Page 152 of Laird of Smoke
Eve tried and failed to contain her laughter.
The abbess gave her a sharp look.“Have ye lost your wits, Sister?”
Mid-laugh, Eve felt something on her arm.Adam had smashed the rest of his coffyn on her sleeve.
Her jaw dropped.She couldn’t believe he would do something so out of character in front of all these witnesses.Surely the abbess would realize he was not a monk now.
But if that was the war this scoundrel of a Rivenloch wanted to wage, Eve was there for it.
She picked up her dariole, scooped out the custard with her fingers, and smeared it on his face.
The abbess was beside herself.“Sister Eve!What the Devil?”
But Eve was too vexed to stop now.“How could ye let me believe ye were an outlaw?”she demanded.
Gasps of shock echoed in the hall.
“How could ye let me believeyewere an outlaw?”He wiped the custard from his face and smeared it on hers.
“An outlaw?”the abbess exclaimed.“What are ye talkin’ about?”
Eve growled in fury.She wiped the custard off her cheek with her thumb and licked it off.It was actually very tasty.But she was more interested in dishing out just deserts.
She grabbed the bowl of butter and plopped it upside down onto his shoulder, twisting it for good measure.
“I couldn’t very well tell ye I was a nun,” she said.“Not after…” She stopped.She didn’t dare confess her terrible sin.
He scooped up the butter and slathered it on the top of her wimple.“Don’t ye think ye should have told mebeforewe…” He too was unwilling to finish the sentence.
“Ye knew ye were ne’er goin’ to marry me, ye bein’ who ye are,” she said.Now her voice was breaking, and she was miserable.She grabbed her slice of roast and dropped it down the front of his cassock.
“Marry?”the abbess blurted.“Who’s talkin’ about marryin’?”
Adam groaned with disgust as the roast slid down his chest and caught just above the cincture at his waist.
Eve continued.“Ye should ne’er have let me…” She shook her head, remembering their first tryst.
“Let ye?That’s not how I remember it.”
That wasn’t how she remembered it either.She’d practically thrown herself at him.Still, it was unforgivable of him to bring it up in front of everyone.
All she could do in her defense was splash her cider in his face.
He sputtered in surprise and tossed his head, shaking the cider droplets from his beard.Then, with a narrow and determined gaze, he picked up his cup to return the favor.
Eve ducked out of the path just in time.The wave of cider sloshed past her and smacked into the face of the abbess.
For one terrible moment, time stopped.The abbess’s face was frozen in a grimace of alarm and disgust.The nuns were petrified.The only sound in the room was the faint drip of ale rolling off the abbess’s quivering chin onto the table.
Eve held her breath.
She expected the abbess would rise with injured dignity and speak in an imperial voice, commanding Adam to be gone and Eve to return to her cell.
Never in a million years did she expect the abbess to seek vengeance.
The indignant old woman swept up her own cup of ale in one angry claw and tossed its contents toward Adam.
Unfortunately, her aim was not very accurate.A small portion splashed his brow.The rest splattered onto the nun beyond him.
