Chapter 21
The dining room was a spacious affair with windows that looked out on the yard. Six high-back chairs sat around the claw-foot table, and a door at the back of the room led to the kitchen. The lovely aromas alone would have guided me to that heavenly place, but as luck would have it, it came to us.
Torquatus took the head with Cassian on his right and I on his left. The door swung open the moment we took our seats. It was Vesta with a tray of glasses and a decanter filled with sweet-smelling wine. She poured us each a glass and made to set the remainder of the drink on the table.
“No need for that, Vesta,” Torquatus told her as he waved his hand in her direction. “I’m sure our guests don’t wish to become drunk.”
“I have a very strong constitution,” Cassian assured him as he grasped the long, thin neck of the decanter and smiled at Vesta. “I will take responsibility for the consequences.”
Torquatus pursed his lips but gave a curt nod to Vesta. She released the decanter and slipped back into the kitchen.
“You don’t mind, do you, Squire Torquatus?” Cassian inquired even as he set the decanter on his far side.
The squire cleared his throat and raised his glass to us. “Not at all. On the contrary, I wish to give a toast. To a long and happy marriage.”
Cassian’s eyes twinkled as he raised his glass to me. “I couldn’t agree more.”
I blushed under his bold proclamation, but lifted my glass.
We chinked and sipped, and Mrs. Arvina brought out the chicken.
The scent of herbs and spices filled the air, and the bird was practically bursting with potatoes and carrots.
She set the platter down in front of our host and stepped back, her face a picture of pride.
Torquatus took up the long knife that lay on the platter and poked at the bird. Juice poured out of its salted flesh and smothered the vegetables that surrounded the bird. “This seems rather a great deal of food for so few people.”
“I thought we might give them something for the road tomorrow,” Mrs. Arvina told him.
Torquatus’ left eye twitched, but he managed to keep a frozen smile on his face. “I see. Thank you, Mrs. Arvina.” His eyes darted to her and narrowed slightly. “That will be all.”
Her smile was unchanged as she curtsied and left us. We cut into the bird, and all its fixings, and the meal was as delicious as it smelled. Cassian was liberal with the wine, and though it wasn’t the best I’d ever had, it went well with the bird.
Thirty happy minutes of eating, and I was as stuffed as the main course. I leaned back with a satisfied sigh. “Wow. You need to give Mrs. Arvina a raise.”
A little color left our host’s cheeks, and his eye twitched again. “I will be sure to consider it, Mrs. Holt.”
Cassian poured out the last of the wine into his cup and held it aloft to our host. “To our very generous host. May your rooms never have another bug in them.”
Torquatus’ smile faltered, but he raised his glass. “Y-yes, quite so.”
The men finished their glasses just as the kitchen door opened. Vesta came out with a small tray in her hands. There were three pudding cups, all filled to the brim with chocolate treats. Little bits of chocolate stuck out of the top.
Torquatus narrowed his eyes at the treats as Vesta proudly set one in front of each of us. “This seems rather lumpier than usual.”
A little color drained from her face. Vesta stepped back and pressed the tray tightly against her front. “I-I thought perhaps you would like some extra flavor.”
Torquatus wrapped his hand around his napkin and twisted the poor cloth in his grip. “My servants are ever thoughtful this evening.” Vesta’s hands began to shake.
Cassian took up his pudding cup and spoon and toasted its creator. “Thank you for giving this evening a more pleasant memory than how it began.”
Our host winced and quickly took up his dessert. “Yes! May we forevermore forget the horrible beginning, and only think of these wonderful memories.”
We dug into our cups, and my eyes lit up. “This is delicious!”
“The best I have ever tasted,” Cassian chimed in.
Vesta blushed and bowed her head to us before slipping back into the kitchen. I noticed Torquatus watch her leave with one cold eye. We consumed our desserts, and only smudges remained in all our cups.
“And that is a grand finish to the evening,” Cassian spoke up as he set his glass on the table.
Torquatus leaned toward Cassian, and his eager eyes studied his guest. “Do you have any plans for the remaining hours of the day?”
“Bed,” Cassian informed him as he set his napkin on the table.
“We have some miles to travel tomorrow, and there are even more at our backs, and a good night’s rest will work a more potent magic than anything out of a cauldron.
” The squire’s face was a picture of pouting disappointment as Cassian stood and caught my eye. “Shall we?”
“Definitely,” I agreed as I, too, rose.
Torquatus stood and inclined his head to us. “Then I thank you for this enjoyable evening, and bid you a goodnight.”
We exchanged our farewells, and Cassian and I strolled out of the room. An old grandfather clock, the poor thing nestled between a half dozen of those maps, showed the hour to be nearly nine o’clock. My feet felt heavier at the reveal of the hour.
I jumped when Cassian looped an arm around my waist. “You look as though you need some support.”
“And about ten hours of sleep,” I added as we trudged up the stairs.
“We should leave shortly after sunrise if we wish to reach the inn by the day after tomorrow.”
My inner thighs winced at the thought of that much travel. “I forgot we were that far away. Do you think the others made it there already?”
“Undoubtedly,” Cassian mused as we slipped into our room, with him firmly closing the door behind us. “Titus is very familiar with this area, having been raised by his maternal grandfather, and did quite a bit of hunting.”
I plopped myself on the bed and clasped my hands in my lap. “Of nethral?”
“Those, and wild game,” Cassian replied as he knelt in front of the cold hearth. He took up the bits and pieces needed to build a fire and put them together on the soot-dusted stones. “He once took me on quite an adventure.”
My ears perked up. “What kind of adventure?”
“A stream runs through the woods a half mile off the main road,” he explained as he built the fire.
“We were only lads at the time, visiting his grandfather on the farm. Titus promised me an abundance of fish if we went to that stream, but after several hours of fishing, we hadn’t caught anything.
We decided to travel upstream to find a better spot.
” He paused in his story to smile at the memory.
“Much was our surprise when we discovered the reason for the lack of fish.”
I leaned toward him. “What was it?”
“A huge bear. It stood in the middle of the stream, catching every fish that tried to swim past and gobbling them down in one bite.”
My eyes widened. “What’d you do?”
“We ran.”
I snorted. “And I’m sure the bear ran the other way, right?”
“No. It chased us.”
My face drooped, and a little color left my cheeks. “It chased you?”
“Through the woods and a mile down the road until we reached the gate to his grandfather’s farm.
He heard our shouts and met us at the road.
It was only through the use of a pitchfork and some magic dust that we were able to fend it off.
The creature slunk off into the woods with a cold look at us for disturbing its lunch. ”
I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered. “I hope not all the bears around here are that ‘friendly.’”
“Only those filled with gluttony,” he assured me as he tossed a log on the fire.
The crackling flames swallowed the fresh food, and a gentle warmth filled the room.
He turned to me with a hint of pride in his smile.
“There. Now we shall sleep well without the need for those extra blankets at the foot.”
Something in his words caught my attention. “You won’t need the blankets? At all?”
His eyes twinkled. “Should I? The bed should be comfortable enough without them.”
My mouth dropped open. “You and me? In the same bed?”
He grasped his lower back and winced. “I would gladly choose the floor, my beloved wife, but we have had a hard journey. Must I plead for a share of the large feather-down bed?”
My own aching, bowed legs could confirm the hard journey. A heavy sigh escaped me as my shoulders slumped. “Alright, but wear socks.”
Cassian blinked at me. “Socks?”
I wiggled a finger at his feet. “I don’t want to find out if kings have feet as cold as mine.”
A smile crept onto his lips, and he bowed his head. “As you wish, my lady. And you may have my shirt.”
I blinked at him. “Pardon?”
He gestured at me. “You have no nightshirt. I offer mine.”
A faint blush warmed my cheeks as I looked at the article of clothing he offered. “You’re sure you won’t need it? You might catch a cold.”
“I will find a way to stay warm,” he assured me as he removed his shirt.
The king didn’t wear any armor underneath the clothing. Why would he, when he could grow scales? That meant I was graced with a full view of his impressive muscles.
And of the wound he had received from the nethral.
I pointed at the partially healed gash. “That looks angry.”
He brushed his fingers over the wound and winced. “It could use some clean water.”
“Then that first, then bed,” I insisted as I hopped off the bed and caught sight of a wash basin with a pitcher. “Sit down in front of the fire, and I’ll deal with it. Then we can get to bed.”