Chapter Ten #2
Thrilled that they had found what they were looking for, they walked in the direction of the crowds, passing through the square that was full of people and entertainers.
There was a man with trained dogs, and another man with a pig who was picking objects for people to bet on.
The men who ran the games or the entertainment had people working for them who would walk among the crowd and pull men and even women toward the games, encouraging them to throw coins or bet on any number of things.
As they watched the goings-on with interest, a small parade of happy people came from the churchyard.
There was a man on stilts, about twice as tall as a normal man, and he wore long robes upon which pieces of fruit had been sewn.
The children screamed in delight as he walked amongst them, pulling the fruit off the robe and nearly pulling the man down in the process.
But he recovered nicely, walking quickly as the children ran after him.
That left Titus and Katiana in stitches, laughing at the frantic children and the man trying to escape them.
“What do you think so far?” Titus asked her. “Should we go and watch the dogs dance?”
Katiana nodded eagerly. “I do love dogs,” she said. “I have always wanted one, but my aunt says they give her an itch. I have to settle for the cats in the stable yard.”
“Don’t you like cats?”
“I do, very much,” she said. “But a dog… that is different. Cats do not depend on you. Dogs do. I suppose I would like something to have for my very own.”
Titus’ smile faded. “You’ve never had that, have you?”
She shook her head, watching something in the distance. “It has always, and only ever been, just me,” she said. “Not even a pet. That is a lonely way to live. Oh, look—a pony that jumps through hoops. See him over there?”
She was pointing, and Titus turned to see a gray pony that was, indeed, jumping through a wooden hoop.
They headed in that direction, their arms looped together, but as they moved, they happened to pass by a puppet show.
It was a small wagon that had been converted in such a way that the puppets were on a stage for the children to see, and there was a horde of children and mothers watching them.
But the puppets began to beat on each other, and suddenly, a king appeared and all of the beating stopped.
The children cheered, and boiled sweets came flying out at the audience.
The scramble began.
Katiana had been closer to the children and the puppets, and she was bumped by a couple of children as they rushed to pick up sweets.
More were flying through the air, one of them hitting Titus in the head.
He stopped, frowned, and picked it up off the ground, eyeing it.
He blew at it, brushed it off, and put it in his mouth as Katiana chuckled.
She wasn’t entirely sure it was a good idea to eat something off the ground, but he didn’t seem to care. His face soon lit up with delight.
“Delicious,” he said, looking around. “Quickly—get me more of those sweets. See that child over there? Punch him in the face and steal his candy. He has a good deal of it, and I want it.”
Katiana’s laughter grew. “I am not going to strike a child and steal his treats,” she said. “Neither are you. Look around; mayhap there are more on the ground.”
Titus frowned that she wouldn’t fight a child for his sweets, but he indeed looked around and managed to come up with three more slightly dirty treats.
He shared one with Katiana, who agreed that the honey-cinnamon sweet was delightful.
Titus found two more of the candies that the children hadn’t picked up, and they continued on toward the dancing pony.
It was a delight to watch the trained pony, but more than that, it was a delight to watch Katiana as she enjoyed the show.
At least, that’s what Titus thought. He’d brought her to the faire because he wanted to spend time with her, and, as he’d told her, he simply couldn’t do that with Ethyl’s spies as their constant companions.
He’d spent five days traveling with her perched behind him, feeling her warm body against his, thinking that it was about the most wonderful sensation in the world.
It was something he didn’t want to be without.
He’d never genuinely thought about marrying someone in his entire life.
He’d always thought that being tied down to the same person for the remainder of his days was tedious.
The same face, the same voice. He didn’t like anyone well enough to consider that.
Of course, he’d seen his brothers in their marriages, and they were all quite happy.
His parents were quite happy. But Titus was coming to realize that their happiness didn’t happen overnight.
It took time. It had to be with the right person at the right time, among other things, and perhaps he’d been too immature to realize that.
Immaturity at his age sounded rather ridiculous, but it was the truth.
Or perhaps he’d simply been too obstinate or ignorant to really give a relationship with a woman much thought.
He was too busy being an Executioner Knight to think about marriage and family.
… Wasn’t he?
The truth was that once he left Katiana at Callerton Castle, the situation would change.
She would be back under the control of her father, if the man was still alive, and if not, then she’d be under the control of her brother.
The mere thought of her being at the mercy of Ansel made his blood run cold.
He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of that until this very moment, but the thought of Katiana being left to the whims of Ansel de Edington was a horrifying thought.
Titus knew, as he lived and breathed, that he’d never be able to sleep if he left her in that situation and went about his business.
There was another problem.
He had business. He had a good deal of it that required his focus, and a woman—a woman he was thinking romantically about, no less—wasn’t part of that equation.
Watching Katiana clap happily for the dancing pony made him think about leaving that sweet, witty woman with her beast of a brother, and there was no telling what would happen.
Did that mean he loved her? That he wanted to marry her?
Titus had to think hard about that. All he knew was that he was greatly reluctant to leave her alone at Callerton with Ansel on the prowl.
“Titus?”
It took him a moment to realize that she was talking to him. “Aye?” he said.
She smiled. “You were a million miles away,” she said. “I asked you where we are to go from here. Should we find some food?”
He nodded before she was even finished speaking, reaching out to take her hand again. “Aye,” he said. “Those sweets have made me hungry.”
Katiana let him hold her hand, as bold as it was, because it was starting to feel completely natural. He’d done it so many times that she was coming to crave it.
“I can smell the food from here,” she said, pointing over toward the church. “I saw people in that direction eating something.”
“Quickly, now. We must get over there before it is all gone.”
He picked up the pace, and Katiana did, too.
Giggling, she practically skipped beside him as they hurried over to the vast yard in front of the church.
It was filled with musicians, people dancing, and tables of food near the entry to the church.
Titus went right up to one of the tables and began grabbing things in spite of an old woman trying to moderate him.
He took a loaf of bread in the shape of a cross, cheese, a basket that had honey buns in it, and other things.
All of it was put into the basket, and as the woman followed him around, begging him to be sparing, he reached into his purse and dug out a few coins.
He put them right in her hand, paying for the fact that he’d taken more than his share.
“Come along,” he told Katiana. “Let us find a place to eat.”
They did. There were a few old yew trees near the north side of the church, and he had her sit beneath the branches of one of them, putting the basket down before stripping off some of the most restrictive pieces of protection so he could sit down.
There was a small pile next to him by the time he sat on the grass, stretching out his legs and demanding he be fed.
With a grin, Katiana doled out the food, and he took everything from her, shoving it into his mouth but making sure she also had enough to eat.
Around them, the sounds of the festival floated upon the air, and in the sky above, shades of sunset were forming.
It was perfect.
“I cannot recall the last time I attended a festival like this,” he said, mouth full of bread. “It seems like ages ago.”
“You said you were at a tournament last month,” Katiana said. “Wasn’t that something of a respite? With food and music?”
He shrugged, leaning back on one elbow. “I was not there to eat and dance,” he said. “I was there to compete. To win.”
“Did your brothers compete, too?”
He shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “But my cousin, Ronan, did. I had several friends there. We lost one of them, unfortunately. It was a sad business.”
Katiana looked at him with concern. “Lost him?” she said. “How?”
“He died.”
“What happened?”
Titus cocked an eyebrow, lending a clue to the fact that he thought the situation had been terrible, indeed. “He was speared by a joust pole,” he said. “Only it turned out that the pole had an illegal spear tip. It went straight through him. He died in the arms of his pregnant wife.”
Katiana stopped eating, closing her eyes to the horror of it. “God’s Bones,” she muttered. “I am so sorry to hear that. What a tragic thing.”
“It really was,” Titus said. “Tournaments are dangerous enough without unscrupulous knights playing dirty tricks to win.”