For a moment, her breath caught in her throat. It was a surreal experience to watch the powerful knight as he moved beneath the trees with the gait of a hunter stalking prey. There was something so magical about the way he walked, powerfulstrides from a powerful man. He was clad in the same clothing she’d seen him in earlier in the day, leather breeches and a tunic and heavy, fur-lined coat. But as he came closer, she noticed that there was something in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. There was… warmth.
Was that even possible?
Her stomach began to twist in knots.
“Considering this is a female order, I am not surprised that you have not visited before, my lord,” she said, standing up with the bucket in her hand. “And, aye, I am drawing water because I am the laundress. We do have a well, but the water has a tint to it, making it no good for the laundry.”
“The laundress, eh? An honorable duty.”
“What are you doing here?”
Maxton didn’t quite smile at her, but his lips twitched as if he were entertaining the thought.
Whatwashe doing here?
It was a question with more than one answer. The first answer was, of course, a fact-finding mission. After his conversation with Alexander at Farringdon House, he had to come to the focus of their discussion– this mysterious, treacherous place called St. Blitha. An order of poor nuns, and a Mother Abbess who apparently had no trouble committing murder. It was a distorted and complex place, indeed, if all of that was true, and if Douglas had, indeed, been here, it only added to that chaotic concept. Maxton wanted to scout the place out, because reconnaissance was the smart thing to do.
Perhaps St. Blitha was not all it seemed.
But the second answer, of course, was a certain young woman who lived here. That was, perhaps, the more prevalent answer, especially now that Maxton had laid eyes on her. Pale, graceful, with the face of an angel, Maxton had never been smitten with anyone in his life but, oddly enough, he suspectedhe might quickly be approaching that state with Andressa. He couldn’t explain his curiosity towards her, and his interest, any other way.
“I had business outside of town and happened to be passing by,” he lied. “I could see you from the road.”
That part was true. The angle of the road made it so the area beneath the trees and the stream were visible from it, but only briefly. Briefly enough that Maxton had seen the movement and spied her, making his story believable.
But Andressa didn’t question him, even if she did look past his shoulder to the distant road beyond, just to make sure she could really see the road. “I see,” she said, fixing him in the eye. “Then I am glad to see you again to apologize for my behavior this morning. I ran from you rudely when I should not have. You were simply being kind and trying to help me from my… well, my predicament here.”
He shook his head, cutting her off, though it was gently done. “I should not have been so bold as to suggest finding a place for you away from St. Blitha,” he said. “It is your home, right or wrong, and it was improper of me to suggest you leave. Forgive me.”
Her face brightened as she realized he wasn’t upset with her. “There is nothing to forgive, my lord. Please allow me to thank you once more for the meal this morning. It was most generous of you, my lord. You must be a very kind and generous man to all those in need.”
He lifted his eyebrows, averting his gaze as he looked for a place to sit down. Now that he’d finally found her, he had no intention of leaving. “There are many, many people who would dispute that.”
Andressa watched him meander around until he found a stump from a long-dead willow tree worth sitting on. “But Icannot believe that,” she said. “Clearly, you are a pious man who gives greatly of himself. I am sure God will reward you.”
Maxton snorted as he planted his buttocks on the stump. “Lady, I cannot permit you to entertain the thought that I am anything other than what I am,” he said, looking up at her. “I am a knight of the highest order. I have just returned from The Levant after many years away. You cannot possibly imagine how unkind and ungenerous I am.”
Her brow furrowed curiously. “The Levant,” she repeated. “You went on Richard’s Crusade?”
“I did.”
She gasped softly, suddenly quite interested in his presence whereas only moments before, she’d been seemingly wary of it.
“I have never met anyone who went on his Crusade,” she said. “Will you tell me of it? If you have the time, of course. I can only imagine how glorious it must have been, wielding the word of God against the savages. What a great and fearsome sight that must have been.”
It was a dreamy and misguided opinion; he could see it in her face. The woman was naïve, living sequestered as she did. “Do you truly wish to know what kind of a sight it was?” he asked. “I do not think you will like the answer.”
She nodded eagerly, sinking to her knees in the grass with her bucket still in her hand. “I very much want to know,” she said. “Will you please tell me?”
Maxton looked at her. He wasn’t a man with tact, nor did he couch harsh realities. In fact, his blunt honesty was one of his traits. But in this case, he was considering softening that particular talent because, somehow, Andressa seemed like a delicate flower, idealistic and innocent, and he didn’t want to crush that spirit in her. He found it intriguing because in his line of work, he didn’t often meet people with such an ingenuous view of the world.
He cleared his throat softly.
“The Levant is a land with golden sand as far as the eye can see,” he said. “Everything is golden for the most part. And it is very hot.”
She was already hanging on his description. “Hot? It is never cold?”
“Hardly ever. And they have amazing creatures there called camels. They look like a very large horse with big lips, big eyes, and big feet. They also have a hump on their back that stores their water for times when they cannot drink.”
