Marcus had to agree. A fresh set of eyes might have cracked the code. He tossed the branch aside and gazed at the freshly brushed ground. Then, he nodded to himself in satisfaction.
He looked at Sage again. She was an average-sized girl, not too short, not too tall. He tried to remember what he had heard about her. One girl was beautiful, one girl was an expert swordsman—although they were all quite capable. But Sage…
Sage had managed to steal the book from him. And she would do everything in her power to escape—such as hit him in the head with a rock. Clever girl.
Yes. That’s what he had heard about Sage. She was the smartest, the one that could figure anything out.
He grinned. She was exactly what he needed to decode the book. If he handed the book to his cousin and it was decoded, imagine how happy Guillume would be. He might give him more coin. “This way,” he said and began to move down the hill.
A line of dark clouds churned in the distance. Sage walked with him. “Where are you taking me?”
“I have a horse tethered near the road.”
“And then where?”
“I have been well-paid to deliver the book.” His cousin had commissioned him to retrieve it.
“Deliver it to whom?” Sage asked. When Marcus didn’t answer, she continued, “Why do you need it decoded if you’re just going to hand it over to someone?” She came up beside him, studying his face.
He glanced at her. “Why wouldyouhave the book decoded before giving it to someone?”
Sage brushed off his statement with a rolling of her eyes. “I would want to know exactly what the book hid. What was inside.” She stared at him thoughtfully for a moment, and then, her eyes narrowed. “I would want to know what was so important to pay someone to kill for.”
He grinned. He continued down the small hill, rolling his shoulder to keep her belt in place.
“If you knew what was inside, you could either use it for your benefit or negotiate for more coin,” Sage continued.
She might be too smart for her own good. He wanted to prove to Guillume that he was capable of any mission given him. He glanced at the darkening sky just as a bolt of lightning lit it. “It’s going to rain. We have to get inside.”
“Inside where?”
“We’ll go into the town. I know people there.”
“Who are you?”
He stopped and turned to her. “My apologies. I am Marcus de Nogarert.” He bowed slightly.
Sage scowled at him as if trying to place him.
He sighed softly, knowing questions would follow, and walked down the hill. “You’ve heard of my cousin, Guillume de Nogaret.”
“Yes! He attacked Pope Boniface and had Pope Benedict poisoned.”
“There was never proof of that.”
“Well, he did lead the attack on Boniface. And he’s excommunicated.”
“He will be absolved,” Marcus stated lamely. He always had to explain the actions of his cousin to those he met, which irked him. Although their names were the same, he was nothing like his cousin. “He is now the keeper of the seal and a very powerful man.”
“To the king. Yes. I’ve heard that.”
They walked to a dirt road lined by tall trees. Marcus led her across the path to a group of trees where a saddled horse was tied to one of them. He ran a hand along the black steed’s neck, and the horse tossed his head and nickered. Marcus whispered, “Easy, my friend.”
Marcus looked back at Sage. She was looking down the road, possibly plotting another attempted escape. He had no time to be tracking an escaped woman. He walked back to her.
“I want to know what secrets that book holds as much as you do.” He stared into her defiant brown eyes. They were wide and ringed with long, dark lashes. “I’ll let you hold the book…”
Her mouth dropped open in surprise, and then she snapped it closed.
