Daughters of the Dagger 03 - Amber Read Online Free Page B

dress, and there’s no doubt you obey the vow of chastity by the way you kiss, but what about your vow of obedience? With the way you’ve been firing questions at me, I’m willing to bet they gave you a job at the monastery that keeps you out of everyone’s hair.”
    “ I asked you not to mention the kiss again,” she said, looking over her shoulder, obviously hoping no one else entered and heard their conversation. “You seem to know much of an initiate of the church. That surprises me that a man like you knows anything that goes on inside the walls of God.”
    “You’d be very surprised if you knew how much about the church I really know. So tell me which it is? Do they have you reading from the Book of Hours aloud at the meals since you can’t seem to refrain from speaking, or are they hiding you away doing some weaving in order to give their ears a rest? You do realize there are some branches of the Order that don’t even speak at all.”
    “If you are trying to be amusing, I’d like to point out that I am not laughing. And for your information, I work in the Scriptorium.”
    “Really? Impressive. So you obviously know how to read and write. Considering it is all in Latin, I’d say you are from a wealthy family to have learned that. Perhaps the daughter of a baron or an earl.”
    “I am an illuminator in the Scriptorium, and yes I know how to read and write in several languages. I am Lady Amber, daughter of the earl of Blackpool.”
    “Ah, so I figured. And I’ll bet you have several older sisters and that’s why your father put you in a nunnery, rather than having to dish out a hefty dowry to marry you off.”
    “I c hose to come here!” she retorted. “And although I have two older sisters named Ruby and Sapphire who are already married, it makes no difference. I also have a twin sister back in Blackpool, and my father would give a dowry for each of us. Matter of fact, he did give a wealthy dowry to the church when I arrived, so you are wrong in your assumption.”
    “ All named after gems,” he said. “Interesting. And you say you have a twin? Another one like you?” he stroked his chin in thought. If this one wasn’t available, perhaps he’d look into meeting her sister. “Does she have big green eyes and voluptuous lips like you? And please tell me she isn’t a nun too?”
    “My sister, Amethyst is my twin but our looks are not identical,” she retorted. “And you can calm down, because I can tell you right now she wouldn’t like a man like you.”
    “A man like me?” he asked. “How can you say that when y ou don’t know anything about me at all?”
    “I know you are a ruffian with a blacke ned soul who likes to tempt women sexually and you’re named after the devil. What more is there to know?”
    He laughed and scratched his chin. This girl was not only beautiful and chatty, but she was also very entertaining. He laughed again, and this time he felt the sting of the pull of his stitches and stopped suddenly, and held his side.
    “You see what happens if you laugh at others?” she said. “God is punishing you.”
    “You have no idea of my life, so don’t pretend you do.”
    “Then why don’t you tell me?” she said, crossing her arms in front of her in challenge. But before Lucas had the time to say anything, the door to the infirmary burst open and in walked both Father Armand as well as the abbess, Sister Dulcina.
    The priest was tall, with short , grey hair and dark eyes, and a very fair complexion. He was in his early fifties. The abbess, on the other hand, was short and stout, and about forty years of age. She wore a large cross on a chain around her neck, marking her as the abbess. None of the other nuns were allowed to wear jewelry or crosses of any kind. And on her face was that stern look he’d grown up seeing that always made him want to run and hide.
    Lucas had been raised inside the holy walls after his mother had abandoned him three and twenty years ago.