Embers in the Snow

Chapter 6 | Forge A New Path

          Alistaire had spent several hours, his outer cloak soaked, mist dripping down his face, deciphering Sophia's fading tracks. She had indeed wandered into the forest and Alistaire was determined to find her. The only thing waiting for Sophia in the forest was trouble. Alistaire scanned the dirt before him, assessing the leaves and broken twigs. Her tiny footprints left a small indentation in the mud. These tracks were fresh. He was not far behind her.
          This gave him the newfound energy he needed, and he hastened his steps, driving himself further into the dark, damp, and cold. She was only an hour and a half ahead of him based on the tracks he had just read. Meanwhile, Sophia had finally reached the place that she had heard about from rumors in the castle. The rumors depicted a cabin, like the one before her, nestled deep in the forest. If the rumors were true, within the cabin she would hopefully find a medicine woman who would be able to take care of her problem.
As she crept closer to the cabin, she realized it was more of a dilapidated shack. She hesitantly knocked on the rickety wooden door, afraid that it would fall in on itself if she knocked too hard. when the door creaked opened, Sophia sucked in a deep breath.
An hour later, Alastaire stumbled upon the same cabin. He observed its surroundings, assessing the layout. Moments later, Sophia exited the cabin, her blue cloak shielding her face and her dress beneath. Only her black curls dangling out from underneath her hood indicated to Alastaire, who she was. That and the gasp of recognition she softly uttered upon seeing him. The urgency racing through her veins to flee eventually won over. She bolted past Alistaire desperately, hoping to evade him. She was fast, but he was faster. So with little effort, he grasped her tiny waist in his hands and backed her into a tree.
She had no way of escaping him. He overpowered her with his strength. As he towered over her, he glared down at her from beneath furrowed brows. His eyes gleamed from the hurt she knew she had caused him. Her nervousness was a sign to Alastaire that she was hiding something. Alistaire was not ignorant of the rumors that traveled amongst the servants. He also knew how devastated she was from his reaction the night before as well.
"Where is it?" He asked her. "I do not know what you're talking about." she lied. "The berries, Sophia. I know that is why you have come." She looked at him dazed. "How-" "-Why else would you have ventured this far into the forest to see the old hag?" he interrupted her. Her face palled. He had completely disarmed her. She reached within her cloak and pulled out a red satchel. Then she placed it in his open palm. When Alistaire looked inside the satchel, his suspicions and accusations were confirmed. Inside, the poison berries brimmed to the top of the satchel. Without a moment of hesitation Alastaire dumped the contents of the satchel onto the ground in front of her. Tears began to trickle down Sophia's face as she watched her only hope crumble against the ground.
Once the satchel was empty, Alastaire stomped on the berries for good measure. "Why would you do that?" she asked. "I am trying to save us- to save you from shame. I know how important your reputation is. I know the demands that your father has placed on you to become Laird. Your betrothed. It is better for me to make this go away quietly..." Alistaire shook his head and released a heavy sigh. "You do not understand how dangerous these berries are. They could kill you too, Sophia." he bit out through a tight grimace. The muscles and his jaw twitched from the uncontrollable rage that was boiling inside of him.
"I could lose you." he whispered. "I cannot lose you." He whispered even softer this time. Sophia reached up with a delicate hand and cupped his cheek. "We cannot go back to the way things were. We can only forge a new path forward." "Aye." Sophia agreed. He leaned down closing in the space between them. She tilted her chin up and arched her back slightly, her lips beckoning his for a kiss. He breathed against her plump lips, "You are mine." It sounded feral, almost like a growl. He untied the laces of her cloak around her neck. It fell softly to the ground, billowing around her ankles. Alastaire quickly enveloped her in his arms and stole her breath away with his searing kisses. He kept repeating over and over again that she was his, that she belonged to him.
He declared it with every kiss he planted on her pale, freckled skin, every trail his finger traced across her curves. He declared it with every swipe of his tongue, ever suckle of his mouth against her most sensual parts. He roared it as he plunged into her. He repeated it as they climbed a treacherous mountain of pleasure together. And when they both came crashing down, in the blissful aftermath- he whispered it into the tangled heap of her hair. They lie there for a length of time cushioned by moss, and leaves, trying to regain their breath.
Once his erratic breathing had mostly returned to normal, Alistaire began to pepper his lover's face with kisses. He was always his most vulnerable with her after they had made love. The eldest son of the Macdonald Laird was a caged book, that this servant girl had somehow unlocked. He nuzzled her ear and stretched his hand down to cup her abdomen. The gesture was not lost on Sophia. He was wordlessly claiming the bairn within her as his. "Marry me, Sophia." It was not a question.