Page 37 of Highland Slayer
“What tone?”
Estevan looked at the man with such exasperation that Titan burst out laughing. He slapped him on the arm.
“I jest with you, Es,” he said. “Since when are you so sensitive?”
Estevan wanted desperately off the subject. “I amnotsensitive,” he said. “’Tis simply ridiculous tae suggest anything improper.”
Titan threw up his hands. “Who said anything about improper?” he said. “But methinks you protest too much. Is there something going on I should know about?”
Estevan growled. “I despise and loathe ye,” he said, turning away. “We must seek Mother Michael.”
Titan snorted the entire way.
Mother Michael was not easy to locate. Every time Estevan tried to ask one of the women he came in contact with, she would shake her head and run away. Mother Michael didn’t exactly ban the men from going to any other part of the abbey, though she had tried to keep them sequestered in the abbey, but this was a special exception. If Estevan couldn’t find someone to fetch the woman, then he would have to fetch her himself.
First, they checked the outdoor spaces before proceeding into the cloisters, which he wasn’t particularly eager to do. The cloisters were part of the original castle that had been built so long ago. There were outbuildings and an old keep that had been linked over the years by covered walkways or poorly built corridors. The whole complex was rather odd that way. As they crossed the bailey, passing the living quarters and headingtoward the kitchens and the stables, they ran across chickens and dogs and, on occasion, a child. The abbey was famous for being a foundling home, but Estevan realized that the entire time they’d been there, they hadn’t seen any children at all. Not that it was unusual, because children didn’t normally roam freely in a place like this, but he was curious where the children were being kept.
He found out soon enough.
He also found Anaxandra.
To the east of what was formerly the keep was a section of the bailey that had been transformed into vegetable gardens. Most castles wouldn’t plant their food source outside of the walls if they could help it, because food could be stolen, and the same school of thought seemed to apply to the abbey. There were neat rows of greenery, and he could see several children and adults working the garden. It was quite muddy from all of the rain, so everyone was covered from wrist to elbow with dark mud. Anaxandra was at the end of the garden, taking baskets from the children who had picked the vegetables and then dumping those vegetables into a small cart.
Estevan paused a moment just to watch her work. He had only ever seen the woman with the crossbow in her hands, tough and unwavering, so he was coming to associate her with a soldierlike mentality. Certainly, she’d had that mentality with him ever since they’d been introduced. After the scene in Dumfries left him frustrated when he tried to get to know her a little, he had to admit that he was surprised to see her in peasant clothing, working alongside the children. More surprising still, she was actually smiling. It was the most relaxed he’d ever seen her.
In his opinion, how a person behaved toward animals and children told a lot about their character. He could see that she was quite patient with the little ones and instructing themin a kind but firm manner. The more he watched, the more impressed he became. He had genuinely been afraid that she had no idea how to be kind or generous, but he could see that wasn’t the case. He began to feel guilty about getting angry with her.
Perhaps he needed to apologize.
“Es? Did you hear me?”
Titan was talking to him. No, he hadn’t heard him. He’d been too swept up in the sight of Anaxandra. Quickly, perhapstooquickly, he answered.
“Aye, I heard ye,” he said. “I dunna see Mother Michael here, but I can ask Anaxandra where she is. Hopefully she willna run from me, too.”
Titan could see the young woman with the long blonde braids and the face of an angel, helping with the garden. Realizing that was what Estevan had been looking at, he chuckled low in his throat.
“I said that there seems to be a small chapel to the left,” he said, pointing to what appeared to be oriel windows built into the northern wall of the garden. “I suggested we look there, but you can just as easily ask Anaxandra. I’ll wait for you here.”
Estevan was struggling not to be embarrassed. Casting the man a threatening glare as Titan continued to chuckle, he headed in Anaxandra’s direction, skirting the muddy garden until he came within range of her. She was just dumping another basket of carrots into the wagon, and, frankly, he could feel himself becoming interested in her far more than he should have. He thought she was a lovely lass, beautiful in fact, and he was curious about her, but he thought he had curbed it. Any tasks they’d completed together had been all business. When he’d try to pry into her life in Dumfries, she’d shut him down. But that only made him more curious about her, and that could be a dangerous game with a Lady Templar involved.
God help him, he knew that.
But he didn’t care.
*
She could seehim coming.
Anaxandra had spent the past hour thinking about the journey to Dumfries. It wasn’t necessarily the apothecary that she was thinking about, that vulgar woman who seemed quite interested in Estevan, but more the interaction between her and Estevan at the tavern.
The necklace he’d purchased for her was around her neck, tucked down deep into her tunic. She was terrified of losing it or having somebody steal it, so even if she wasn’t sure why he’d bought the thing, she didn’t want anything to happen to it. She had to admit that it was quite beautiful, and perhaps that was the problem—shelikedit. She’d never known anyone to be generous with her, and certainly not a man, so that had confused her. Confusion had made her guarded. She simply didn’t know enough about men to know whether or not Estevan was toying with her or if he was sincere.
The truth was she didn’t know anything at all.
Anaxandra didn’t know how to talk to a man. She didn’t know how to behave when he talked to her. She didn’t even know how to react when he bought her a gift simply because he wanted to. All of those events, when it came to Estevan, had made her combative, and that certainly wasn’t the reaction she should have given him. She’d spent her entire life being told that men were vile creatures who were only out to hurt women, but Estevan had not proven that point. At least, not so far. In fact, none of the men who were with him had shown anything other than concern and courtesy.
And then there was Mother Michael.
