Where could the deceitful wench have gone?
Eve had a rule when she traveled.She rarely wore the same guise two days in a row.That way, anyone following her wouldn’t be able to accurately describe her.
The strategy hadn’t worked with Adam.He seemed to be able to see through every disguise.But it worked with everyone else.
So when she departed the convent, she made a small detour into the thick of the woods to change her clothing.
Adam’s garments were naturally too large for her.She had to be creative.Since there were a number of monasteries where she was headed, she opted for the identity of a monk, Brother Matthew.She wore a loose-fitting cassock bloused over the cord that secured it and an oversized hood that covered her hair and hid her face.
While she searched for the wooden cross she knew he carried, she found another piece.A small silver medallion.It looked very old.She squinted at the engraving.
Amor vincit omnia.Love conquers all.
Then she inhaled sharply.
She recognized the words.It was the motto of the Rivenloch clan.
She was still on a mission for the Rivenlochs.After she returned to the convent, she intended to pay a visit to Hew and Carenza, the couple she’d united, to let them know they were safe from Gellir’s wrath, that he’d been wed to another.
But if Adam had engaged recently with the Rivenlochs…
Lucifer’s ballocks!Had he stolen the medallion from them?
The idea filled her with a mixture of horror and admiration.She too had tangled with the clan, and it was perilous work.The Rivenlochs were a discerning lot.Not much got past their notice.
Still, to steal from one of them?Adam must have a target on his back now.Perhaps she should count her blessings that they were no longer traveling together.
Still, his absence didn’t feel like a blessing.
It felt like a curse.
She didn’t realize how lonely the road would feel after enjoying his delightful company.
Her journey toward Glasgow was bursting with the signs of spring.Red squirrels spiraled up trees.Sparrows sang from the branches.Meadowsweet blanketed the sunlit glens, their scent blown on gentle winds.And yet, with no one to share such things, they were only a sad reminder of her solitude.
Had her namesake felt such sorrow after indulging in the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge?In the Bible, Eve’s punishment—to be banished from the Garden of Eden—had been severe.
But had she regretted what she’d done?
Or, given a second chance, would she have done it all again?
It was a difficult question.
A question that tormented Eve on the plodding journey to Glasgow.
A question she couldn’t answer, even when the monks welcomed her into the monastery as one of their own and she prayed on it all night long.
If he got away with this, Adam thought, it would indeed be a miracle.
He’d discovered, after taking inventory of her things, that Aillenn had taken her nun’s habit with her.That was likely what she was wearing.Which meant she must be staying at convents.
If Adam wished to shadow her, he’d need to have access to those convents.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t look less like a nun.
He had to make do with what he found in Aillenn’s satchel.
The robe he was using for a habit was far too short, so he had to walk hunched over like an old woman.He fashioned a length of linen into a veil and another he pinned to the veil as a makeshift wimple.There was nothing he could do about his boots or the shadow of a beard on his face.So he provided distraction by way of a knobbed branch he used as a walking stick, waving it about cantankerously, forcing bystanders to keep their distance.
