8
"Fresh bread."
"Cod, get yer cod."
Izzy smiledas she tried to figure out which side of the street she wanted to look at. With so much going on all around her, she wondered how she'd be able to take it all in. Smells she couldn't place swirled around her. Some were delectable, stirring her hunger, while others made her nose crinkle.
"What wouldye like to see first?" Aaron asked, his voice coming from behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she couldn't help but flash him a brilliant smile of utter joy. Not even the frost fairs on the River Thymes brought her this much pleasure. There were just far too many things that were new for her to see.
"I don't know.What do you do when you come to the village?" Izzy asked as the sound of music caught her ear. The melody was light and tickled her toes, making her want to dance.
"That isnae what I asked ye," he answered as Izzy's ear tilted to the origin of the music.
"Can we find the music?"Izzy asked.
"Ye wantto chase the pipes, do ye?" Aaron's eyebrow arched as his lips curled at the corner into a playful smirk.
"Should I know what that means?"Izzy asked. She kept her voice low as her gaze shot to the faces around her. Embarrassment kissed her cheeks as she turned her gaze on Aaron. His smirk stretched as he grabbed her by the shoulders and directed her to the narrow alley.
"Chasin'the pipes is a game that ye'll find the wee ones playin'. The young ones will be let loose around the alleys tryin' to find the music. It's a way to keep them occupied for a bit."
"And what happensif they find the piper?" Izzy asked as she caught movement in the corner of her eye. Her head whipped about as she spotted the jolly piper skipping through the alley.
"Whoever findsthe piper gets the sweet," Aaron said. Izzy couldn't help but notice his eyes narrowing and his back stiffening. "But if ye want sweets, there's a place just around the corner. We can get plum cakes there if ye'd like?"
"Is everything all right?You look as if you've seen a ghost."
"All is well,"he answered. "But I think we should skip the game this time. After all, if ye're to be me wife, ye'll be able to join in every year if ye wanted to. But we only have the day."
"And then?"
"Marriage,"Aaron answered with assurance ringing through every syllable.
The factthat he seemed utterly unaffected by such a thing rattled her to her core. How could he be so careless with his heart to just give it away to anybody? The thought irked Izzy. They barely knew each other, let alone had any emotional attachments and the idea of being married come morning felt more like she was preparing for a funeral.
Izzy pulledin quick gulps of air, hoping that the dizziness would go away. But nothing she did to calm her frantically beating heart was working. She glanced at Aaron, who was looking confident. But what sort of marriage could she possibly have with him, a Scot? Had she not sworn she'd never end up like her parents trapped in a loveless marriage? And yet, here she was, decreed by King James himself.
"I don't feel so well,"Izzy said as she glanced around at all the delighted faces of the children as they fell behind the piper dancing and skipping to his tune.
"But what doye say we get those cakes? Perhaps gettin' somethin' in ye to eat will help," Aaron corralled Izzy from the merriment of the children as the tune picked up the pace.A pinch of worry and concern flickered through Izzy like a lightning bug in the dead of night.
"All right, what is going on?"she exclaimed once Aaron had pushed her back out to the main road with the vendors and merchants. The second he was surrounded by the people, his demeanor shifted once again. Izzy folded her arms over her chest and glared at him as she planted her feet to the spot.
"The music was gratin'on me nerves is all," he answered. "When ye can remember yerself runnin' after the piper and failin' because ye just werenae fast enough, it stings."
There was a mischievousness about him.A gleam in his eye that unnerved her. She chewed her lower lip as she contemplated on whether she could trust him. There was a possibility that he was lying to her, but why he would lie about such an innocent thing confused her.
"Why doI not believe a word coming out of your mouth right now?"
"Let me guess,is it because I'm a Scot?" he fired back. "And here I thought we were past that."
"No,it has nothing to do with that," Izzy said as she stepped closer. Her gaze was direct as she tried to flex her brain power and read his mind to no avail. "There's something else."
"Are ye always this suspicious?"he asked as he recoiled from her and flashed her a look that made her question her actions.
"Do you always lie?"she asked as she heard a soft whimper coming from behind her. The cry was subtle but loud enough to catch Izzy's ear. She turned to face the alleyway they had just come out of. Aaron's hand was on her shoulder, trying to redirect her attention away from the shadows and sound. "What is that?"
"Nothin',"Aaron answered. "But we really should go."
