Chapter Six
Titus’ plans had deviated just the slightest. He was supposed to return to Morgen after speaking with Denys, but he didn’t. Morgen could wait a day or two.
Katiana couldn’t.
Even after his discussion with Denys, Titus’ mind wasn’t where it should have been. He should have been thinking about Morgen and Warwick and the mess going on in Warwickshire, but instead, he was thinking about a tiny little girl he used to know many years ago.
He couldn’t get her off his mind.
Titus may have been irreverent at times, even foolish in a good-natured sort of way, but he had a deeply introspective side to him as well.
He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind and tended to have little tact when he was being direct, but that introspective and rational side of him was something that kept him grounded.
He suspected that aspect of his personality would take over some day and temper the Titus that everyone knew and loved, but he hoped it wasn’t too soon, because another unfortunate aspect of his personality was that he was impulsive.
That wasn’t a particularly good trait in a man who wielded a sword for a living, but that impulsiveness could also be viewed as bravery few men had.
In this case, his impulsiveness, or bravery, was starting to take hold.
He didn’t want to go to Warwickshire, not just yet.
He wanted to stay in London.
So, he took a room at the most notorious tavern in town, known as The Pox, and spent the night listening to the laughter and brawls in the common room below.
Once he fell asleep, however, he slept through it, a talent he’d always had.
As his mother had so kindly put it, Titus could sleep through the invasion of the Normans and never stir a muscle.
He’d left word with the tavern keep to wake him well before dawn, and somewhere in the darkness of his snoring and dreaming, there were several sharp raps at his door.
Instantly awake, which was a conditioned trait of a knight, he was up, washing his face in cold water and dressing for the day.
He’d told Katiana that he’d be outside her aunt’s home at sunrise, and he intended to keep that promise.
Once he’d finished dressing, he’d quickly packed his saddlebags and headed down to the livery to collect his horse.
The clip-clop of the animal’s hooves on London’s empty streets rattled the predawn silence.
Some people were up, and he could see lights in the windows as he headed up Walbrook Street and into the Jewish part of London.
It was a quiet area, not hugely traveled by anyone other than the Jews, but it was a shortcut to Coleman Street.
A few people were out at this time of the morning, looking at him strangely because a Christian knight in the Jewish sector wasn’t a frequent sight, but he was focused on Catte Street up ahead.
That signified the end of the Jewish section of London, and beyond that was Coleman Street.
This area of London was significantly richer than the others.
The manses were large and well kept, and servants were out at this time of the morning, going about their duties.
The homes on this street, though wealthy, were also in many shapes and sizes and manner of upkeep.
Some looked positively distressed, leaning out over the narrow street, while others were well kept and the walls whitewashed.
A few even had flowers in window boxes above street level, an unusual sight because most people didn’t take the time to plant flowers around their home.
Still, some did, and it was a bright spot in an otherwise dingy city.
Titus happened to be looking up at one of the flower boxes over his head when he caught something in his periphery.
A small, cloaked lady standing in front of Katiana’s aunt’s home, which he was just coming to.
A smile tugged at Titus’ lips when he realized who it was.
“So you think you were awake and dressed before me, do you?” he said as he came close. “I will tell you, quite plainly, that you are wrong. I was awake well before you were.”
Katiana gazed up at him, trying not to openly grin at the sight of him. “I am going to tell your mother that your attitude is most unkind,” she said. “It does not matter if you were awake before me. It would be the polite thing to tell me that you were slower than I.”
Titus broke out in a cheeky smile. “Please do not tell my mother,” he said. “She will be quite angry with me if she thinks I have been unkind to a lady. I haven’t really been, have I?”
“Do you acknowledge that I was ready and waiting before you?”
He sighed dramatically. “Very well,” he said. “I surrender.”
“Then I shall not tell your mother.”
Because he was smiling so openly, she smiled in return. Titus dismounted his horse, his eyes riveted to her. Katiana was wearing a dark blue cloak with a hood pulled over her head, her nose and cheeks pinched pink from the cold air.
She was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.
“I thought that yesterday might have been a dream,” he said. “I am glad to see that it was not. I am glad I did not imagine any of it.”
“You did not,” she said. “I, too, am glad to see that it was not a dream caused when I hit my head from falling off my wild horse.”
He laughed softly. “You have suffered no ill effects from yesterday?”
She shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “Though my hands are still blistered, they will heal. Mayhap we can go to the apothecary after the spice merchant. The cook put butter on my hands to soothe them, but I cannot go around with butter on my hands until they heal. The apothecary should have something less smelly.”
“And slippery.”
“Exactly,” she said, snorting. “Shall we go?”
Titus nodded, but he was looking around. “Aren’t we to have an escort?” he said. “Surely your aunt would not leave you alone with a strange knight.”
Katiana looked up at the manse behind her, the dark windows, the darkened doorway. She began to walk away, motioning Titus to follow her, which he hesitantly did. They were at least two houses down the block before she spoke.
“I did not tell her that I was going with you,” she said.
“In truth, I did not tell her anything at all. Some of the servants saw you when you returned me yesterday, but they did not speak of it, and she did not ask. She didn’t even know something had gone wrong with the horse.
I am sorry to say that my aunt does not pay an over-amount of attention to me. I can come and go as I please.”
He looked at her, rather shocked. “Is that so?” he said. “That is curious. I would think a maiden aunt would watch you like a hawk.”
Katiana shook her head. “Only when it comes to suitors,” she said. “She only takes interest when she is matchmaking. Otherwise, she prefers her dogs, her sleep, her sweets, and her wine.”
He eyed her as they walked down the street. “What makes you think I am not a suitor?” he said. “You do not know what my intentions are.”
She looked at him without concern. “What are they?”
He turned his nose up at her and looked away. “I am not going to tell you now,” he said. “I’m offended that you would not think I am a suitor or a predator of women. What do I look like? Some bleary-eyed fool with no interest in a beautiful woman?”
Katiana giggled at him because he was being overly dramatic. “Are you interested in women?”
“Of course I am.”
“Should I go back and tell my aunt that I need an escort?”
She paused as if to turn around, but he grasped her by the elbow and pulled her along. “Nay,” he said flatly. “No escort could prevent me from doing what I wanted to do, if I wanted to do it, so let them be. It is safer for them if they do not come.”
Katiana eyed him, a smile on her lips. “Very well,” she said. “But if you make one unsavory move against me, I’ll run back to my aunt. Are we clear?”
“We are, my lady.” He paused a moment as if thinking on her words before scowling. “Unsavory move? What does that mean?”
Katiana chuckled at him. “Leave it alone, Titus,” she said. “I was only jesting. Let’s think ahead, shall we? Have you broken your fast yet?”
He shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “Have you?”
“Nay,” she replied. “I am a little hungry. Shall we find something to eat?”
He looked at her, smiling. It seemed to be a perpetual gesture when he looked at her. “Are you brave?”
“Not when it comes to breaking my fast,” she said warily. “Why do you ask?”
He laughed. “Because there is a tavern near the Thames that serves excellent food,” he said. “My friends and I go there frequently. In fact, I slept there last night. I’d be happy to pay for your meal if you would like to go there.”
She nodded. “Very well,” she said. “But why did you ask if I was brave?”
“Because sometimes they have odd dishes.”
“Are they tasty?”
“I think so.”
She shrugged. “Then let us break our fast there,” she said. “Though I have lived in London these past two years, my aunt does not leave her home. I’ve not been to the taverns or inns.”
“And for good reason,” Titus said. “You do not want to go in without a man with a sword to most of them.”
“Is this one of those?”
He cocked his head. “This one more than any other.”
That sounded a little ominous, but off they went.
And Katiana couldn’t have been happier.
*
Katiana’s first clue that the tavern Titus took her to wasn’t exactly safe was when they approached the entry door and a man came spilling out, sprawling on the boardwalk in front of them, and three or four men came piling out after him, throwing punches.
Her introduction to the most notorious tavern in London had begun.