Then she answered the door.
It wasn’t her father.
It was a nun.
She dropped her smile.What was a nun doing here?Had she sensed Carenza’s sin?Had she come to take her confession?
The nun gave her a perfunctory perusal from head to toe.“Lady Carenza?”
“Aye.”
To Carenza’s surprise, the nun pushed her way into the chamber and shut the door behind her.She scoured the room.
“Ye have things?”
“Things?”
“Items ye wish to take?”
“Take?”Carenza asked.“Take where?Who are ye?”
“Sister Eve.”She gave Carenza a decidedly saucy smile.The combination of her fresh face and the twinkle in her brown eyes made her look more like a courtesan than a nun.
Apparently, she expected Carenza to recognize her name.Could she be a Rivenloch clan member Carenza had forgotten to memorize?
Before Carenza could inquire further, Sister Eve rolled her eyes in self-disgust.“Och, Eve!Ye’d forget your own wimple if ’tweren’t attached to your habit.I meant to say I’ve come from Sir Hew.”
Carenza gasped, pressing a hand to her bosom.“Hew?”
“Aye.He bids ye come with me.We must make all haste.”She glanced around the chamber once more.“If ye don’t have any things…”
“Take me to him.”What did things matter when the man she loved was waiting?
“Hold on.I’ve got somethin’ for ye.”
To Carenza’s astonishment, Sister Eve reached under her habit, fiddled with some ties, and pulled out another habit.She tossed it onto the bed.
“Put this on.”
The nun wandered to the window and peered through the crack in the shutters.
Carenza hesitated.A disguise?This seemed altogether too rash and mad and dangerous.She gulped.
“Where are we goin’?”she asked.
“Why, back to the nunnery, o’ course.”The nun turned and gave her an amused wink.
Carenza bit her lip.Running away.Was she sure she wanted to do that?Desert her bridegroom?And her clan?Risk everything on…
“Come.”Sister Eve gestured her over with a wave of her hand.“Look.”
Carenza joined her at the window and peered through the crack of the shutters.The Rivenloch clan was gathered in the courtyard.The men were bold and imposing.The warrior maids were impressive and intimidating.Seeing them made the breath stop in her chest.Was she sure she wanted to make foes of them?
Then her gaze landed on the Rivenloch man Eve was trying to point out.
It was Hew.He looked amazing.Dressed in resplendent attire for the wedding, with his hair pulled back into a formal braid, he might have been a Viking king.
He was mingling with the rest of his clan.But as she watched him, he crossed his arms and casually lifted his eyes to her window.
