Chapter Six #2
As she cringed in surprise and a little fear, Titus didn’t see anything wrong with it.
He laughed at the group of brawlers as he took her by the arm and led her inside.
The common room of the tavern wasn’t particularly busy at this time in the morning, and he pulled her over to a table by a window where they could watch the river ambling by.
It was private and surprisingly quiet even with the men fighting out front, which had turned into an entanglement of drunk men trying to both fight and hug one another.
That’s when Katiana realized why Titus hadn’t seemed concerned with it.
“What is this place?” she asked.
Titus pulled her chair over so she was sitting closer to him, within arm’s length should he need to get to her quickly. But also because he rather wanted to.
“It is called The Pox, and it has been here for over a hundred years,” he said, looking around. “It’s a tavern, but it’s also a place that gamblers frequent. Here, a man can bet on anything and everything. In the evening, it can become quite… lively.”
Truthfully, Katiana was a little excited to be at a tavern. She’d never been to one in her life. “Do you gamble?” she asked.
He obviously refused to look at her as he answered. “I cannot tell you,” he said. “You threatened to tell my mother once before. I cannot risk that you would follow through.”
Katiana giggled. “I promise I will not repeat anything you say to me,” she said. “I would not betray your confidence.”
“Swear it?”
“I said so, didn’t I?”
He grinned a naughty grin. “I have gambled once or twice,” he said. “Have you?”
“Never!”
He snorted. “Well and good that you haven’t,” he said. “It is a nasty thing to do.”
Katiana was prevented from answering when a busty young serving wench appeared. She didn’t even look at Katiana, but her face lit up when she saw Titus.
“So you’re back, are you?” she said with delight. “I was hoping you would return. It has been a long time since I last saw you, and you went straight to your chamber last night, so I didn’t have a chance to speak with you. Where have you been keeping yourself, young lord?”
Katiana was greatly amused, as Titus was clearly uncomfortable. “I’ve been busy,” he said, indicating Katiana. “My friend and I have come for some food. What’s ready this morning?”
The wench looked at Katiana as if only just now seeing her. “Good morn to you, m’lady,” she said, still quite friendly. “You don’t look like the other friends he brings in here.”
Katiana began to laugh as Titus, mortified, hastened to explain. “I do not bring anyone in here,” he said quickly. “No one but colleagues or brothers.”
The wench could see the humor in it, and she appreciated Katiana’s laughter. “He’s right,” she said to Katiana. “I just meant you didn’t look like the usual assortment of knights that he congregates with. You’re much prettier.”
Titus closed his eyes and hung his head in relief as Katiana dipped her head in gratitude. “My thanks to you,” she said. “We’ve not seen each other in years. We were childhood friends.”
“Is that so?” The wench seemed genuinely interested. “Then you don’t know what this one has been up to since you last saw him? Give me a pence and I’ll tell you everything.”
She laughed uproariously, as did Katiana, while Titus lifted his hands and made strangling gestures at the wench, who slapped him on the shoulder.
“I was only jesting, m’lord,” she said. “Your secrets are safe with me. For a gold crown.”
More laughter from the women. Titus looked as if he wanted to crawl into a hole.
“I suppose I deserve that,” he said, trying to be a good sport. “But can you stop insulting me long enough to bring us some food? The lady is famished, and we’d like to eat before we both grow old and die.”
Still laughing, the wench winked at Katiana before heading off toward the kitchen. Titus put his elbow on the table, his chin in his hand, smiling thinly as Katiana continued to snort.
“She seems to know you well,” she said. “I think you spend more time in here than you let on.”
“Are you going to tell my mother now?”
“I told you that I would not betray your confidence. I meant it.”
His smile turned real. “You are kind,” he said. “And in my defense, a great many knights spend time here. It is not just me.”
“You need not defend yourself, Titus. You are not answerable to me.”
His smile faded. “I know,” he said. “But I’ve not seen you in many years, and I do not want you to think I am some foolish man with loose morals. I was rather hoping…”
He faded off and shrugged, pretending to focus on putting his saddlebags on the chair next to him. As he fussed with the leather satchels, Katiana was watching him carefully. The mood between them had abruptly changed, and she wondered why.
“You were rather hoping what?” she asked.
He shook his head, unwilling to look at her. “It does not matter.”
“Since when can you not be truthful with me?”
He looked up at her then. “I was not being untruthful,” he said.
“We’ve only just reintroduced ourselves after many years.
Our conversation since yesterday has been light and witty.
I’ve enjoyed it greatly. Katia, I do not know you well enough, nor do I have any right, to speak more boldly than I already have. ”
“What does that mean?”
“It means our conversation should always be light and witty and no more significant than that.”
He wasn’t making much sense to her, but he seemed strangely uncomfortable. That wasn’t like him, at least from what she had remembered.
The man clearly had something on his mind.
“Titus,” she said quietly. “Look at me.”
He did, taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders as he did so. “What is it?”
“Tell me what you were hoping for. Please.”
His gaze fixed on her, and she could see that he was considering her question. As she watched, his expression grew more and more tense until he finally shrugged and looked away.
“I was going to say something very stupid,” he said.
“I will be the judge of that,” she said. “What is it?”
He sighed sharply. “You will not laugh?”
“Not unless you mean that it should be humorous.”
“I don’t.”
“Then I will not laugh.”
“I was going to say… I was going to say that I was rather hoping to make a good impression on you.”
She smiled because it was a sweet thing to say. “Is that all?” she said. “I think it is delightful that you should hope that. But I must tell you that you’ve never made anything but a good impression on me.”
He looked at her, guarded. “Do you mean that?”
“I do.”
He smiled timidly. “I am glad to hear that,” he said. “When we were children, it was much different than the way it is now. You have grown up, and so have I. I feel as if we are just meeting for the first time.”
Katiana nodded. “In a sense, we are,” she said. “But please know that you could never do anything to change my opinion of you, Titus. Not ever. You will always be my champion.”
He smiled broadly, and Katiana swore she saw a blush to his cheeks. “That is good to know,” he said. “At least someone considers me her champion.”
Katiana shook her head with irony. “God’s Bones, Titus,” she said.
“Do you not know what you look like? You’re enormous and handsome.
You’re everything a man should be. Either you’re being incredibly modest or incredibly unobservant not to realize there must be scores of women who would want you for their champion. ”
He was becoming embarrassed with her flattery. “Mayhap there are a few.”
Katiana laughed softly. “Of course there are,” she said. “And I am certain there will be many in the future, so you may be my champion until you find the woman you wish to marry. I doubt a de Wolfe wife would want to share you with me.”
His smile faded. In fact, he frowned as he sat back in his chair, studying her.
“That would be none of her affair,” he said with some anger.
“And who’s to say that I will not marry you?
You have no husband and I have no wife. Who’s to say that it would only be a natural progression from those years ago when my grandfather made me your protector?
Maybe we were meant to be together even back then. ”
His words stabbed at her heart more than they should have.
Looking at Titus, so tall and handsome and proud, Katiana was shocked to realize that she would have given anything in the world for him to be her permanent champion.
Her husband. She had briefly entertained romantic thoughts for him yesterday, but she’d quickly chased them away because she knew that she was no match for a de Wolfe.
Unfortunately, the feelings were back and stronger than ever, because his words gave her something very dangerous—
They gave her hope.
It was her turn to avert her gaze.
“Now you are spouting madness,” she said, trying to make light of words that were steadily carving into her. “We are no more meant to be together than a cat is to be meant for a dog.”
“Why not?”
She looked at him, exasperated. “Stop being so foolish,” she said. “You are a de Wolfe. You must have a fine wife from a fine family with an enormous dowry that will make you quite rich. I do not have any of those attributes.”
He didn’t like her answer. “Now you’re spouting madness,” he said. “I do not need a fine wife from a fine family.”
“Aye, you do.”
“I do not,” he fired back. “Markus had to marry well because he is my father’s heir. Cassius married so well that he is now a titled lord. Magnus married a member of the de Lohr family, while I… I want to marry someone I can’t live without.”
Katiana laughed, but it was uncomfortable. “You can surely live without me,” she said. “You’ve been doing it for fifteen years.”
“I did not realize what I was missing.”