Page 153 of Laird of Smoke
The sister across the table from her broke into peals of laughter, which caused the affronted nun to throw half a buttered roll at her.The roll bounced off of her and landed on the bosom of the sister beside her.That sister shrieked in outrage, casting one parsnip at the tosser and another at the giggler for good measure.
Then the battle was on.One offended sister took revenge on the next.Smearing custard on veils.Pouring cider over wimples.Wiping verjuice on habits.
Soon the air was filled with flying neeps and sailing salat.Bounding rolls and hurled coffyns.Parsnips and pears flung like missiles from a catapult.The Refectory echoed with shrill screams of insult punctuated by raucous shouts of triumph.
All the while, even though for all intents and purposes, she’d started the melee, the abbess yelled, “Stop!Stop it, I say!”
It was no use.Chaos reigned.And Eve still had matters to settle.
“Ye deserted me,” she shouted over the crowd, prodding Adam in the chest.“Ye let me believe ye wanted to marry me, and then ye left to spy for the king.”
He grabbed her finger to stop her pokes.“Ye let me believe ye wanted to marryme.But once ye were given the chance, ye went straight back to the convent.”
She snatched her finger away.“Ye betrayed me.Ye told me ye were goin’ to help me find justice for the alewife.But ye ne’er intended to help at all, did ye?”
“I did help her,” he said, snapping up a napkin to dry his beard.“I gave the alewife my reward.”
“Your reward for what?”she said, dodging a half-eaten roll someone threw.“Capturin’ me and tellin’ the king I was Fergus’s ‘spy’?”
A stray splat of custard hit his shoulder.“For endin’ the war.”
She grew still.“Ye ended the war?”
“Aye.Why do ye think I’m here now?”
“The siege is o’er?”That was admittedly impressive.
“Aye.”A pear flew past his head.
“How did ye do it?”
He sniffed.“I tricked Fergus into surrenderin’ ere the king laid siege.”
That made sense.But not all of it did.
She picked up her napkin and swabbed at the sticky custard on her cheek.Then she narrowed her eyes.“Why did ye let the king take me prisoner?And put me in shackles?”
“I was tryin’ to keep ye safe, out o’ harm’s way.I knew the king wouldn’t harm ye.”His face took on a sad demeanor then.“And how did ye thank me?By breakin’ free and fleein’ across Scotland, completely out o’ my protection.”
They were at an impasse.
It seemed they’d both meant well.
But how could they get past the deception they’d used on each other?The falsehoods they’d told?How could they forgive the betrayals?
One couldn’t have a relationship built on lies.
She had to take off her mask and tell him the truth.
The food skirmish was coming to a close now.Not because the nuns had come to their senses and realized the childishness of their behavior.And not because the abbess had demanded a ceasefire.But because they were running out of munitions.
Still, as Eve perused the Refectory, she saw breathless, bright-eyed, pink-cheeked nuns who hadn’t had so much fun in months.And that made her realize this really had never been her world.Why else had she spent so much time escaping it?
“This is your doin’, Sister Eve,” the abbess accused, gesturing to the mess of neeps and pears, meat and rolls, custard and cider strewn about the tables and floor.“What do ye have to say for yourself?”
Eve had much to say.But it was meant for Adam.She faced him, placed a hand on his chest, and gazed into his deep, warm, inviting eyes.
“After I met ye, Adam, I decided to give up the veil,” she confessed.
