Anya was taken back by his question. She’d been thinking of last night and had figured that had been prominent in his mind as well. She liked to think he suffered as much as did she.

She could tell by his tone that the answer to this question was important to him, but just because she was a heathen did not mean she was a liar as many Christians believed. She proceeded to carefully tell him the truth. “I know that Christians claim to only believe in one God. They believe no God is above theirs and are not to worship other Gods. But, I do know they worship Christ, the son of this God, as a God himself.” She shrugged, “At least I’m not a hypocrite. Mankind was not meant to worship only one God. It’s a slap in the face of all the others.”

A wicked light shone in her eye as she said the last. He had claimed before that he was not exactly Christian, she would see if her baiting took hold. How dare he blindside her with such a question!

She could see the muscles in his cheek twitch as he fought to bite back harsh words. How she wanted to laugh! But, she remained calm and waited for his reply.

“I was not looking for a sermon on how great and open minded heathens are. I wanted to know if you can comport yourself in a Christianly manner when you need to.” he said between clenched teeth.

“I’ve done it before. If need be I’ll even pray to the Christian Gods.” She shrugged, “It doesn’t hurt to have them all on your side.”

He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. Anya carefully composed her features so as not to let him see her amusement. Maybe she was being too harsh with her teasing. She mentally shrugged. This was payback from last night.

He sighed, “I suppose if you can’t behave properly, I’ll have to end our arrangement.”

Her eyes flared in anger. “You cannot mean to leave me here! I don’t know anyone and I have no coin. Why don’t you believe I can play the devout Christian?”

He snorted. “Our short association has shown me you cannot hold your tongue. It is obvious what you think of their religion. I do not need to be branded a heretic along with you.”

Anya started pacing. “I can play a devout Christian. I’ll be so good, they’ll want to take me for a bride of Christ!” She stopped her pacing and looked at him. “I’m sure you’d be desolate were that to happen.” she said sarcastically.

Cuthbert only smiled. It was a smile that made her think he wouldn’t be too sad to see her go. “Humph!” she said as she crossed her arms over her breasts. “Your faith in me leaves me breathless.” she murmured.

She began to sulk. Anya couldn’t understand why she was drawn to the oaf. And he was just that. No knowledge of the art of wooing, this one, she thought.

A sudden thought occurred to her. Something he said earlier suddenly caught her attention. Yes, that was it, he’d said “their religion”. And last night, after he went to the stream, he’d claimed he wasn’t exactly Christian.

“Wait a minute!” she said, pointing her finger at him in accusation. “You said ‘their religion’ as if it wasn’t your own.” she saw she had him. He looked about to argue, but she cut him off. “Last night you said you would not call yourself exactly a Christian also. Maybe I should be the one worrying about you! And what do you mean by that anyway. How can one not exactly be a Christian? Wouldn’t that mean you are a heretic, or rather what they call an apostate?”

She was practically panting after administering her interrogation. Her chest was heaving with her fast breathing. She couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say!