Page 53 of Laird of Smoke
The truth was, despite his wealth as a member of the Rivenloch clan and the rumors about his bottomless satchel, he traveled light.He could easily earn coin by doing common labor or, when the situation demanded it, impressing his way into free food and lodging.After all, who wouldn’t offer Hildegard of Bingen a hot meal and a place to rest her revered head?
“Ye said it yourself,” he added.“I’m just a master o’ disguise, not a titled lady who can afford to lose five pounds in silver.”
“Oh.”She stopped her horse to address him.“Could ye not tell?The coins weren’trealsilver.”
“What?”He reined to a shocked halt beside her.“What were they?”
“Lead.”
“Lead?”
She nodded.“I always carry lead coins with the silver.’Tis the easiest way to appease outlaws.They don’t usually look too closely when they’re robbin’ ye.”
“So ye gave them worthless coins?”he marveled, simultaneously horrified and impressed.
“Aye.”
“But what about them bein’ ‘misguided men with bad parents’?”he said, quoting her.
“That they might be, but eight o’ them against two of us?”She shook her head.“The churls didn’t deserve a penny.”
He laughed.The woman was fascinating.He’d never met a lass so flexible in her morality.Was she saint or sinner?It was hard to tell.
He nudged his horse forward again.“Be careful where ye spend those coins.There are some who’d hang ye for counterfeitin’.”
“I’d ne’er use them on honest men,” Aillenn said.“But if ’tis our lodgin’ ye’re worried about, I have enough real silver to stay for some days.”
Adam lifted his brows at that.Did she think she’d have to offer silver to stay with Pitcairn?One glance at Lady Aillenn, and the laird would be fumbling over his feet to accommodate the beautiful lass.
The road narrowed again, forcing him to ride silently behind her.But that was fine.It seemed the more they spoke, the more information she managed to squeeze out of him.And the more she knew, the less secure he was.
Traveling by horse was much swifter than on foot, even when they stopped to rest the animals.To Aillenn’s apparent surprise, Adam pulled a brush out of his satchel to groom the beasts.She seemed impressed, not only by his convenient assortment of tools, but by his attention to detail when it came to guises.
Before long, they drew close to Pitcairn’s stronghold.It was set above a lush green glen through which a wee burn meandered.Well-protected by a generous bailey enclosed by tall wooden stakes, the keep rose above the forest like a powerful arm challenging the heavens.Unlike Rivenloch’s sprawling, Norman-style stone structure, Pitcairn’s castle was comprised of a single tower made of gray-weathered wood.The keep was nonetheless substantial.The azure pennant of Pitcairn, featuring the face of a moon, rippled from the top of the tower.Smoke streamed from the outbuildings within the bailey.
“’Tis magnificent,” Aillenn exclaimed, pulling up beside him.
“Ye think so?”he said.“Ye should see…” Shite, he’d almost saidRivenloch.“Er, the great hall o’ the king in Perth.”
She nodded.“O’ course, ’tisn’t as magnificent as my keep in Ireland, but…”
He wondered.She might be good at hiding her identity.She wasn’t so good at hiding her emotions.She did seem rather impressed by the castle.
“Shall we?”he said, reining toward the stronghold.
Adam, weary from the journey, looked forward to ending their travels.But the closer they got to the bailey, the more anxious he became.
Normally, nothing rattled him.Though he was visiting a laird who knew him as Adam la Nuit of Rivenloch, he’d only met the man a few times, and he’d been a good deal younger.Besides, his own kin couldn’t recognize him when he was in disguise.
But he was definitely ill-at-ease about this encounter.
It must be the responsibility of looking after Lady Aillenn and her identity that left him on edge.
What if she accidentally used the wrong name?What if her behavior betrayed her?What if she began blathering about their encounter with the thieves?Or his participation in the melee?Or the debacle at the monastery?The slightest mistake could reveal them both.
He wanted to warn her.To instruct her on all the things she shouldn’t say or do.To tell her how important it was not to disclose anything about where they’d been or where they were going.
In the end, he decided she should feign to be mute.He would do all the talking.
