Fraser

"The princess felt trapped. It was the sort of trapped that made it seem as if it was impossible to escape. She had to accept her retched fate, for there was nothing else she could do aside from welcoming the unpleasantness gladly, even if it shattered her heart completely."
A marriage of convenience it was. The man she was to wed was not a man that she loved, but it was a man that she may grow to love, for they would spend many years together, bringing children into the world, and were destined to tolerate one another.
The mere idea agonized her. How could she? Could she even try to love a man whom she had never met?"

Ailsa paused, looking at the book in her hands and frowning thoughtfully, as if the words beneath her fingertips somehow offended her.

I smiled, tilting my head to the side, and wondering why she had stopped.

"Is something amiss?" I ask lightly, but by the time my question is finished I already know that something is most definitely wrong, because she won't look up at me. She won't give me her mirth filled eyes that she typically does when I tease her.

I wonder whether or not I should press the matter. A part of me is exponentially curious and wants to be quenched. The other part, the much more reasonable part, knows that she doesn't seem to be in a talking mood.

So I settle for a polite, "Please, continue."

She does, trying the words carefully on her tongue, feeling for poison hidden in the letters

"What if she could never love him? What if her first love was all that ever mattered to her...."

This time when she stops, she slams the book closed, tossing it aside, and folding her arms across her slim chest.

"I don't want to read this book anymore." Ailsa insists, looking anywhere but me or the book she detests.

I chuckle trying to hide the protective desires that want to burst forth at any sign of her unhappiness. There's no use for them now, not when I'm locked up down here.

"Well," I start thinking on what I should even say to her "you are the one that chose it, my dear."

She shoots me infuriated glare, nostrils flaring, and I have to try my best not to laugh at the cute pucker that appears between her eyebrows.

"Yes, well I did not know that it would Be, as if.." She trails off once more, throwing her hand over her mouth, as if to stop herself before she can reveal what she is truly feeling.

It makes me momentarily angry. I'm upset, hurt, more hurt than the knife her father dragged down my back. She can't even trust me with her emotions? Have I already been such a lousy mate?

I'm in love with her and she won't even tell me what's hurting her.

I take a deep breath through the nose and shove the feelings away, knowing they will not serve me. Those thoughts will only drag me down, they will not help the situation at hand.

"As if what?" I press, trying to keep the disappointment from leaking into my voice and giving away my inner turmoil.

She looks down.

I turn and lean forward, waiting until she looks up to capture her gaze.

"Please. Help me to understand."

She sighs heavily before nodding her head in defeat. I hate that I feel satisfied.

"The Ramsays are coming to the clan next week. Do you know why?"

I freeze, everything suddenly makes sense now. My hands ball into fists, knuckles turning white as my jaw clenches to keep my outburst at bay.

"The Ramsays?"

She nods.

"Your father, he's chosen a husband for you, hasn't he?"

She nods again, and when she looks at me, tears are growing in her eyes.

"It just felt like I was reading about my own life. I'm meeting my future husband soon and all of this won't even matter anymore. My father has already chosen Douglas Ramsay."

I know the Ramsay clan, and I know of Douglas Ramsay only from what I've heard through the years as he's grown under his father's rule. None of the murmurings of the lad have been good.

From what I can gather, he's a spoiled, scrawny teenager, and Laird Sinclair is hellbent on giving my mate to him to gain power.

The thought drives me mad, and all I can see is red. I've never wanted to kill Ailsa's father than I do right in this moment.

I find myself fantasizing about what it would be like to squeeze his thick neck so hard that his beady, little eyes pop out.

I'm pulled from my plotting when I hear a sniffle. Then, when I look up, my heart breaks.

"Ailsa." I call, feeling lower than a snakes belly when I hear a tear hit the ground.

Her blonde head is bent, and she refuses to look up at me for even a moment.

"Ailsa. Mo cuishle!" I demand, and then she's finally looking at me.

Her eyes are already puffy, and her rosy cheeks are streaked with salty rivers of despair.

I snarl. Someone as sweet and innocent as my mate should not be put through this. Never her.

My hand slithers from my cage, desperate to get to the angel before me. My fingers cling to her face, and I'm cupping her head gently, smoothing away the tears because the sight of them makes me hurt too.

Suddenly, she lets out a broken sob.

"Fraser." She whimpers. "I'm scared. I'm so scared."

Those little words are enough to shatter me into splinters.

She continues to rattle with cries that further my fury and build my resolve of what must be done.

"You won't marry him."

Ailsa sniffles, batting her wet eyelashes that stick together.

"What? But Fraser I have to." She says, and I want to curse. I want to scream. I want to tell from the rooftops and declare her as mine and threaten anyone who comes within a footstep of her.

I decide here and now that anyone that makes her cry will not know pain until I'm through with them. Each tear rolling down her soft face earns ten drops of blood in return.

"You won't marry him because we're going to get out of here." I ensure her, my other hand searching for hers. Her fingers are cold and small, pale little things in my own grip.

"We are?" She doesn't sound like she believes me one bit. A bit of snot trickles from her nose and she's quick to wipe it away.

"Yes. I'm going to take you away from here, and both of our lives will be better." I say, willing the words to be true because I've decided they are.

Why would the moon goddess give me this wonderful girl if we both are to just end up dead? It wouldn't make sense, wouldn't be right. In fact, it would be downright cruel, and I have more faith in my creator to accuse her of such things.

"But the keyy..."

"We'll find a way, with or worth out that damn key." I insist, and she sniffles. "I'll be damned if I let you marry that bastard."

"Fraser!"

I grin, loving that she still abhors cursing at a time like this.

"It's true. I'm the one for you. We both know it."

She looks away, shy. Cheeks tinged pink even as more tears fall.

"You said it yourself, this princess you speak of, you said her heart belongs to another."

Ailsa scoffs, trying to shove my hands away, but I don't let her. I need to touch her, if not for my own sanity then for her comfort.

"I was reading a book, I didn't create the story."

I smile, my eyes tilting to the discarded book in question.

"Hmm. New Atlantis and the Great Instauration by Francis Bacon. Pardon me, darling, but that doesn't sound like a trajectory piece to me."

Her pretty, pink mouth drops open as she reels away from me, staring at me like I've grown a second head.

"What?" I ask innocently.

"You can read that in the dark?"

I shoot her a board look, retreating my hands to my lap and I cross my legs, getting a whiff of my own stench and wondering how the hell she stands to be around me.

"I'm a vampire. I can see in the dark, remember."

"Oh, that's right. How silly of me." She barks a laugh that reeks of hysteria. "I didn't think you'd catch on."

"What, that you were making up a story instead of actually reading?"

Ailsa nods.

"That's easy, your eyes were barely moving across the page and you fumbled too often. Really, you're not very good at acting."

Her face falls.

"Trust me, Gentry tells me enough." She says, and I perk up, something new sparking my interest.

"She's my maid." She doesn't elaborate as an idea grows in her gaze and she shuffled forward.

"I know! What if I pretend to be absolute wretched and that way poor Douglas will hate me and call of the engagement immediately."

The sound of Ailsa's excitement makes me feel like a failure. Of course she would try to rely on herself. What good am I locked up down here?

My idea of running away is simply a false sense of hope to her, for now.

"Darling, you couldn't be wretched if you tried."

"How do you know?" She asks, frustrated.

"Because you're too sweet."

Her blush makes a return, and I grab for her hand again when she's close enough.

"I know I sound foolish, but we will get out of here. We have to. There is no other option."

I'm not sure at this point if I'm talking to my mate or myself.

"There is no other way. There will be no Douglas and there will be no pretending to be something you're not. I will get us out of here."

Something flickers on her face, and she leans forward, waiting with her face pressed to the bars.

It only takes me a moment to realize her purpose.

I kiss her, but before I can deepens it with my tongue she pulls away.

"In my mind, there is no Douglas. There is only you." My cocky self already knew this, but it doesn't hurt to hear it. "There's no need to be jealous."

I bark out a laugh.

"I am not jealous. I simply don't want you hurt, my love." I run my thumb across her chin. Her eyes twinkle and I wish I could escape just for a moment so I could devour her mouth.

"I'll stay safe. How bad could he be? He's 16."

"How bad indeed."

But I had a feeling that things were going to get far worse before they begin to be better.

I loved this chapter 🥹
More coming soon, I'm determined to get to 2-3 chapters a week!! Please wish me luck because procrastination is a witch