Page 15 of Laird of Smoke
She smoothed her skirts, hefted up her satchel, and made her way out of the inn.As she exited, she looked both ways to be sure the crippled old impostor was gone.
She saw only a half dozen young men chatting, a woman carrying a babe on her hip, a pair of giggling lasses, a sour-faced monk, a lad herding a flock of geese, and a knight guiding his horse down the road.
Merging with the villagers, she continued toward the silversmith’s shop.
By the time she rang the bell at his door, and the silversmith unlocked and opened it to her, she’d all but forgotten about the man in disguise who’d almost exposed her.
Now she was fully Lady Aillenn.Self-assured.Cultivated.And willing to pay for services well done and in a timely manner.She retrieved the silver medallion from her satchel and explained what she wanted.
When the mysterious lass emerged from The Grey Goose, her gaze glossed over Adam completely.Adam, standing at his regular height, capped and cloaked, and missing his beard, coif, eye patch, and crutch, was unremarkable.He easily dissolved into a group of chatting young men.She took no notice.
She’d lingered in the inn for nearly half an hour.Adam couldn’t have followed her inside, of course.In the cramped quarters, she would have noticed him immediately.
Now she seemed less wary of her surroundings.She straightened with determination, heading north.He followed, keeping his cloak closed and his cap pulled low over his brow.
When she stopped at the silversmith’s shop, his suspicions were confirmed.
Shehadto be the French archer, as wildly improbable as it seemed.Le Goupilhad won second place in the archery tournament.He…Shehad been awarded a silver medallion.
But Lady Aillenn Bhalloch, an Irish noblewoman, likely had no use for such a trinket.No doubt she planned to sell it to the silversmith and pocket the coin.
He had to admit, it was a clever scheme.Especially since her disguise had been convincing enough to fool the king.
Was this a habitual pastime for her?Was she some sort of female archer-errant?Did she travel from tournament to tournament, winning prizes and cashing them in for their value?
He couldn’t help but grin in appreciation.It was just the sort of spirited, rebellious, cocky thing his intrepid Rivenloch aunts might do.But they wouldn’t bother with the disguise.
Now he was intrigued.He had to find out what this elusive pretender was up to.Even if it took all day.
But as the sun sank lower and lower in the sky, and she still didn’t emerge from the shop, he began to think he’d been wrong about all of it.
Perhaps the green hood hanging out of her satchel was only a coincidence.
Perhaps she hadn’t been the archer after all.
Perhaps she was the silversmith’s wife and had simply gone home.
He was almost ready to shuffle back to Perth when the silversmith’s door rattled open again.Adam drew back into the narrow space between shops and peered at her from beneath his cap.
She eyed the sky with a furrowed brow, as if noting the lateness of the day.Then she shouldered her satchel and pressed onward down the road, turning west toward the woods.
As he watched her walk away, Adam noticed he wasn’t the only one with an eye on her.From behind the last building, two rough-looking men eased out onto the road behind her.They too must have been monitoring the silversmith’s shop.Waiting for her to exit.Sure she’d have silver in her satchel.
Now Adam wasdefinitelygoing to follow her.He was a Rivenloch at heart.He wasn’t about to walk away and let a lady become the victim of thieves.
They wouldn’t immediately accost her.Not this close to the village.Not where she could put up a hue and cry and bring the law down upon them.
Nay, they would track her until she was isolated in the dark middle of the wood and then demand their due.
So Adam would trackthem.
Eve could hear the travelers on the path behind her.There was a good chance they were thieves.It was a rare journey when shedidn’tcross paths with thieves.Times were difficult, and not every beggar had a charitable convent nearby.
They probably thought they were being inconspicuous.Which meant they weren’t very experienced.Their boots scuffed through the leaves.One of them stepped on a twig and broke it with a loud snap.
It sounded like there were two of them.Maybe three.
Outlaws were always a risk in the woods.But she wasn’t afraid of them.
