Wine of Violence by Priscilla Royal Read Free Book Online Page B

started. The voice was distinctly feminine and quite melodic.
     
    Simeon stepped aside.
     
    Sitting at the table behind the receiver were two nuns. One was a woman of middle years, stout about the hips and waist. The other was youthful and quite diminutive. The first must be the prioress, Thomas thought. She looked sour enough, her forehead deeply ridged in what must be a perpetual frown, and, although her eyes were lowered, he could sense their look of constant disapproval. The young one, however, looked directly at him, her gray eyes alert with curiosity and her complexion flushed a healthy pink. Too tiny all over for my taste, Thomas thought with irreverent amusement.
     
    Simeon cleared his throat. "Forgive me," he said, rudely point ing his finger at the young nun. "Prioress Eleanor of Wynethorpe has just arrived from Amesbury but a day or so ago." With far greater courtesy and warmth, he gestured toward the elder. "This is Sister Ruth, our esteemed porteress for the nuns."
     
    Thomas blinked in surprise. He watched as Prioress Eleanor's eyes briefly narrowed in what he suspected was carefully controlled anger, then quickly cleared and began to appraise him. Perhaps, he thought, it might not be wise to dismiss this young woman, as Simeon appeared to be doing. Had the person in front of him been a man who could control his emotions with such iron will, he would have accorded him more respect.
     
    Thomas bowed. "My lady, I am Brother Thomas. Here to serve your will."
     
    "And what skills do you bring me, brother?"
     
    "Humble ones. I have come lately to the priesthood."
     
    "Indeed, but previously a clerk, I see. What brought you to choose a cloistered vocation over the earthly rewards at a king's court?"
     
    Thomas paled. Surely this prioress could not know his real background. His black-clad liberator had promised him anonymity in exchange for his oath of fealty.
     
    "Do not be so surprised, brother. With such soft hands, you are surely no man of arms, although I wonder why not with your height and that breadth of shoulders." She smiled warmly, then laughed with a straightforward heartiness.
     
    Sister Ruth pressed her lips together into a rigid white line.
     
    Thomas smiled in return with more warmth than he felt. You, my lady prioress, are more observant that I would expect from a woman of your youth and vocation, he thought, and more than makes me comfortable.
     
    "Indeed," he said aloud, "I was a clerk, thus I have some knowledge of Latin and law. As for my choice of the cloister, my shoulders may be broad but my soul cried out to serve God in a more contemplative setting, not on the field of battle or in the courts of kings."
     
    "Well said, brother. I think our sisters will be lucky to have such a priest as their spiritual guide."
     
    Her phrasing was smooth as river rock. As he bowed his head in humble thanks at her courtesy, Thomas knew by her amused smile that she was not deceived in the slightest by his fine and empty words.
     
    When Eleanor first looked at Brother Thomas, as he walked into the prior's chambers, and saw blue eyes the color of the summer sea and hair the shade of burnished copper, she felt heat, then shuddered as if chilled. He had all the legendary beauty of Satan's own angels.
     
    The suddenness, no, the strength of her attraction to the young monk startled her. This was not just a playful, almost innocent tickling of pleasure to be enjoyed for a moment, confessed, then forgotten. She felt as if a bonfire had been set alight in her entrails. This was no easily ignored and set aside desire. This was lust. And why had God chosen now of all times to give her the added burden of conquering such a passion? Didn't she have problems enough?
     
    Yet God had not completely abandoned her. Even as she felt her face flush, she had struggled, then regained control of her reason and calmly questioned the man. He had seemed oddly taken aback at her observation that he must have been a clerk.