Page 115 of Laird of Smoke
“Nay, not Deirdre,” the king said.“Lady Carenza’s cousin was just here.Did ye not cross paths?”
Eve’s heart stopped.Shite.What if Lady Carenza didn’thavea cousin?What if Adam knew that?
“Her cousin was just here?”Adam replied.“I didn’t see him.”
“Her,” the king corrected.
“Her?”Adam echoed.“Hmm.Is that so?I don’t believe we’ve met.”
Eve’s heart began pounding like a fuller’s mill.She could hear it in his voice.He knew.She couldn’t imagine how, but he knew.
The king continued, “So what news do you bring from the enemy camp?”
Enemy camp?Was Adam a spy?
“It’s worse now, Your Grace.He’s besieging keeps of other clans, demanding fealty from the survivors.”
“Fealty?”
“Aye.There are some who believe he wishes to form an alliance with the English against Your Grace.”
“What the devil?This is serious indeed.”
Eve scowled.Who were they talking about?
“We shall muster the troops this eve,” the king decided.“We’ll attack at dawn.”
“At dawn?”
“Aye.Knock down the rebellion ere breakfast.”
Eve chewed at her lip.She had to make herself scarce.Not only because she’d overheard something she shouldn’t have.But because she suddenly realized the truth.
Adam wasn’t feigning to be a Rivenloch.Hewasa Rivenloch.
And even if the king wasn’t perceptive enough to realize he’d once played the Pope’s emissary, he apparently knew Adam of Rivenloch well enough to trust him as a royal spy.
Her brain suddenly spun in a maelstrom of shock and fear, surprise and dismay, disillusionment and horror.
How could she not have known?
The fact that he could carry off an air of nobility so well should have been an obvious sign.
Just like the rest of his clan, he was strong, handsome, and bright.Now that she thought of it, he even bore a resemblance to the other Rivenloch men she’d seen.He had the same broad shoulders.The same square jaw.The same fierce eyes.
No wonder he’d been so eager for the return of his medallion.The piece was legitimately his.
But she’d been blinded by her affections.And he’d taken advantage of that blindness.He’d made her fall in love with him.
Her eyes welled.Her throat closed.How could she have left herself so vulnerable?
Then she gave her head a firm shake.She couldn’t dwell on her failure.
She had to figure out what to do now.
As much as it crushed her, as much as it made her heart crack in two, she had to face the truth.
Adam had never been serious about marrying her.The idea was absurd.He thought she was an outlaw.A Rivenloch bachelor was a valuable pawn.The king would never allow him to wed a female thief.
