Page 95 of Laird of Smoke
Eve jumped, startled by the maid as she set a mazer of ale down on the table.
The action drew the man’s attention.When Eve swiftly lifted the cup to her lips, mostly to hide her face, his gaze followed her movements.
With two fingers, he summoned the maid.He motioned her close and murmured something in her ear.Eve was certain he was inquiring about her.The maid glanced her way and shook her head.
He stopped looking in her direction then.But Eve knew better than to assume he was no longer interested in her.He simply knew he no longer needed to keep his eye on her.She couldn’t go anywhere without him noticing.So he could dally over the ale.
What he’d asked the maid, she didn’t know.But she could almost always rely upon the sisterhood of women when she needed a quick escape.
She summoned the maid again and rose on shaky legs, feigning illness.
“Miss,” she gasped, “I fear I’m goin’ to be sick.Do ye have a chamberpot in the kitchens?”
“Och!Come with me then, m’lady.”
Eve didn’t look at him, but she felt the man at the door stiffen as the maid led her from the common room.
Once she passed into the kitchens, Eve turned to the maid with an urgent plea.
“Miss, that man at the door, the one in the king’s colors?”She grasped the maid’s sleeve.“He’s been followin’ me.I fear he’s after my virtue.Prithee let me out the back door.”
The maid’s mouth went round.She blinked in surprise.In that moment, Eve knew they’d found a womanly connection.The maid would usher her out the kitchen door now to escape into the woods.
But then the maid turned her head and screeched, “She’s tryin’ to get away, sir!”
So much for the sisterhood of women.Left no choice and begging God’s forgiveness, Eve bit out a curse and gave the maid a hard shove backwards toward the common room.The lass collided with the king’s man.
While they tussled, Eve scrambled for the back door, intentionally knocking a pot of pottage onto the floor behind her.She turned once at the door, just in time to see the guard go sprawling in the slippery mess.
Then she tore away from the alehouse.She sprinted down the main road, getting some distance on her pursuer before ducking into the shelter of the trees.
Fortunately, the byre wasn’t far off.But one had to know the way.The king’s man from Perth would get lost in the dense woods before he ever found it.Or her.
It was familiar landscape to Eve, however, so she stopped a moment to catch her breath, leaning against the trunk of a pine.
Now that she had time to reflect, she realized how much she’d missed this.Narrow escapes.Subterfuge.Quick thinking.
It made her feel alive.
She couldn’t believe that wicked maid at the alehouse had turned her in at the first opportunity.Still Eve had managed to escape.She had to grin.Watching the fierce guard slide through the pottage like an otter on ice had been entertaining.
“Och, Eve,” she scolded.“Shame on ye.”
That wasn’t the way for a nun to behave.
Perhaps she wasn’t fit to be a nun.
Still, she wasn’t exactly an outlaw.No matter what the king’s guard thought.
She wanted to do good.It was just more fun doing good when her heart was beating fast.
When she reached her destination, her interaction with the exiled Rivenloch couple was hurried.With the king’s man tracking her, she didn’t dare linger.
She was impressed with what they’d done with the byre.Love had turned the hovel into a home.And Hew had turned Carenza into a glowing mother-to-be.
Eve experienced a wee twinge of envy over their contentment as a couple.Painful memories flashed through her mind.Adam’s kiss.His gaze.His smile.His touch.
But she didn’t let it show.She couldn’t let anything—even a royal guard on her trail—diminish their happiness.
