One of the quilters lifted her nose. “Not kind enough to tell you that that skinflint will charge you a great deal for the room!”
Cassian’s eyes twinkled with a mischievous light. “I see. We haven’t many coins, but I’m sure we’ll find some goodness in his heart-”
A cackle arose from the women, such that they drowned out Cassian’s words. One of them slapped their quilt-covered knee. “Goodness? In that cold heart? You’ll be as likely to find blood in a rock as goodness in his heart!”
“I’m sure we’ll find the squire quite agreeable to our price,” Cassian assured them as he looped his arm through mine.
“Not likely!” one of them retorted.
Cassian bowed his head. “Thank you for the advice, and thank you for the clothes.”
Amelia clasped each of our hands in hers and smiled at us. “Just think of it as a belated wedding present. May you two have a long and blessed life together.”
A faint blush accented my cheeks, but the king, true to his apparently strict upbringing, merely bowed his head. “We thank you for your kindness.”
We slipped out, arm-in-arm, onto the bustling street. The busiest part of the whole thoroughfare was around Niveus. The horse was surrounded by admiring adults, and more than one wide-eyed child stretched out their hand to pet his sleek coat, only to be yanked back by their parent.
Cassian strolled up to Niveus and set his hand on the side of the horse’s neck before his gaze fell on a wide-eyed girl. “Would you like to pet him? He’s very gentle.”
The girl looked up at her mother, who pursed her lips but nodded. The little lass took a cautious step forward and stretched out her short hand. She couldn’t have possibly reached Niveus’s great neck, but the horse leaned down and turned his head just slightly in her direction, pushing his neck into her palm.
The girl squealed and put both her hands on his neck, stroking away, much to the pleasure of Niveus. Other children leaped forward, and soon Niveus’s head was lost in a sea of eager hands.
Cassian patted the top of the horse’s head, the only place visible. “Stay here and entertain them. We’ll be back shortly.”
Niveus’s reply was to whinny softly, which caused the children to squeal. Some even wrapped their arms around his head in a squirming hug.
Cassian took something from one of the rear bags, and then grasped my arm and guided me out of the curious crowd. I expected him to lead us up the road deeper into the village, but he led us to the outskirts and onto the main road.
“Aren’t we going to go see the squire?” I asked him.
His eyes twinkled with mischief. “In good time, but first we have to fetch something that will convince the gentleman to lower his fee.”
“And that is?”
“It’s a surprise.”
Chapter 17
I followed my leige down the main road a mile before he stopped at one of the fields we had passed. A chest-high wooden fence surrounded the crop to keep wayward horses from taking their fill. Cassian ducked through one of the gaps and sauntered into the field.
I scurried up to the fence and grasped the upper railing. “I know you’re the king and all, but are you really supposed to be doing that?”
Cassian walked with his eyes fixed on the ground, uncorking the bottle. “I’m doing the farmer a favor.”
“By trampling his grass?”
Cassian suddenly dipped down. The high wheat hid him from my view, and he came back up with a smile on his face. “Just a few more, and that should be enough.”
I stood on my tiptoes and stretched my neck, but all I could see was his back. He repeated the dipping motion three more times, and at the last, he came up and turned to me, stopping the bottle with the cork. His eyes twinkled as he tucked the bottle into his coat.
“So you’re still not going to tell me what you’re doing?” I guessed.
“Soon,” he promised as he strolled out of the field and led me back up the road toward the village.
“If you’re not going to tell me what’s in the bottle, could you at least explain to me something you said to the women in the tailor shop?”
“What was that?”
