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He had to be missing his home, his people, and his family. Stuck in a dungeon with nothing to do but pace and stare at the wall had to mind-numbing. Surely, there was something she could do to ease his mind? A pack of cards mayhap, a book? She had a lone copy of Hippolytus somewhere. It was not a merry tale, rather a sad one about an innocent youth damned to die but it was the best she had.
As dawn crept in, she was up and searching her room, for the print and found it in the bottom drawer of her desk. She dusted it off and read.
Is this the best I can do? It is all about war. Would it bring back bad memories for him?
She dropped the book in uncertainty as her gaze drifted to the window and beyond to the keep. There was a knock on her door and she gave permission to enter.
“Good morning, My Lady,” Martha said. “Did you sleep well?”
Adelaine tuned to her with her hand still resting on the book. Martha looked so calm and happy while Adelaine was conflicted. “He kissed me.”
Her maid frowned. “He…who is…” the confused dimness in her eyes cleared, “…he? As in…him? The Scot?”
She nodded and went to sit on the edge of her bed. “He did and now…it makes things so much more complicated.”
“Why?” Martha
sat beside her and folded her hands on the skirts of her grey dress. “Are you feeling…more than sympathy for him?”
“Yes,” Adelaine nodded. “He’s a wonderful man, Martha, smart and kind and so handsome. I believe him when he said he tried to save Peter’s life.”
“But these other emotions…” Martha said, “are they romantic?”
“I cannot tell,” she replied. “I have nothing to base them off but books and stories. I don’t know how to handle this as…I don’t know a thing about desire,” she cringed at the last word as it felt wrong to say.
“What did he do after he kissed you?” Martha asked tenderly.
Adelaine’s eyes flicked up, “He asked me if I wanted him to apologize for kissing me and that he would apologize even though he didn’t want to.”
“Seems to me he might be taken with you,” Martha said.
“Could it be that I’m just his only option?” Adelaine questioned. “If you saw him, you’d understand that man as handsome as he is could have any lady he wants. I’m sure that there were a good number of them back home.”
“Did he mention any?”
“No,” Adelaine said. “He only told me that he’s of the age to be married but has no wife. I don’t want to think he’s a deceiver but…I find it hard to believe.”
“Mayhap you are the one who finds it hard to believe he likes you for who you are,” Martha said gently. “You are beautiful, My Lady, inside and out. Anyone can see that and with you being so sympathetic and merciful to him, he can see much more.”
“I still find it odd…” Adelaine mused.
“If he was as upfront and told you that he did not regret kissing you, mayhap he will tell you exactly what he feels for you,” Martha added.
“Isn’t that too…presumptuous?” Adelaine asked, as once again her eyes drifted to the window. “It feels as if in doing so, I’m begging for compliments.”
“You’re only asking for the truth,” Martha corrected, “just the truth.”
She swallowed over the large lump in her throat. Not once, in all her life, had she felt this nervous. Once again, she was back in the dungeons, armed with a cup of cider and the book. She tried to remember the questions she had fleetingly prepared in her head to ask Caelan but she could not remember any of them. She still was afraid to speak to Caelan about what she wanted to know, but deep down she felt she would be fine. For his entire hardened exterior, the man was also gentle. He would never mock her for her uncertainties.
The underground was dim, but she made out Caelan’s form. He was kneeling again and facing the window. He was not speaking, so she assumed he had had probably just finished praying.
She walked as softly as she could toward the bars but his head shifted to look at her. “I wasnae sure ye’d come back.”
Edging closer to the bars she said. “Why would you think that?”
He stood and she bit her lip when his tall, sturdy body unfolded. Caelan eyed her softly as his hand closed around a bar. “I scared ye when I kissed ye, dinnae I?”
Adelaine wanted to lie, but didn’t. “Yes, you did but… it was not bad.”
