Onyx (11 page)

“
I’ll sleep in the hospice,” said Lovelle, “that’s fine. I don’t mind, and am thankful for your hospitality, especially in this situation.” She noticed Onyx stomping out of one of the cottages and heading across the moor.

“He dis
na look happy,” stated Isobelle.”

“I’m afraid that is my fault,” she said. “I upset him when I saw his eyes
, and flinched this morning.”

“Everyone does tha
t when they first meet him, dear,” said Clarista. “He is used to it, don’t worry.”

“
Mayhap so, but I was not very nice and even called him a name. I think I’d like to go talk to him if you don’t mind.”

“He’s probably going te
the cave by the loch,” said Isobelle. “He always goes there to be alone and think.”

“Thank you,” she said with a nod and hurried off after Onyx.

She headed across the land, noticing the sheep dotting the hills, grazing on whatever little live grass they could find sticking through the thin layer of snow. It was beautiful up here in the Highlands, and she could see why these people chose to live here. Rolling hills for as far as the eye could see, and snow kissed mountains that reached up to a wintery sky filled with clouds that stretched across the vast sky threatening to burst open at any minute. The air was so fresh and clean and she felt as if she were on top of the world. But it was very breezy, and she was still chilled to the bone, especially without her hat. Yet none of the Highlanders even seemed to be bothered by the cold.

She would find Onyx as fast as possible, and bring him back to the fire where it was warm so they could talk.

Onyx walked quickly, and she had a hard time keeping an eye on him in order to follow. She would have called out, but she thought that would only make him want to get away from her more, so she stayed quiet. And then the sun went behind the clouds and the wind picked up very strong. She raised her hand and held her hood to her head and looked back toward the camp. It was getting hard to see through the blowing snow, but she could still see the wisps of cooking smoke rising up from the holes in the roofs of the cottages, toward the vast sky.

She wanted more than anything to go back and sit by the warm fire, but she felt horrible about what happened with Onyx and wanted to make amends
first. She wasn’t one to hold grudges, and her mother had often told her that she lived up to her name of Loveday because she, more than anyone, seemed to forgive those who did her wrong.

Then it started to snow.
She walked faster, seeing Onyx up ahead. She decided to call out to him after all, but she was downwind and he didn’t hear her, and kept on going. She followed him toward the lake, and by the time she got to the edge of Loch Linnhe the snow was falling so fast that she could barely see where she was going.

She reached up to brush the snow out of her eyes, and when she did her mother’s ring flew off the finger of her gloved hand, and fell to the ground. She looked down to
the water to see the ring sliding across the frozen lake, and out of reach.

“My mother’s ring,” she said aloud, her body now shivering and her teeth beginning to chatter. She would never get used to this Highland nasty weather. One minute the sun was shining, and the next it was dreary and snowing and she could barely see the hand in front of her face.

She walked up to the edge of the lake and realized the ring had slid quite a ways out from the shore. She would have to walk on the ice to get it. The day was dreary now, and with her color blindness, it was hard to tell what was solid ice and what was not. She tested it with her toe, and when it seemed like it would hold her, she gingerly walked out on the ice and when she approached the ring, she bent over to get it – and heard the sickening crackle beneath her feet.

She frantically grabbed for the ring, but before she could get it, it went through the ice, and she followed. She sank into the water quickly, her cloak and gown soaking up the ice cold water and t
he weight pulling her down. She went under completely, panicking, knowing she needed to get her head up and out into the air. She felt the pain of a thousand needles as the cold water started to send her body into shock, and when she surfaced, she realized her limbs were too cold to even move.

“Onyx,” she called, but she knew he wouldn’t hear her. “Onyx, help,
” she said just before the water covered her head once again.

Chapter 7

Onyx was sitting at the mouth of the cave overlooking the lake and just thinking, when he thought he heard his name called on the wind. He looked out to the shore, but the snow was falling so fast and hard that if someone was there he couldn’t see them.

He was going to ignore it, when his bones started to
ache, telling him that something bad was about to happen. He jumped to his feet and walked out of the mouth of the cave, looking out to the edge of the water. He thought he saw movement on the water, and he knew the lake looked frozen but it was deep near the shore in spots and would not be totally frozen over.

Then he heard his name
again, and this time he recognized it as the voice of Lovelle. He spotted her near the shore, but near a spot where he knew the water dropped off quickly. She had broken through the ice and was struggling to keep afloat.

He took off at a run, pulling off his weapon belt and dro
pping it to the ground as he moved. Then he ripped off his tartan and threw it down just as he got to the edge of the water. He knew he was going to have to jump in to save her, and with a heavy, wet, wool plaid on, they would both drown in the process. He didn’t have time to remove his boots, and jumped into the lake wearing only his braies and leine.

Her face was frozen in fear and her skin already looked blue. Her eyes were closing as she dipped under
once again, and he knew this might be the last chance he had to grab her before she disappeared under the water forever.

He took a deep
breath and dove under, feeling the cold sting against his skin. He put his shoulder beneath her and tried to lift her upward, but she was frightened, and struggled, trying to climb atop him, the weight of her wet cloak and gown pushing them both under.

He surfaced again, taking hold of her cloak and ripping it from her body. He let it sink down into the water, and she coughed and gagged and gasped for breath. Her hands clawed at him, and he called out to her.

“Hold on to me neck,” he said, but she wore the damned gloves and they were slippery. He reached out and yanked them off and let them fall into the water as well. He would have tore off her gown, but it was fastened on by a lot of buttons and he didn’t have his dagger on him. Instead, he took a deep breath and went under the water again, then came up under her, tossing her onto the ice.

“Stay flat on the ice,” he called out, “or ye’ll fall in again.”

He managed to pull himself up next to her, having fallen through the ice more than once in his life, and knowing how to maneuver his way out. He then pulled her over the ice, and to the shore.

The cold wind bit into his wet, bare flesh, and he knew that no matter how uncomfortable he was, she was feeling it much worse.

She coughed again, spitting up water, and finally getting her breath. He helped her to her feet, and the snow fell around them now, so fast that it was like a wall in front of their faces.

Her gown was wet and heavy, and she couldn’t seem to move.

“We need te get ye outta these wet clothes quickly,” he told her. He could see her eyes closing, and knew there was no way he’d get her back to camp in this storm. “Hold on, Lady Love, I’ll take care o’ ye, dinna ye worry.”

He picked her up in his arms,
stopping to collect his tartan and weapons along the way. But it was awkward to carry everything as well as her wet, dripping body with her very heavy gown, so he flipped her over his shoulder, and started for the cave. When she didn’t struggle nor protest, he realized that she had slipped from consciousness after all.

He made it to the cave and got inside, out of the wind and the snow. It was dark, but he’d come here often as a boy and knew it like the back of his hand. He put her down against the wall, her eyes closed and her head tilting to the side. He needed to warm he
r up and he needed to do it quickly.

He felt his way around
the cave in the dark, thankful when he found the dry wood still stacked where he’d left it not that long ago. This was his place to come, his private spot where he could get away from the woes of the world and all his troubles and just relax. He’d stocked it well with dry wood and flint, and it wasn’t but a minute and he’d started a fire. They were close to the mouth of the cave so the smoke could exit, but yet far enough in to keep them out of the elements.

He stripped off his wet clothes
and boots, laying them near the fire to dry. Then he spread his dry tartan on the ground, making a bed for her.

“Lady Love,” he said, trying to stir her. Her eyes opened slightly, but her teeth were still chattering and her skin was a tint of blue. “We need te get ye out of yer w
et clothes and te warm yer body quickly.”

“All r-
r-r-r-right,” she said, the tears now streaming from her eyes. “You s-s-s-s-saved m-m-m-my life,” she said. “T-t-t-t-thank you.”

“Shhh, my bonnie cailin, dinna use yer energy te talk.” He removed her gown, the
n reached for her shift, but pulled back his hand and looked up to her instead. “Lassie, I need te remove all yer clothes.”

“I u-u-u-u-understand,” she said, nodding her head.

He reached out again, pulling the shift over her head and then removing her hose, shoes and undergarments. He wanted to admire her beautiful nakedness, but knew this wasn’t the time for that. He had to get her warm or risk losing her forever.

“Come, lay by the fire and get warm,” he said. “I’ll put our clothes close by to dry.”

“I c-c-can’t walk,” she said. “I c-c-c-an’t feel my legs. Onyx, I am s –s-s-so scared.”

He could see this was worse than he thought. And there was only one thing he could do to help her n
ow since they had no blankets other than his plaid to use.

“Then listen te me, Love, and dinna try te fight me. There is only one thing we can do te get ye warm quickly, but I dinna think ye are goin’ te like it.”

“A-a-a-anything,” she said, her teeth chattering so much that he thought they would break.

“Lay down then,”
he said, getting her to sit on the tartan. He stoked the fire higher, then sat next to her. Then, staring into her beautiful blue eyes, he slowly lay back and held out his hand. “I need ye te lay atop me,” he said. “Our bodies together will give ye the heat ye need to recover.”

“Are you s-s-sure,” she said, looking at him cautiously, holding her hands over her bare breasts to hide her nakedness from him.

“I am sure, Love,” he said, gently taking her hand in his, and then with both hands, bringing her body to his as he laid her atop him. He then grabbed the sides of his long tartan and threw it up over her back, wrapping them together in some sort of cocoon.

He felt her body tense and stiff
en at first, and he took his hand and rubbed lazy circles on her back. She relaxed, and her arms came away from the sides of her breasts, and up around his shoulders, as she lay her head on his chest.

Their two bodies, skin to skin
, warmed quickly between them. He kissed her atop her head and she looked up to him with those bright blue eyes and tried to smile.

“What was t-t-that for?” she asked, and he reached out and gingerly wiped back her wet hair from her face.

“I thought I’d lost ye today, lassie.”

“And would it bother you if you had?” Her body was warming nicely against his, and her teeth no longer chattered.

“Aye, it would bother me, more than ye know.” He rubbed a hand against her cheek, and her skin was still very cold. He could see she was exhausted and he knew what she needed now was to sleep.

“Onyx?” she said. “I am so sorry for the way I acted before when I saw your eyes in the sunlight.”

“Dinna
fash
yerself, lassie, I am used te people reacting like thet.”

“I want to explain something to you. I – when it is nighttime, I can’t see colors, only black and white and grey. And – and in the daytime, if it is bright sunlight I can see some colors, but even so, they are not what they should be.”

“So thet’s why ye didna flinch when ye first saw me.”

“I think you are very handsome, and I want you to know that your eyes don’t bother me. They just startled me at first. That’s all.” She looked up into his eyes then, and he could see the
sincerity in their swirling depths. He believed her. And that pleased him more than she could ever know.

“What happened la
ss?” he asked. “Were ye born thet way?”

“Nay,” she said. “I was fine until the birth of my child. It was a hard birth and I almost died and he almost died as well.
Afterwards I was struck with a high fever and it took with it my sense of seeing colors.”

“Ye have a child?” He’d been stroking her cheek but stopped and pulled his hand back. “Are ye married, lassie, becooz if ye are, I dinna think ye
r husband will understand this position we are in.”