Page 113 of Laird of Smoke
After a fortnight, her gown was ready.But she still hadn’t located the king.Then, as fate would have it, on the way back from the village to the convent, she came up behind a pair of slow-traveling monks chattering on about the grand encampment they’d just passed in the forest.
It had to be the king’s.
When the monks noticed her, they stopped talking, which only enforced her belief it was indeed Malcolm’s retinue they’d seen in the woods.
There was no time to waste.She knew roughly where the king was now.But he could move his troops at any time.
Just after Prime the next morn, Sister Eve stole out the convent gates into the woods and transformed into Lady Hilda of Dunlop, the invented cousin of Lady Carenza.She slipped into the azure brocade gown, girdling it with the silver chain.She secured the horse tail braids to either side of her head, tucking them under the wimple and veil.Because Lady Hilda despised mud, she buckled the protective wooden pattens onto the bottom of her boots, conveniently adding four inches to her height.Then she powdered her face with a light layer of chalk and painted her lips with red-stained beeswax.
Lady Hilda, Eve decided, was the farthest thing from a nun.She was a proud and sultry woman with distinct power over men.Her noble bearing and strength, as well as her height and snowy tresses came from Viking blood on her mother’s side.Most important, she had a smoky gaze and a throaty voice that could charm and cajole and convince even a king to do her bidding.
She checked to be sure she had the marriage document in her satchel.Then she took a few cautious, teetering steps to get used to the pattens, which were a full two inches taller than any she’d worn before.Making her way slowly along the path, lest she twist an ankle, she retraced her steps back to the spot where she’d heard the monks talking about the encampment.
The monks must have taken a smaller side path that diverted from the road into the woods.She watched for that branching trail.
The first side trail dead ended at a large boulder fifty yards in.The second trail dwindled to nothing after a few turns.But the third trail appeared to be well traveled, and after about a half-mile, Eve could glimpse red-and-gold-striped pavilions through the trees.
The camp was already awake.The air was filled with the clinking of pots, the stomp of boots, the low mumbles of men, and the acrid scent of smoke.
She’d come early to catch the king when he was least occupied and most vulnerable.If she approached him before he was fully awake, she’d be more likely to get his cooperation.
“Who are ye?”came a sudden gruff voice behind her.
Alarmed, Eve whipped around.
But Lady Hilda wouldn’t be alarmed.So Eve drew herself up to her full height—plus four inches—and looked the guardsman in the eye with a sultry smile.
“Lady Hilda of Dunlop, here to see the king.”Then she drew her gaze slowly down the front of the man’s tabard, as if sizing him up for a tryst.“Who areye?”
Her frank appraisal rattled the guard.“I…I’m M-…M-…Martin.Martin o’—”
“Mmm, Martin,” she purred.“What a magnificent name.”
“M’lady?”
She wrinkled her nose at him.“Maybe later we’ll meet again?”
He gulped.
She released a sigh of regret.“But at the moment, I’m here for the king.”
If the guard mistook her to be a consort, that was his own fault.It would help her get an audience with the king all that much faster.
He led her through the camp, where she understandably received a lot of astonished glances.Women who weren’t cooks or laundresses were rare in a soldier’s encampment.
Once they arrived at the royal pavilion, the guardsman spoke to a fellow guard, who entered the king’s quarters.After a moment, she was allowed in.
She tried not to appear shocked when she saw the king half-reclining on his pallet in only his sheer leine with the coverlet pulled up to his waist.
He gave her an appreciative smile.
“To what do we owe this lovely surprise?”he asked.“We didn’t order a consort.”
She gave him a silky reply.“Why, Your Grace, I’m flattered, but I fear ye misunderstand my presence here.I’m Lady Hilda o’ Dunlop.”
Malcolm was understandably flustered.He stammered and then glared at his guards.
She swept in to soothe him.“But I’m so very grateful for your attention, and I apologize for the earliness o’ the hour.This should take but a few moments.”
