The Heiress (15 page)

In order to get near the wagon, he had to go around the crowd and come in the back way, and then it was only because he was atop the horse that he could see what was going on.

He'd purchased the wagons as a pretense only, never thinking what they were meant for. Tode had told him that there was cloth in the cellars, so Jamie had decided to use some of it as part of their disguise. But now he could see that this wagon had been built for what Axia was using it for. One side of it, most of the dragon's belly, had been raised, making an overhead door, held aloft by two posts that were fitted into iron rings bolted to the side. There was a shelf, which had probably been attached to the inside of the wagon, fitted across the bottom of the opening, making a convenient counter.

Axia had draped a bolt of cloth across one end of the inside of the wagon, forming a curtain, and Jamie had no doubt that Tode was hiding behind that, out of sight of the crowd. Inside the wagon was Axia, Roger with her as he rushed to cut and measure, according to what Axia was telling him to do.

But what confused Jamie at first was why there was so large a crowd around the wagon. Had they never seen a cloth merchant before? Or was it the way the wagon was painted? He could imagine that they would gather in crowds to see it, but these people were buying as fast as Roger and Tode, hidden behind his curtain, could cut. Jamie knew that a few hours ago there had been tall stacks of cloth inside the wagon,
but now there was very little. However, there did seem to be a huge wheel of cheese, some bags of flour, a haunch of beef, and, unless he missed his guess, a couple of chickens, and they were only what he could see. He had no doubt that there was a great deal more on the floor out of his view.

He had just urged his horse forward when Axia's voice rang out, making him halt.

“My ancestors were the greatest merchants ever put on this earth,” she shouted, even though she seemed to be talking to a man only a foot in front of her. “I'd sooner give this cloth away than accept what you are offering. See that glimmer? Dragon scales, that's what makes that shine. Have you never wondered what happened to the slain dragons of old? The great knights killed them, true, but my ancestors skinned them and salted the skins, scales and all. They saved them for generations, not knowing what to do with them, but then my own grandmother, blessed be her name, discovered a way to spin the scales into threads and my sainted grandfather oversaw the massive looms it took to make the scales into cloth. Now, see the way it shimmers in the sun? Dragon cloth,” she shouted. “Dragon cloth for sale. It never wears out.”

It took Jamie some moments to clear his head of the lies he had just heard. Dragon cloth? It never wears out?!

Every knightly vow he'd ever taken rose up in him. How could she lie like that? How could she—?

He didn't bother wasting any more time thinking but kneed his horse forward into the crowd, scattering them as he rode to stand in front of the wagon.

“What—?” Axia began, then groaned when she saw who it
was. “Close up, men. The devil has eaten the sun,” she shouted, ostensibly toward Roger and Tode in back of her.

“Get out here,” Jamie said to her, his jaw clamped shut.

A man standing by his foot, a fat goose tucked under his arm, stared up at Jamie and started to say, “Dragonsl—” but the look Jamie gave him kept him from finishing his cry.

“Now!” Jamie commanded to Axia. “Leave the wagon and let the
men
take care of it.” He turned to Roger and Tode, who he knew was listening, “And that wagon had better be back in camp immediately.” Roger just nodded as Axia opened the door and stepped out.

“Could someone ask this man what he is angry about now?” she asked, squinting against the sun as she looked around the crowd but refusing to look up at Jamie. “Or perhaps it is just the fact that I live and breathe that offends him?”

Jamie wasn't about to make himself more of a laughingstock before this entire village and the neighboring population than her half-dressed painting of him had already done. “You there!” he said to a burly man with muscles bulging. “Lift her up to me.” Nor was he going to dismount and get closer to these people who were comparing the painting to the actuality.

The man's face lit up as though he'd received the keys to the kingdom, and in an instant he had put his hands under Axia's arms and was lifting her into Jamie's saddle to sit before him. But as the man started to drop her, he felt the sharp point of Jamie's dagger just under the tip of his chin.

“If you would like to keep those thumbs of yours,” Jamie said, “watch what they touch.”

The man looked properly chastised, but the crowd, already
excited by the wagon and Axia's promise of dragon cloth, found this whole scene appealing to their imaginations. One man in the back, far away from Jamie, yelled, “Dragonslayer!” and within minutes the whole of them had taken it up. “Dragonslayer! Dragonslayer! Dragonslayer!”

Rolling his eyes skyward, Jamie, Axia before him, turned his horse and started to make his way out of the village. With some effort he was able to disentangle himself from the crowd and head toward the fields that lay in the direction of the camp. But he did not go quickly there, for he wanted some time to try, once again, to talk some sense into this disruptive young woman.

“You are drawing attention to us,” he began, meaning to wait until they were someplace where he could dismount, but he couldn't seem to wait. “What is the use of a disguise if you parade us before the whole town, making us a spectacle and a laughingstock?”

She did not say a word.

“Do you have no answer?” he demanded. “Do you never have an explanation for your actions? Do you never think before you act?”

Axia was in the saddle before him, both her legs to one side, his arms were around her, albeit to hold the reins but still around her, and her entire left side was pressed against his body. In spite of the fact that she had decided that she hated him for all the things he had done to her and most of all for not recognizing that she was Diana, he did feel rather nice.

“Axia,” Jamie said sternly, “what do you have to say for yourself?”

Axia bent her head forward. “Horse, do you hear anyone talking? No? Nor do I. It must be the breeze in the trees.”

Jamie gave a heavy sigh of exasperation. “When I received a letter from Perkin Maidenhall asking if I would escort his daughter across England, I thought it would be an easy way to make money,” he said as though talking to himself. “But now I know that I'd rather rout criminals in the Highlands of Scotland than deal with—with …” As usual, Axia seemed to defy his powers of description.

He took a deep, calming breath. “Axia,” he said softly, for now, holding her like this, he could remember that she was a woman. Most of the time it was difficult to remember that she was anything but an imp put on earth to harass him. “You cannot take the wagon and disappear at will. You and your cousin are under my protection. I must know where you are and what you are doing at all times. Do you understand me?”

Again he awaited her answer, even if it were addressed to his horse, but when he looked down at her, he saw that she had fallen asleep. Her head was nestled into the hollow of his shoulder, her hands were primly in her lap, and she had fallen asleep against him.

And no wonder, he thought. She did twice as much work as anyone else in their troop. Not that she ever did any work for
him,
but he saw all that she did for the others. And now, from the look of the contents of the wagon, he wouldn't have to buy food stores for the coming week. Maybe, he thought reluctantly, Tode had been right and Axia was, well, competent with money.

However, he
must
speak to her about her outrageous lies
about “dragon cloth.”

A few hundred yards before him, he could see the camp, and he knew that the others awaited them. But Jamie was sure that soon Tode and the driver would bring the other wagon, what Rhys called the dragon wagon, and shortly they would be off on the day's journey.

Knowing that he should join them at once, instead, on impulse, Jamie turned his horse off the road and rode up a hill toward a huge oak tree that provided deep shade. It wasn't easy, but he managed to get off the horse while holding Axia and without waking her, then, carrying her as though she were a child, he sat down under the oak tree, Axia cuddled on his lap.

She slept for nearly an hour, curled on his lap, his hand holding hers. He hadn't realized before now how small she was. Maybe it was just her character that was large, he thought, because now, as he looked at her little hand and felt the way her head did not reach his chin, she made him feel very protective. Somehow, right now he felt as though he actually was the man she'd painted on the side of the wagon.

Fastening his arms about her tightly, he pulled her close to him, put his head back against the tree, and began to doze himself.

Minutes later, he awoke with a start.

“Get your big, horrible hands off of me!” Axia yelled at him, hitting him in the ribs with her elbow. “Do you think that I am a loose woman who you can be free with?”

Jamie blinked at her, for a moment not knowing where he was or what was happening to him. Confusion seemed to be a
normal state with him lately. It had become a way of life ever since he had climbed over that wall and met this extraordinary young woman.

Although she was still sitting on his lap, she was angry at him—as she always seemed to be. “Do you think
I
am another Diana?” she asked him, her nose close to his.

Had she been any other woman in the world and he'd awakened with her on his lap, he would have kissed her, but Axia wasn't like anyone else.

Unceremoniously, without saying a word, he pushed her off his lap onto the hard ground and went to his horse.

Axia was confused herself. Did he fondle
every
woman he met? “Lecher!” she said but without the venom that such an accusation required. Then, standing, she dusted herself off.

“I will not—” she began when he approached her, but he grabbed her around the waist so tight he cut off her breath, then he lifted her onto the saddle. However, he lifted her a little too high, then dropped her so she landed hard on the leather and wood of his saddle. When she said, “Ow!” he gave a little smile as he threw his leg over the saddle and sat behind her.

And as soon as the horse took a step, Axia leaned back against Jamie in a familiar way that made him smile. And, although he didn't see, she smiled also. She didn't really believe he was a lecher. He'd wanted to
kiss
her.

After a while, she said softly, “I had a choice of cheeses so I got that hard white kind you like best.”

“Did you?” he asked, trying to keep his voice calm, but inside he was leaping with joy. It was the first time she'd ever done anything for
him
. But best of all, she had noticed what
he liked.

He searched for something else to say. “Maidenhall gave me a purse for expenses, and what you traded for today will save me.”

Twisting in his arms, she looked up at him, “Oh, Jamie, I would like to help save expenses. I
liked
buying and selling today. Oh, but it was fun, and …” She looked down. “And maybe I was good at it.”

He smiled at the top of her head. “You were magnificent.”

“Really? Do you truly think so?”

“Yes, the best. You are as talented at selling as you are at drawing.”

Her eyes wide, she looked up at him. “But I'm not so good at drawing. I'm sure you've seen much better.”

“Never. Not anywhere in the world.”

Opening and closing her mouth for a few moments, Axia seemed at a loss for words, and that pleased Jamie very much. “I noticed you like almonds, so I shall stuff a duck with almonds and here …” Reaching inside her bodice, she pulled out several sprigs of wild sage. “I found this and thought it would help the dressing.”

Jamie smiled at her. “I shall relish every bite,” he said in a low voice.

For a moment Axia had no idea what he meant, then she blushed because she realized he was referring to where the sage had been. Her face still red, she turned around and settled back against him.

When the camp came into view, she said, “May I try to help with expenses? I so like to be useful.”

“If you like,” Jamie said. “But no lying. No more promises of cloth that will never wear out. And no more disappearing so I don't know where you are. You can't imagine how worried I was this morning when I awoke and you weren't there.”

“I would think you'd be glad,” she said, tight-lipped. “Your life would be much easier if I fell into a hole and stayed there.”

He laughed as he put his arms tighter around her. “Axia, I think I would miss you if you were gone. I know you cause me nothing but trouble, but I would miss you.”

She knew he couldn't see her face, so she indulged herself in a wide grin. “I have turnips and carrots and a huge slab of butter. And, oh, yes, tiny onions. And I could pull the feathers from the geese to start making you a pillow.”

“That would be very nice,” he said softly as they entered the camp, and Rhys put up his arms to help her down. “Very nice indeed.”

A
s soon as Frances saw Axia sitting on the horse in front of Jamie, she knew that things had changed between the two of them. And of course it would, as it seemed that Axia had a way with men. Frances wasn't sure, but she thought perhaps it was the way Axia was always feeding them.

“They are men, not hogs to be fattened for market,” Frances had said more than once. “If I were them, I'd worry you were after my liver.”

Now, looking at Axia getting down from Jamie's horse, Frances gave a great sigh. This trip was not going as she'd hoped. When she agreed to be the Maidenhall heiress in Axia's place, she had envisioned traveling the country with everyone knowing who she was. That way she would have had much interest from men, and she had planned to choose one for a husband. Perhaps it would be trickery to make a man believe she was an heiress before they were married and later tell him that she was poorer than he was, but then Frances hoped that her beauty would inspire a man to love her. Frances knew that if she was to make a good match, she had to do it now, on this trip.