Lara nodded.“I can understand that.Still, the places you’ve been, the things you’ve seen…”
“You would like to seemore of this world, I think.To not always stay in thisvalley.”
Lara’s heart sank.“Why doyou say that?Do you mean to take me from here when you leave?”Ashislidi, shewouldn’t have any say in the matter if he did.
He stared hard at her for a moment,his jaw clamped tight.“Not if you fulfill your obligations to theking before then.”
“As I have every intentionof doing,” she snapped.
He rubbed the back of his neck, thenhis jaw.“I just meant, the way you listened to Phillipe’s and mystories.”
“I’ve swum in theMediterranean Sea,” she told him, surprising herself as well ashim.She had determined to tell him as little about herself aspossible, to keep as much of her life to herself as she could, yetit felt more right than wrong to be telling him this.Why, shecouldn’t have said, only that it did.“I’ve stood in your NeustriaSea as well.We journeyed there the summer I was eight, Sophie,Jumper, and me.”
“Jumper?”
“Sophie’s ratterrier.”
“You and Sophie traveledas far as the Neustria Sea with nothing more than an ankle-bitingterrier?And back?”
“We did.”
“Why?”
Lara shrugged.“Sophie said we must goand so we went.We left here early spring and returned lateautumn.”
“Do you always do whatSophie says?”
“Mostly.”
He chuffed.“Why do you do what shesays, when you don’t do anything anybody else says?”
She thought of giving him some smartanswer, then decided on the truth.She’d already told him that sheand Sophie were witches, as much to make him wary of them both asanything else.Whether he believed it or not was up to him.“Because Sophie has the knowing of things.Things past, present,and future.A sixth sense.”
“Sophie the Sixth.I’veheard her called this.Nithard called her this.He fears her.”Heheld Lara’s gaze.“Why?”
Lara flashed him a feral grin.“Sheforetold his death.She told him when the first silver showed inhis hair, he would die choking on Frank silver.”Her grin turnedconspiratorial.“They say that’s why he dyes his hair and beardblack, hoping to cheat death.”
The captain barked out a laugh andthen hung his head between his hands with a long, drawn-outgroan.
“Does your head hurtbadly?”
He lifted his gaze to hers.“Not halfas much as looking at you does.”
Lara stared into eyes as gray andbrooding as the sky before a summer storm.Eyes that poured a soft,wet heat into hers.A heat that stirred and simmered deep in hercore.A horse whinnied, and startled, she seized the tub of balmand thrust it into the captain’s hand.“Rub this into the Black’sleg four times a day until the swelling is down.And don’t ride himfor several days after, for his sake.For your own.”She picked upher bag.“I’d advise staying off any horse for at least a day,maybe three.I’ll send Denys for you and tell Berta you’re to stayin the cool of the hall and do nothing more strenuous than eatpie.”
CHAPTER 9
WitchesBrew
Talon
Talon turned the roan, an easygoinggelding he used as a secondary saddle and pack horse, off the roadonto the path that led past the windbreak of chestnut treesbordering Lara’s and Sophie’s property.He’d passed the propertydaily on his rides around the valley but had never ridden onto it.Lara was generally private about her personal life, and he’drespected those boundaries until now.There were questions hewanted answers to and figured Sophie could answer them.Whether shewould, he was about to find out.
He pulled the roan up at the end ofthe path, where a raven cawed loudly as it swooped over and pasthim.Talon leaned back and shaded his eyes as the bird landed onthe roof of the house.Swaying in his saddle, he gripped the pommeland grit his teeth until his blurring vision cleared and he wasable to take in the property.The two-story house, though small,was built of stone and wood with a thatched roof and faced westinto the open yard and river beyond rather than east toward theroad.Vining roses heavy with blooms of red, pink, yellow, andwhite covered the southern facing, and he breathed in their headyperfume that also seemed to carry Lara’s spicy sweetfragrance.
A large bed of purple-floweredrosemary and lavender bushes ran along the southern border of theyard with various herbs growing around and between them.West ofthe herb garden, sunflowers stood as tall as a man with squashvines climbing their stalks, the yellow and gold flowers buzzingwith bees.A small orchard ripe with peaches and plums and summerapples bordered the river, where a wooden deck had been built intothe bank, a well-worn path leading from it to the house.To thenorth side of the orchard, a small barn with a fenced paddock homedLara’s leggy chestnut mare and Sophie’s sturdy little dun, both ofwhom grazed contentedly amongst a small herd of goats as a flock ofchickens scratched and pecked the ground around their hooves.Themares lifted their heads and Talon followed the direction of theirgazes to the house, where Sophie stood in the open doorway, aginger tabby rubbing against her skirts.
“Welcome, Captain,” shecalled out.