Chapter 5 #2
Swallowing at the thought, she went to make preparations for the night.
Sin was alone in his room, sitting at his desk when he heard a knock at the door. “Enter.”
He half expected it to be Caledonia, so when Simon entered, it surprised him.
“What brings you here?” Sin asked as Simon closed the door and leaned against it.
“I was wondering when we’d be leaving for Scotland. I wanted to send word to Draven. I thought we could stop in for a short visit since Ravenswood is on the way.”
Sin let out a slow breath. “I truly appreciate your offer Simon, but I have no intention of taking you with me.”
“You need someone to go with you.”
“I need no one. I assure you, I will be fine.”
Simon crossed his arms over his chest as he eyed Sin speculatively. “Do you remember what you said to me the first night you came to Ravenswood?”
“Nay. I barely recall that night.”
“I asked you if you were afraid of being so far from your family. You said that you had no family. That you belonged nowhere and to no one. Do you remember it now?”
Sin shrugged. “Vaguely.”
“Well, it seems to me the man before me is still that nine-year-old boy who stood defiantly before Harold. You still have one shoulder braced to take a blow while your hand is curled into a fist to strike back.”
Pain assailed Sin as unwanted memories rushed through him. He’d spent the better part of his life trying to forget the very things Simon wanted him to remember and the last thing he wanted was the dredge up such horrors.
“Simon, is there a point to this?”
“Aye, there is. When Draven and I tried to befriend you, you would say nothing to us. You drew into yourself even worse than Draven did. He at least kept himself open to me. But you... you refused all comfort.”
Sin held his silence. He had never refused it. It was simply forbidden to him. Every time Harold had caught him speaking to one of his sons, he had been punished for it. Harold had despised him with a passionate zeal. Older than both Draven and Simon, Sin had never had a protector.
Sin had always been alone. There had never been a choice in the matter.
“I want to go with you, Sin. Haven’t you spent enough of your life with nothing but enemies at your back?”
Sin sighed. “You know you don’t owe me for what I did.”
“I know that. It’s not why I want to go.”
Confused by the sincerity, Sin frowned. He would never understand Simon’s mind. “Then why? Why would you want to spend a week’s time journeying to a land where they will despise you?”
“Because they tell me a friend of mine is going there alone.”
Sin shook his head. Simon was a strange man. Inside, he knew Simon had no business going with them. The man had no idea what they were in for.
But he did.
He was used to it. Simon, on the other hand...Simon was a fool to want to do this.
“Well?” Simon prompted.
“We leave day after tomorrow.”
Simon nodded. “Good. I shall send my squire home to his parents until I return.” He pushed himself away from the door. He had a devilish gleam in his eyes. “I will return home to reclaim the boy, won’t I?”
“Only if you learn not to annoy me. Otherwise, I might just feed you to the Scots myself.”
Laughing, Simon opened the door. “By the way, I learned from the lady’s maid that her favorite color is green.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Just thought you might want to know. I’ll be around if you need me.”
Sin leaned back in his chair as he thought about everything Simon had said.
It was a cold place, his world. He spent his days tending whatever matter Henry needed and his nights alone in his room listening for the next attack.
He wondered why today that bothered him when it never had before. He’d merely accepted it as fact.
It must have been the time he’d spent journeying with Maggie and Braden, he decided. He’d grown soft in their company. Grown used to people who saw him as something other than a monster.
He swallowed as his thoughts turned to Caledonia and her angelic, unassuming face.
Tonight he wouldn’t be alone. Tonight he would be with a beguiling woman with brave, friendly eyes and a sharp wit.
For the first time in his life, he looked forward to the sun setting.
Callie smoothed the front of her dress with her hands. Vespers had come and passed with no word of Lord Sin.
She was more nervous than she should be and a little irritated that perhaps he had forgotten.
“Should I go look for him, milady?” Aelfa offered.
Before she could respond, she saw Lord Sin approach in the gathering shadows.
Her breath caught in her throat. Still dressed all in black, he cut a striking figure. Freshly shaven, he wore his hair brushed back from his face and it warmed her that he had taken time to freshen his appearance for her.
She smiled at him.
“Forgive me for being late, milady.” He gave her a courtly bow. “It took longer in town than I thought it would.”
A chill went down her spine as he lifted her hand and placed a gallant kiss on the back of her knuckles.
“You’re quite forgiven,” she said, noting the breathlessness of her voice.
What was it about his man that he made her so hot and cold? So shivery and warm?
His answering smile made her weak in the knees. He was so close to her now, she could smell the fresh, clean scent of him. Feel the heat of his body warm hers. His strength and power overwhelmed her senses.
With a mental shake, she redirected her thoughts away from how much she would love to kiss this man and feel his arms around her.
“I hope you enjoy what I brought.” She indicated the platters on the blanket she had spread on the ground.
“We tried to find someone who knew what you preferred to eat, but no one seemed to be able to suggest anything that wasn’t frightening. ”
“Mmm… let me guess. I like to drink the blood of innocents, feast on the entrails of knights and eat the hearts of small children everywhere.”
“Aye, that was much the consensus.”
A strange light came into his midnight black eyes as he looked away from her. “Well, I hope you didn’t go to such trouble to feed me. I fear ‘tis off season for good blood, and knights can be rather testy when you disembowel them.”
It amazed her that he could joke about it. What she had learned this afternoon made her heart ache. Out of all the hundreds in this castle, no one knew anything about the man before her. Not even the king.
Henry couldn’t tell her what Sin enjoyed doing, what songs he preferred.
Not even Simon knew.
“I’m afraid to disappoint you,” she said with a wistful sigh as she continued to tease him, “but all we have is roasted pheasant, stewed apples and leeks with onion sauce and wine. But if you prefer the other...”
He smiled at her. “How is it you understand my humor when no one else does?”
“I have no idea except to say that my brother is a bit morbid as well. He rather revels in it at times.”
“You think I’m morbid?”
“Aren’t you? You dress in black and like to frighten people. Isn’t that the very definition of the word?”
“I suppose.”
Callie set him down upon the blanket and poured them wine.
She glanced over his left shoulder to see Aelfa motioning to her that she would be on the other side of the wall should she need her.
Nodding at the maid, she handed Lord Sin a cup.
“So tell me, other than being frightening, what else do you prefer to do?”
Sin shrugged. “I ride a great deal.”
“And?”
“That’s it.”
Callie wrinkled her nose as she regarded him. “It’s a very short list.”
“Unlike yours. I’ll wager your list is long. Infinite probably.”
He was teasing her and she enjoyed it a great deal. For the first time, she realized he was a different man around her. He never teased anyone else and he seemed a bit more relaxed in her presence. The thought thrilled her. “As a matter of fact, my list is quite infinite.”
“You probably enjoy dancing and singing.”
“Aye. Do you?”
“I’ve never attempted either.”
“Not once?”
He shook his head.
“Why?”
He took a deep drink of wine and set the cup aside. “Never had time as a youth and as a man, I never had any inclination.”
“Oh. I don’t suppose you read?”
“Nay.”
“So, what is it you do when you’re home and not serving your king?”
“I train.”
“And when you’re not training?”
“I think about training.”
“And when you’re not doing that?”
“I’m resting so that I can train when I rise.”
She grimaced at his earnestness. “Are you being honest, or are you just being irritating?”
“I’m always honest, milady, and am told I’m most often irritating.”
Her heart lurched at the casual way he said that. He was so accepting of the way others treated him. It amazed her.
“Always honest, eh? I don’t think I’ve ever met a man who could claim that.”
His black eyes burned into hers. “I’ve done many things in my life, things that I wish I’d never done, but I have never lied.”
Somehow that comforted her.
“Tell me, Lord Sin-”
“Sin,” he said, interrupting her.
“What?”
“Just call me Sin. I’m not one for titles.”
“But you are an earl, are you not?” She’d heard one of the courtiers refer to him as such. The man had told her Sin had lands all over England, France and Outremer.
“I am a man, Caledonia. I’m not a title and the only thing I wish to be master of is myself.”
It was the first time she’d heard her name from his lips. A tingle swept over her. There was something very intimate about the way he had spoken her name. “Is that why you don’t show a coat of arms?”
Sin didn’t answer. “Why don’t you tell me about you, milady?”
He was a sly one, trying to deftly distract her, but she wasn’t about to let him get away with such tactics. “I know all about me, ‘tis you I don’t know.”
“Aye, but I know nothing of you. Nothing except you are fearless.”
She rubbed her neck nervously. “Far from fearless. I have been terrified since the moment my father died.” She couldn’t believe those words came out of her mouth. She’d told no one of that.
“Why?”