Kellen was visibly impressed. “Then the honor is mine to have the sons of the illustrious Wolfe under my roof,” he said. Then, he indicated the tables. “Please sit. Food shall be brought about shortly.”
Maximus and his men moved to the closest table. There was a wooden tray that had a pile of what looked to be some kind of dense, cream-colored bread upon it. That was where the heavy smell of bread was coming from. As Maximus took a seat, Tiberius reached out and took a hot piece of the bread, sniffing at it.
“What manner of bread is this?” Tiberius asked, biting into it. It was puffy, rather dense, and had an abundance of salt in it and on top of it. “It is delicious.”
With that, the other knights grabbed at it, taking hunks for themselves. Kellen sat opposite Maximus and next to Troy de Wolfe. He seemed rather confused by the question.
“It is… truthfully, I am not sure,” he said. “I will have to ask my daughter.”
Maximus peered at the plate of bread. “Did she instruct the servants to bake it thusly?”
Kellen appeared uncomfortable in the slightest. “She created the recipe,” he said, avoiding the question. He didn’t want de Shera to know that his daughter had been working like a slave in the kitchen for the past two hours because Ellice was hiding most of the servants from him. The man didn’t need to know his family’s problems and, frankly, he was embarrassed by it.“Courtly fostered at Prudhoe Castle in the north and the lady of the castle was evidently quite adept in cookery. She learned in France and passed her knowledge along to my daughter. Therefore, my daughter is skilled in the art of fine cookery. You will be sampling it tonight.”
That seemed to impress Maximus. “Where is your daughter?” he asked, looking around the room. “Will she join us?”
Kellen’s discomfort grew. “She will, eventually,” he said, trying to be delicate on how he explained things. “There was some trouble with the servants this evening and she is in the kitchen at the moment, overseeing things. But she will join us at some point.”
Maximus watched Kellen as the man fidgeted a bit and had difficulty meeting his eye. He wondered why. Reaching out, he took a piece of the flat bread and bit into it. Tiberius had been correct. It was quite delicious.
“How are your daughters after their experience today?” he asked, chewing. “I hope they suffered no ill effects.”
Kellen shook his head. “Fortunately not,” he replied. “But all of their clothing and possessions were burned, so I will apologize in advance that neither one has had the opportunity to change into more appropriate clothing. Until I can secure a seamstress or material for them, they are forced to make do.”
Maximus finished one piece of bread and reached for another. “That is very unfortunate,” he said. “Had I known, I would have brought material with me. I would assume your daughters can sew.”
Kellen nodded. “They can,” he said. “Courtly can, anyway. Isadora does not have much interest in it.”
“Oh?” Maximus said. “Why not?”
Before Kellen could reply, Isadora emerged from the small doorway on the other side of the fire pit, a pitcher in one handand several small wooden cups in the other. She was trying to be very careful about not dropping anything and when Maximus saw her, he jumped up and went to her.
“Here, lady,” he said, taking the pitcher. “Allow me to help you. I fear the pitcher is much too heavy for you.”
Isadora gazed up at the man who had a hand in saving her young life. She hadn’t a chance to speak with him at all earlier, as Courtly had seemed to do all of the talking for them, so she was a bit shy to speak with him, and his chivalrous gesture had her cheeks flushing.
“I can carry it,” she insisted.
Maximus could see that he’d either embarrassed or offended her and hastened to make amends. “Of course you can,” he said. “I only meant to help. Forgive me for offering if you did not need it.”
Isadora was growing more flushed by his sweet behavior and she smiled timidly. “I am not offended,” she said, moving towards the table of men with the cups in her hands. “I was being very careful not to drop it.”
Maximus nodded. “I could see that,” he said. “You are quite strong. In fact, I do believe your muscles are bigger than mine.”
Isadora’s smile grew as she became flustered and flattered at the same time. “I amnottoo strong,” she said. “You are teasing me.”
Maximus grinned, the corners of his eyes crinkling just as Isadora said they did. “I never tease a lady,” he insisted, although it was obvious he was jesting. “Well, notmuch.”
Isadora giggled. Much like her sister had been, she too was very quickly becoming enraptured by the big, handsome knight. “I must return to the kitchen and bring out more food,” she said eagerly. “I will come back.”
Maximus’ confused expression returned. “Why must you get food?” he asked. “Why do you not sit down and join the conversation?”
Isadora spoke before her father could interject a tactful explanation. “Because we cannot find the servants,” she told him with straight honesty as only a child could give. “It is only my sister and I, and one servant Papa managed to find.”
Brow furrowed now, Maximus glanced at Kellen. “Where are your servants?” he asked the question to both of them. “Has something happened to them?”
Kellen was appalled that his youngest daughter had divulged the information he had been trying very hard not to disclose. Isadora was young, intelligent, and tactless.
“Nay, nothing has happened to them,” he said quickly. “They belong to my sister and… you see, my sister has….”
