Page 55 of The Shadow Path
There was another knock on the door.
Laura narrowed her eyes and sipped her coffee. “Be careful.”
“I will be.” Carys left her steaming ambrosia on the table and walked to the door. She opened it a sliver and saw Duncan on the other side. “Hey.”
He was dressed in loose woolen pants that hung on his narrow hips and wore a tunic open at the neck.
“You have coffee in there,” Duncan muttered in a throaty growl. “I can smell it.”
“You should have brought your own,” she whispered.
He put his hand flat on the door and pushed his way into the room. “A packet or I’m telling the dragon.”
“Duncan—”
He caged Carys against the wall and kicked the door shut with one determined foot. “You smell delicious.” He leaned in and put his face near Carys’s neck. “One cup of what you’re drinking will buy my silence and whatever else you might want from a lonely and very eager-to-please blacksmith.”
Laura coughed loudly.
Duncan turned to her with narrowed eyes. “You have company.”
“Yes, just letting you know thatI am in here, and also the dragon already knows about the coffee.” Laura sipped from her cup, smacking her lips before she blew some of the steam in Duncan’s direction. “And if you wanted to get rich in this place, a thriving business in black market coffee would do the trick.”
“If I wanted a fortune in millet, I’d agree with you.” Duncan grabbed Carys around the waist, wrapped a burly arm around her, and whispered, “Please. My lady. My queen. Goddess of Baywood, bless me with your coffee.”
Carys shivered at the scrape of his beard against her neck. “I have limited quantities, Duncan.”
“Tell me what you desire.” His breath was on her neck. “I will be your willing servant if only you’ll?—”
“Give the man a coffee or get a room,” Laura barked. “I do not need a front-row seat for your messed-up love life, Carys.”
Carys wanted to feel Duncan’s lips in other places that weren’t her neck, but recognizing that neither of them needed an audience, she gently pushed his shoulder back and nodded toward the table. “Sit down and say nothing to anyone about what you’re about to drink.”
He grabbed her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist with fervent adoration. “Lady, I am your servant.”
Laura muttered, “Damn it, why does shit like that work?”
“Every time.” Carys felt her heart racing, and she hadn’t even had her caffeine yet. “I’ll get you a packet, but next time plan ahead.”
Duncan’s eyes were fixed on her until Carys turned toward the wardrobe.
“I think Dru drilled it into my head that nothing from our world could pass through the gates so often I never even considered bringing coffee.” Duncan slumped in the chair nextto Laura and yawned. “I imagine he meant steel and technology, but I took it to mean everything.”
“Coffee comes from Africa,” Laura said. “They don’t have it here?”
“According to Cadell” —Carys walked back to the table with a packet of coffee and an earthenware mug from the cabinet— “it’s more common in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, but it still hasn’t caught on in Western Europe.”
“And definitely not in Briton.” Duncan reached for the mug and the packet. “But facing a day of Anglian ceremonies is going to be so much better with caffeine.” He grabbed Carys’s hand and kissed her knuckles again. “Thank you.”
Carys managed to ignore the fluttery feeling in her belly when she felt Duncan’s lips on her skin. “Apparently Eamer picked out our clothes and had them sent over to make sure we were all presentable,” she said. “She flew everything to Dafydd by dragon last night.”
“Doesn’t surprise me,” Duncan said. “Lachlan’s mother sent clothes for me since I’m officially in the Alban court’s party.”
“I’ve never been to a coronation before,” Laura said. “But I did attend the installation of the Wykanush high chief a couple of years ago. It was…” She sighed. “…a very long week.”
“Thank God this one only lasts a day.” Duncan sipped his black coffee and closed his eyes in bliss. “But Anglian ceremonies tend to have a lot of stag dancing, a lot of beer, and the wolves like to get crazy. So stay close, both of you.”
Carys,Duncan, and Laura were dressed and ready by late afternoon. They flew by coracle and landed in a large meadow that sloped down from the hill where a massive bonfire wasalready burning. There were stag dancers circling the fire, and a great stone throne had been erected at the apex of the mound that was the highest point in London.
