Page 14 of Insurrection (Guard of Six #2)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“M y father could not join us for supper,” Madelaina said. “Unfortunately, there is a sick man who needs his medicaments, so he is elsewise occupied this evening.”

Kent had just arrived at The Bryn’s abode, arms full of flowers, only to find Madelaina standing outside, by the front door, as if blocking his way in. There was no sign of the amorous dog, or anyone else for that matter. An intuitive man, he could sense something in her that hadn’t been there before.

Hardness.

Something was amiss.

He proceeded carefully.

“Then I do not have to join you,” he said. “If it is only you and your sister, I do not wish to make you uncomfortable. You hardly know me, after all. You should not have a strange man seated at your table without your father present.”

She arched an eyebrow. “A man who is a bit of a mystery still.”

“There’s nothing so mysterious about me, I can assure you.”

Madelaina didn’t take her eyes off him as she spoke. “After you left today, Arthur was quite upset,” she said. “He must have felt slighted that you did not bid him farewell, so he tried to follow you.”

Kent smiled faintly. “I cannot imagine why I’ve made such an impression on that dog, but clearly I have.”

“Clearly,” Madelaina said, but there was almost an accusation in her tone. “I chased him down before he could maul you whilst you spoke with the smithies on the south end of town. I will confess that I find you pleasing to watch, d’Einen. You are unlike anyone I’ve ever met and you have treated me with kindness and respect, so I hid in the shadows and watched you speak with the smithies simply because I liked to watch you. Is that bold of me?”

His smile grew. “Nay,” he said in a low, seductive voice. “Because I would do the same to you if I thought it would not offend you. In case you haven’t realized it yet, I find you quite beautiful.”

That caused her to lower her gaze out of embarrassment, perhaps even delight that he should say such a thing, but only briefly. “Then you understand my curiosity and attraction,” she said. “I had not planned to tell you any of this, but I find that I must.”

“I am not troubled by it in the least, but why tell me if you did not want to?”

“Because my dog trailed you to The Narth,” she said. “What were you doing at The Narth, Trevyn? Or is that even your name?”

Now, the hammer had been lowered. This was why she’d seemed standoffish. Truthfully, he was shocked she’d followed him that far and he hadn’t even been aware of it. He thought he’d been careful about making sure he wasn’t followed, but as Torran had so eloquently put it, he wasn’t a spy. Now, that was painfully obvious.

He hadn’t been careful enough.

Damn…

“You are asking a question, but you have already made up your mind what the answer is,” he said steadily. “I do not mind your following me, but I do mind the accusation. You did not have to tell me you watched me because you find me attractive. That is a devious way of trying to throw me off my guard before you make accusations. I will, therefore, take my leave, lady. I will trouble you no more.”

He dropped the flowers on the ground and turned away, heading back the way he’d come. But Arthur came out of nowhere and latched on to his leg. He came to a halt, holding up a stern finger to the dog, who immediately released him. By the time he looked up from the mutt, Madelaina was standing in front of him again.

“Will you not even explain this to me?” she said, sounding more pleading and less accusatory. “I want to understand.”

He shook his head. “I do not think you do,” he said. “You are young, lass. There are lessons still for you to learn in the way you should treat people who have not done you any harm.”

He walked around her, leaving her increasingly flustered and frustrated. “Did you go to spy on the English?” she called after him as he walked away. “Is that what you did?”

That gave Kent an idea. He knew that somewhere over by the old livery barn across the street, Britt and Treyton were watching the scene. Oddly, it seemed to him as if there were a lot at stake at the moment. He’d built a budding relationship with Madelaina, one he truly didn’t want to end, and he hoped to build one with her father.

He could have made two choices at that moment.

The first choice, and probably the smarter one, was to simply walk away. They would never discover who he truly was and he would no longer be putting himself in danger. The second choice, however, was not the better of the two but it was the choice he wanted to make.

It was the choice to stay.

“If you had asked me politely, I would have told you that,” he said as he turned around. “There is a saying, Madelaina—never call a man a liar if you want him to be honest. All you had to do was ask.”

“I did ask,” she insisted weakly. “I am asking. Will you please tell me?”

Gone was the hardness. She was repentant in her manner, which made his turning and leaving all the more impossible. He couldn’t look into that lovely face and be angry or offended. The truth was that she was absolutely right to confront him, and it was now he who was doing the manipulating. He hoped he could give her an explanation of his presence at The Narth without outright lying to her. He truly didn’t want to lie to her more than he already had.

But he also didn’t want this budding relationship to end.

Reaching out, he took her hand.

“It does not matter why I was at The Narth,” he said. “The truth is that my business is none of your affair, is it?”

Madelaina shook her head. “Nay,” she said quietly, with remorse. “I know you are trying to do good for Ivor.”

“I am trying to do good for what I believe in,” he murmured, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it gently. “I am a warrior above all.”

His kiss to her fingers had done something to her. She looked as if she’d just ingested lightning. Her eyes were wide and her body seemed to be twitching. Trembling . She looked at her hand in his, stunned, before her gaze returned to his face.

“Why… why did you do that?” she managed to stammer.

“If you do not like it, I will not do it again.”

“I like it.”

He chuckled at her swift answer. “Good,” he said. “Because I would probably do it again even if you did not want me to.”

“Are hands the only thing you kiss?”

His eyebrows lifted at the rather intimate question. “Nay,” he said. “But we are standing out in the street. I will not kiss anything else on your person for all the world to see.”

She suddenly broke into a giddy grin and began to giggle. “I do not know why I asked that,” she said. “Was it too terribly bold?”

“Horrifically bold.”

“Does that mean you think less of me?”

“I think more of you.”

“Will you kiss my hand again sometime?”

“I will,” he said. “When the moment is right.”

“When will that be?”

He chuckled again. “When you least expect it.”

She smiled because he was. “Very well,” she said. “I look forward to it. Now, will you forget my prying into your affairs and sup with my sister and me?”

Kent’s gaze moved to the front door of the apothecary shop for a moment. He wanted to sup with The Bryn to try to establish some trust with the man and was disappointed that he wouldn’t be in attendance. But he was even more disappointed because he was about to decline Madelaina’s invitation. They were already on brittle ground with her questioning him about The Narth, and truthfully, he didn’t think it would be a good idea for him to sup with two unmarried women without a chaperone. There were a variety of reasons why it wasn’t a good idea, as much as he would have liked to. Perhaps when Madelaina explained to her father that he had declined to sup with her and her sister alone, it might show The Bryn that he was an honorable and trustworthy man.

That was the hope, anyway.

“As much as I would like to, I do not believe I should,” he said. “Without your father present, it would not be proper for me to do so. I am sorry. Please know how disappointed I am, but I believe it is for the best.”

Madelaina’s face fell. “Of course,” she said. “You are correct. How foolish of me not to realize that.”

“You are not foolish,” he said. “Far from it. But if I were an untoward man, I would gladly take sup with you and your sister and give no regard for your reputation or what your father might think. This way… I am an honorable man and I would prove it. But I look forward to supping with you and your family in the future.”

Madelaina was fighting back her disappointment but nodded, forcing a smile. “It will be very soon,” she said. “If you are able, please come by tomorrow. I am certain my father will also want to express his regret for not being able to sup with you.”

He nodded. “I will,” he said. “But now, you must go back inside. I can feel a chill in the air.”

Madelaina started to walk backward toward her father’s shop, but she came to a halt. “Where do you sleep at night?” she asked. “What I mean is… do you have a roof over your head? Or do you sleep in the trees? Because I am certain my father would let you use our small stable to sleep in. You should have some shelter.”

He smiled. “You are kind to worry over me,” he said. “But you needn’t worry. I do have shelter.”

He didn’t elaborate and she didn’t press. He could tell that it was difficult for her not to keep on with the questions. It did his heart good to realize that, because when one was interested in someone, one wanted to know all about them. Even whether or not they had shelter for the night. As he watched Madelaina turn for the shop, he softly called to her.

“Wait,” he said.

She paused, turning to him curiously only to see that he was nearly upon her. Reaching out, he took her hand again and brought it to his lips for a lingering kiss. A hot-breath, steamy kiss against her tender flesh that seemed to convey the interest he was feeling for her.

Madelaina’s knees nearly buckled.

“I told you I would do it again when you least expected it,” he murmured, a twinkle in his eye. “Now, go inside. I will see you on the morrow.”

Madelaina nodded rather dumbly, turning for the door once more and cradling the hand he’d kissed. She swore she could still feel his heated lips against her skin. Lifting the latch on the door, she disappeared inside. But not before he heard the faint strains of a song in her soft, gentle voice—

All at once, the past has turned to shadow,

And the future gleams like diamonds

Kent grinned at the words, things they’d spoken off. Strange how that little song had come to mean something to him when it never had before. He waited until she’d gone inside before turning away and heading south again. He’d been caught once being followed, by Madelaina no less, and he wasn’t going to take that chance again. Britt and Treyton were over in the livery and he didn’t want to be seen with them in case prying eyes were watching—villagers or even Madelaina—so he continued south, out of sight of the village center, before he dared slip into the darkened woods.

This time, he made doubly sure he wasn’t followed.

But he was.