowly became more like a familiar friend than an ominous presence out to get her.
"Isit always like this in the morning here?" she asked as she fought the smile tugging on the corner of her lips.
"Ye mean the mist?Nay, only in the autumn and spring when the ground cannae make up its mind on whether it wants to be plowed. And lucky for ye, this will be the last we'll see till spring. Do ye nae have anythin' like this in England?"
Izzy's heart skipped.She didn't want to think about her home, not when she was surrounded by the magical realm that swallowed them whole. She couldn't help but feel lighter in the fog — as if she had stepped into a place far from the toils of the natural world. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear the low hoot of a barn owl resting in the canopy, yet she couldn't see anything but mist and cloud as it flowed around them.
"The mist will comein over the harbor, covering the city, but it's nothing like this."
"Aye,stone walls will take the charm out of anythin' natural. Honestly, I cannae see how anyone survives in such a place."
Izzy bobbedher head in agreement as she glanced around. The fog was lifting, and before she knew it, the sun's beams cut through the clouds like a knife. Songbirds filled the sky as the horse continued its slow steady pace over the rolling hills.
"I takeit you would never live in England?"
"Doye have any idea how much strength it took for me to cross the border into England to fetch ye? I put it off as long as I could. Had I ken then what I ken now, I wouldnae have waited so long. But what more can I do but live and learn?"
Izzy's eyeswidened as a small village rose from the mist like some magical land. The fog and clouds along with the golden light of the dawn made the whole setting like a dream.
"Where are we?"
"We've nae left McNeil lands,"Aaron answered with a slight chuckle.
"So, what are we doin'out here?" Izzy asked, her voice pitching with curiosity.
"Are ye always so impatient?"he teased.
"I'm not impatient, just excited."
"Aye,like a bairn, ye get yerself all worked up then before ye even get to the main event, ye've tuckered yerself out."
Confusion pummeled Izzy.She twisted in the saddle. The horse protested at the sudden shift of weight. With her balance off center, Izzy's panic shifted into fear as she started to slip. The moment was fleeting for as soon as she reached out, she felt Aaron's arm.
"And what precisely is themain event you speak of?" Izzy asked, wishing the heat of embarrassment would pass swiftly.
"I toldye how I had a plan that could benefit the both of us," Aaron said, sparking Izzy's memory of their time in the study. It was the whole reason she had been tormented through the night.
"Well,if you wanted some privacy to speak freely, I think you have it," Izzy said half-heartedly.
"Aye,but even the trees sometimes have unexpected ears," Aaron whispered. His closeness rattled Izzy. It wasn't that he didn't already encompass her, but having his head so close to hers… it sent a wave of desire rippling through her like high tide.
