CHAPTER FOURTEEN
It was timeto eat.
That was what Ines thought, anyway. She’d been groggy throughout Essien and William’s bout, but by the time it came to the next, she decided to wake up and declare her hunger—tremendous, great hunger, and she was literally starving to death. Seated in front of her, Brielle’s toddler, Luciana, suddenly came alive also, and the two little ones started smiling and pointing at one another. Ines was a little older than Luciana, but Brielle’s older daughter, Celestine, was about Ines’s age.
Suddenly, the lists were filled with chattering little girls.
Brielle had brought some food for them, which she generously shared with Ines. There were apples and pieces of soft white bread along with little cakes made from oats, honey, and currants. Ines sat down on the footboards of the lists alongside Celestine and Luciana, and the three of them had a picnic under Brielle’s supervision.
Catalina thought it was quite sweet to see Ines interact with other little girls. She even tried to convince Adabella to join, but the older girl was too shy to make new friends. She sat with her mother, timidly taking an oatcake from Brielle and thanking her for it at her mother’s prompting. But that didn’t last long—evenas Ines was having a grand time with her new friends, Adabella was tugging on her mother, asking for porridge.
“I did not bring any,” Catalina told her daughter. “I can find you something to eat if you are hungry, however. Do you want to see what the vendors have?”
Adabella nodded firmly. As Catalina dug in her purse to see how much money she had, the competitors for the next bout were lining up and everyone seemed to be quite excited by it, including Harald. Catalina realized she just had a few coins with her and tried to gain her father’s attention, but he was too busy watching the field. He wouldn’t even look at her. As the marshal dropped the flag and the competitors charged toward one another, Catalina helped herself to her father’s coin purse, which was tied to his waist. He didn’t even notice. She took several coins, tying off his purse about the time the two competitors clashed. Wood went flying into the lists, the result of both lances hitting the heavily armored left shoulder of each knight.
The match was a draw.
As the competitors circled back around to start again, Catalina went to collect Ines, but she cried at being taken away from her new friends. Brielle convinced Catalina to let the child stay, since the three little girls were playing so nicely, and Catalina was grateful. Tasks, and life in general, were so much easier when she didn’t have Ines to deal with, so she took Adabella by the hand and left the lists. With the smell of fresh bread heavy in the air, they followed their noses.
There was much to choose from on this morning. Adabella finally settled on a round bowl of stale bread filled with beef, beans, and gravy. It was warm and filling and delicious, and she gobbled hers down as they headed back to the lists. Catalina only had a few bites of her bowl, saving the rest of it for Ines, who had probably eaten all of Brielle’s food and was now looking for more. She knew her daughter. As they reached the stairs thatled up into the lists, they were next to the gate that led to the staging area. Catalina could see Essien standing inside, speaking to another man.
Just seeing him again did something to her. Her heart thumped against her ribs and she couldn’t seem to keep the smile off her face. Simply seeing the man brought her joy in ways she could hardly comprehend because it had never happened to her before. It was something new and thrilling, but it was difficult for her to embrace it with abandon. She’d been disappointed before. Her entire life had added up to disappointment.
But with Essien… she hoped she was wrong.
“Go into the lists and sit with your grandfather,” she instructed Adabella, keeping her eyes on Essien. “I will join you in a moment.”
Adabella was too timid to go into the lists by herself. “Where are you going?”
Catalina gestured at Essien. “Over there,” she said. “I will join you shortly.”
“I want to come!”
Catalina didn’t argue with her. She took Adabella by the hand and entered the gate, heading in Essien’s direction. There were horses and men between them, but soon enough, he looked up and saw her coming.
The smile on his face was clear.
“My lady,” he said, breaking away from the man he’d been speaking with and quickly moving toward her. “How good of you to come. And you have brought me food!”
He took the bread bowl out of her hand before she could say a word. As Catalina and Adabella watched, he devoured the stew, and the stale bread, in about five bites. At least, it seemed like five bites, though it was surely more. He was positively delightedthat she’d brought him something to eat, so she simply let him think that she had.
“I hope you enjoy it,” Catalina said, chuckling as she watched him shove the gravy-soaked bread into his mouth. “I think you have earned it.”
Mouth full, he was trying not to be rude by speaking. “I won the bout in your honor like I told you I would,” he said, swallowing what was in his mouth. “You bring me good fortune. And so does your lovely lady-in-waiting.”
He was looking at Adabella, winking at her, and she flushed a bright red and tried to hide behind her mother.
“This is my daughter, Adabella,” Catalina said, grinning. “You’ve not properly met yet. Adabella, this is Sir Essien. You saw him yesterday as he helped Ines. Please greet him properly.”
Adabella let go of her mother long enough to bob a swift curtsy before she was back to hiding behind her mother again. Catalina laughed apologetically.
“I am sorry,” she said to Essien. “She can be a little… shy.”
“Not to worry,” Essien said, shoving the last of the bread in his mouth. “I think shy young ladies are very nice. Usually, they are very bright and can read and mayhap even paint. I suppose that Lady Adabella can do both of those things, can’t she?”
“I can,” Adabella said, summoning her bravery.
“Oh?” Essien pretended to be very interested. “What do you like to paint?”
