Kellington kept her polite smile but it was clear she thought Flora was perhaps a little strange and a little much to take in all at once. She returned her attention to Meadow.
“I do not wish to keep you, but I hope you will accept an invitation to visit Pelinom,” she said. “I would love to hear about your life since I last saw you.”
Meadow was flying increasingly high with the fungi she had ingested, so it was a little difficult for her to maintain a coherent thought. She wasn’t as adept as Flora was in concealing it so she clung to Kellington’s hands, smiling dreamily at the woman.
“It has been tragic and eventful,” she said. “But certainly, I have not done as well as you have. I heard you married a great warlord, long ago.”
Kellington nodded. “I did,” she said. “I married Ajax de Velt and these are two of our sons, Cole and Julian. Have you met them?”
Meadow shook her head, looking to Lista. “My daughter has,” she said. “My dearest, sweetest girl was prepared to go fisty against them because their soldiers offended us.”
She had used the slang for a fistfight.Fisty.That’s what the lower class called such a brawl and Kellington looked at Cole with concern. “What is this?” she demanded. “We have offended my friend?”
Cole cleared his throat softly, throwing a glance in Julian’s direction. “A misunderstanding, as I said,” he replied. “I have made our apologies, I assure you.”
“He has,” Lista said before her mother could start something. “It was only a misunderstanding and Sir Cole has been very polite.”
“And Julian?” Kellington wanted to know, looking to the second helmed knight. “Has he been polite, also? Surely you have met my Julian.”
All eyes turned to the impossibly broad knight whom Lista had briefly sparred with. After a brief pause, perhaps one of resignation, the knight removed his helm, revealing close-cropped, dark blond hair on the sides of his skull and a square jaw. When he turned to look at Lista and the others head-on, the longer top of his hair hung down over his right eye, covering part of his face, but it didn’t detract from his stunning good looks.
At least, Lista thought so.
The man was quite comely.
“We have not formally met your son, my lady,” she said, feeling her cheeks growing pink to be in the presence of the handsome man she’d been so willing to fight. “Sir Julian, it is an honor.”
Julian simply looked at her. The one eye that she could see was intense, riveted to her, but she was coming to feel uncomfortable that he’d not replied until Cole shot him a look that seemed to prompt him. He dipped his head politely.
“My lady,” he said.
He had a deep voice that sounded as if it were being dragged over gravel. There was a hoarseness to it, but it was also bottomless in its tone. Deep, commanding, and controlled as she’d noticed from the first. She nodded her head in response, feeling rather shaken from that piercing eye and raspy voice. Her attention returned to Kellington.
“If Pelinom is too far for you to travel tonight, mayhap you will stop at Felkington and dine with my mother and me,” she said. “We would be deeply honored by your visit.”
Kellington had a warm smile for you. “You are very kind, my lady,” she said. “But we will be staying at Berwick tonight with my eldest son and his wife. May… may I extend the invitation for you to dine with us at Berwick Castle tonight? I am certain that Cole and his wife will not mind and there is a great deal of room to accommodate you. Please say you will.”
Lista was absolutely mortified by the invitation. By tonight, her mother and aunt would be flying with the night birds on all of the potions and weeds they’d purchased. That was certainly not what Lista wished to show Lady de Velt and her family. In fact, it would be an incredible embarrassment. But before she could politely decline, Meadow went to Kellington and took the woman’s hand.
“You are very gracious, Kelli,” she said, smiling. “May I call you Kelli? I used to, once. A little girl with long, blonde hair and skinny arms. What a terror you were!”
Kellington burst into giggles. “Of course you may call me Kelli,” she said. “And I hope I will always be a terror.”
Meadow threw her arms up as if to cheer. “Well said,” she declared. “I hope I always am, as well. We shall accept your invitation to dine this evening. You are very kind.”
Kellington laughed softly. “I am looking forward to it,” she said. “Hurry, now– finish your shopping and come to the castle when you are finished. I will see you there.”
Thrilled, Meadow kissed her loudly on the cheek and flitted off, rushing over to the de la Mere escort where Amaury was standing. He’d heard everything and he, too, was troubled by the fact that Lady de Velt, one of the most respected women in Northumberland, had just invited a pair of squirrels to dine with her in Meadow and Flora. The pair sauntered away, leaving Lista still standing with the de Velt escort.
Truly, she was torn. She wanted to decline the invitation in private because she could just tell that tonight would be aterrible night for her mother and aunt to be in a social situation where they would be expected to behave. She turned to look at Kellington, now standing with the young woman who had been in the carriage with her. They were speaking quietly as Lista summoned her courage and made her way over to them.
“Lady de Velt?” she said to catch the woman’s attention. “My lady?”
Kellington and the young woman turned to her, expressions of kindness and interest on their faces.
“May I be of service, my lady?” Kellington asked. Then, she suddenly indicated the young woman next to her as if she had been most forgetful. “I did not introduce you to my daughter, Addington. Addie, this is the daughter of my old friend, Lady Lista.”
Lista looked at the young woman who had the same two-color eyes that her eldest brother had, only hers were a different pattern. She had pale green around the pupils with a big, outer ring of muddy brown. But the green wasn’t any green– it had gold and yellow in it, quite dynamic. Lista found herself looking into the face of a most beautiful and unusual looking young woman.
