Warrior's Lady Read Free Page B

company in the other nuns at the abbey. She was no longer isolated and alone as she always had been even in her own home. There she'd been separated from her brothers, spending days, weeks, even months without seeing or speaking to anyone. At least here at the abbey, they spoke to her. And while no one had been overly friendly to her, they had not been cruel either.
    Rhiannon drew a breath. The air held just a hint of heather mixed with the earthier scent of grass. She extended her arms away from her sides and moved them through the supple spring grass. The blades bent beneath her assault, then bounced back into place as though nothing had ever disturbed them.
    She'd come to the abbey two weeks ago because she'd had nowhere else to go. Her brothers, Dougall and Cory, cared nothing for her, having never known her. She'd had no kin to turn to. No one to turn to except God.
    And Mother Agnes had called even that relationship into question. Rhiannon frowned at the clear sky overhead. She had come to the abbey, hoping to leave her life as a Ruthven behind. She'd wanted a fresh start, a new beginning. Though Mother Agnes had taken her in, she'd refused to accept her as a novice, saying Rhiannon's calling was elsewhere. Even God had no need for a Ruthven.
    No matter how much she tried to convince Mother Agnes she was not her father's daughter, no matter what she did to show the abbess she could change, she would always be Rhiannon Ruthven. The bad seed.
    "There you are," a voice came from over her head. Rhiannon looked up to see Sister Bernadette peering down. "I've been looking all over for you. Mother Agnes wants to see you," Sister Bernadette whispered, her eyes wide with trepidation.
    Rhiannon sat up and twisted toward the only friend she'd made since coming to the abbey. "Me? Why?" A summons from the abbess usually boded trouble and involved penance and often sacrifice for the summonee.
    Rhiannon frowned. "Any idea why?"
    Bernadette shook her head. "But she hasn't stopped pacing or praying since she returned from her trip to Lockhart Castle."
    Rhiannon jumped to her feet. "What has any of that to do with me?"
    "I don't know." Bernadette bit her lip. "But you best hurry to find out."
    With a sense of impending doom, Rhiannon raced across the open grass back toward the abbey. She pushed the wrought-iron gates of the abbey's entrance aside and hurried down the long breezeway that led to the abbess's office.
    At the overly large wooden door, Rhiannon paused, taking a deep breath to compose herself. It would do her no good to stumble into the room in chaos. That would only reinforce what Mother Agnes and the others already thought of her. She reached up and quickly tucked the escaped ends of her hair beneath her wimple and veil. When she had regained her composure, she pushed the heavy door open and stepped inside the room.
    Despite the fact that it was the middle of the day, the room was blanketed in hazy darkness as three braces of candles at the front of the room struggled valiantly to force the shadows away.
    Mother Agnes paced slowly back and forth in front of her small wooden desk, a worried frown tugging at the corners of her mouth.
    "You asked to see me, Mother?"
    The abbess' gaze swung to the doorway. "Rhiannon, my child. Come in. Sit down." She gestured toward a chair in the darkest corner. No doubt the place where "bad seeds" could not harm others. Rhiannon sat.
    The abbess continued to pace. "I know what you think, child. That I have been harsh with you." The abbess hesitated before her. "Perhaps I have."
    Rhiannon's heart stumbled. "Does this mean that I may take my vows? Oh, thank you, Mother Agnes. I will not let you down. I will be the best—"
    "Stop, child," she interrupted. "God has shown me a different path for you. You will leave here today."
    Shock and bewilderment blanketed Rhiannon as effectively as the darkened shadows. "I can't go—"
    "I know this is unexpected." The abbess stopped pacing. "True callings