Page 24 of Lord of Deception

Chapter Nineteen

Alys gasped as Kit pulled her from her mount and behind a stand of trees. “Kit! What are you about? You’re hurting me.”

The powerful hands that bit into her upper arms, holding her fast, relented slightly. He gave her a tiny shake.

“Who was that man you were talking to?” Why did he sound so enraged?

“He told me he was a cunningman. I’ve never seen him before.”

“A cunningman? What, like a peddler of remedies?”

“Aye. Kate sent for him. She needed physick for a sore head. What’s wrong with that?”

Kit’s face was as hard as sculpted stone. The brown eyes that normally regarded her with warmth were steely in their intensity. She had never before considered him dangerous—now she knew she must think again.

“Will you not unhand me?” She wriggled in his grasp, but his grip merely tightened. “What are you hiding in your hanging pocket?”

“Nothing. I gave alms at church. There is naught left within.” Surely, he didn’t mean to steal from her? Confusion brought a lump to her throat. He’d seemed so gentle before. Now he was behaving as if he hated her.

“Don’t lie to me, Alys. I saw you pluck something from the road.”

“Oh, that. Just a bead. Nothing of any value.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Show me.” Why was he bullying her like this? Damn the man.

He could have it if he wanted, though she’d no idea why he might. What a fool she’d been to allow herself to like him!

He let go, but his hands hovered close. With fumbling fingers, she pulled open the drawstrings of her pocket and brought out the bead, dropping it into his callused palm.

He examined it intently, then stared at her, his dark eyes glittering dangerously. “You know what this is?”

“As I said, a bead. I wondered if the cunningman had dropped it—he seemed to be hunting for something on the roadway when I came up. Mayhap ’tis from one of his charms or something. How would I know? I’ve never been to a cunningman or a hedge witch. We usually use the apothecary in Cheyneham.” Her voice was unsteady, tears threatening.

Kit’s expression changed. “Forgive me. I don’t mean to be harsh. For a moment there, I feared, I believed you might be… but no, I’m a fool. A hundred times a fool.”

He reached for her, pulling her against his chest. She was so confused by his abrupt change of behavior she could think no further than that he smelled of newly-cut grass and old leather, and that she rather liked it. His hands came up to cradle her face, and he blessed her cheeks with a few deft kisses. When she looked up, he was smiling.

“You genuinely know nothing of that bead?”

She shook her head.

His grin broadened. “I’ll tell you what it is if you swear not to mention it to a living soul.”

“I swear.”

“It’s a rosary bead. Black Venetian glass.”

She frowned as she scoured her memory. Of course, her grandmother had owned a rosary, back in the days when England was pledged to the Church of Rome. Then the significance of her find struck her.

“Oh, dear. You think the cunningman is a Catholic?”

“I doubt he’s a cunningman at all—that is a disguise. He may be a Catholic priest, or even a Spanish spy. You must have noticed his swarthy looks—they could well mark him out as a foreigner.”

“But what business could he have with Kate?”

“Ah, my darling, innocent Alys! How happy it makes me to hear that question.”

She was still musing on the fact he’d called her darling when his warm breath caressed her face. She blinked up into the brown eyes so disconcertingly close to her own, and her breath caught. Kit’s gaze dropped to her mouth and, with a satisfied grin, he captured it with his own.