The poor man.He must be so confused by Ailith’s behavior.But then, he was probably getting used to it.
“Nay.I was just curious.”Then she had a flash of an idea.“Might I see how ye prepare it?I feel ‘twould be good for me to have this knowledge.”
William eyed her in much the same way as the stranger Teagan did.Then his cheek twitched in a movement Ailith had grown accustomed to seeing.She was trying to react appropriately and had to bite the inside of her cheek so she didn’t laugh aloud at him.
“A fine idea,” he answered, leveling his blue gaze at her.A soft gaze.Och, she was most fortunate to have married a man who indulged that which he didn’t understand.This all could have ended badly otherwise.“Tomorrow we are planting.”His cheek twitched again.“But perchance after the ides of July we might pay ye a visit so my wife might learn from ye?If ye are willing to teach?”
A dubious look crossed over Teagan’s face, and for a moment, Ailith feared the woman would say no.Then she nodded once, and her thin lips pressed into a slight smile.
“I live off the narrow path leading from Mowtie to the stone.”She glanced at William.“Ye ken the road?”
“I’m acquainted with it.”
“Two days hence.Bring your own herbs.I’ll teach ye what I can.And mayhap -” Teagan paused hard.
“Mayhap?”Ailith encouraged, her heart slamming in her chest.
“Mayhap ye can tell me about your mushrooms.”
Ailith froze for a moment, unable to gather her thoughts, then finally nodded.“I’ll bring some with me.Ye might care to plant them.”
Teagan glanced at William once more before turning her intense, seafoam gaze back to Ailith.Without another word, the stranger turned and left.
William immediately spun on her.
“What was that about, lass?Do ye truly need to know about these herbs?Or is this related to your puddock-stool interest?”
My puddock-stool interest!He means the reason I voyaged through time.She gave a huffed laugh under her breath.
“Aye, I do have an interest.It might be useful for me to see if I can use those herbs with the toadstools.‘Tis good to learn, aye?”
He sighed heavily.“Aye.Must we stop at the herbalist, too?”He took her hand and led her through the crowd toward the scrivener’s stall.
“Only for the bog myrtle,” she said, lifting her skirts to keep up.“The herbalist does no’ have the carline and does no’ appear to care for it.”
He looked over his shoulder at her with a bemused expression.“At least I canna say life with ye is dull,mo ruaidh.Ye keep me on my toes.”
But Ailith’s mind was no longer on the herbalist or the scrivener, nor even on William’s handsome face.It was on the orange-haired Teagan.
When they spoke of the stools.Teagan had not saidpuddock-stoolsortoadstools.
Mushrooms.She had called themmushrooms.A contemporary phrasing.Not a word that anyone in 900 CE would say.
Then how did Teagan know it?
Eladon’s voice echoed in her head.I have done this many times.
Ailith’s skin prickled.Was Teagan one of those times?
Chapter Seven
Theyweresoppingwetby the time they returned from planting the following day.Her hair hung in her face, and every single part of her body–down to her toes–was soaked.Ailith’s leather hood and plaid cape had done little against the onslaught of rain, and her plaid was covered in mud.William had her hang the leather hood with his to dry in the atrium off the hallway, promising to brush the dried mud off later.
A warm bath and a housemaid rushing to put the rest of their muddy clothes in the laundry made Ailith feel almost human again.That, and the sack of mushrooms hanging on a peg by the chamber door.
She had checked the newly planted mushrooms, but it was too early to see if they might bear new mushies.More clusters grew on the Dunnottar overhang, and William had taken her there to collect more.If naught else in visiting Teagan, she might find a new place to plant more pinkish fungus.
The rain had changed to a fine mist by the time they took their evening meal in their chambers.While she ate, Ailith sat close to the hearth to dry her still-moist curls.William stalked the room nude, comfortable around her without a stitch of clothing on his long, muscled, blond-fuzzed body.Ailith believed he did it on purpose to distract her attention from their conversations.
