Page 31 of Lord of Misrule

“Yes, now that you mention it. It would seem so.” Tolin started to get a bad feeling about this. His eyes shot over to the kitchen. He wondered exactly what the wench was up to.

“I’m sure she was just trying to help,” said Raven, sticking up for Kit. “Remember, she did take the time to bring the salt cellar to our table during the meal.”

“Aye, she did,” said Tolin, remembering how flustered Kit had seemed when she did it. And how she couldn’t wait to run back to the kitchen. He couldn’t help thinking it was a little odd that she would personally deliver a cake to her family member. Twice as odd that she kept trying to stop him from eating it, too. “Damn, she played me,” he spat, knowing now exactly what she had been trying to do.

“Pardon me, Lord of Misrule?” asked his squire.

“Who played you?” asked Daegel.

“If you’ll excuse me, I have a stop to make.” Tolin made straight for the kitchen, knowing now that Kit had tried to cheat and he just happened to have caught her in the act. Most of the servants were sitting down in the kitchen, finally able to eat, when he stormed in.

They all jumped up at his presence.

“Sit back down and eat,” he said, with a wave of his hand. He scanned the kitchen but didn’t see the wench anywhere. “Where is the baker named Kit?”

He saw the boy and his dog across the room, as well as the pregnant woman and her husband. He hurried over to them. “There’s my dog,” he grumbled. “Where is Kit?” he asked. I need to talk to her at once.”

“I think she went out for a breath of fresh air,” said Brenna, looking up from her meal. “Is there something you need, my lord? Mayhap we can help you?”

“What I need is to speak to the liar and the cheat.” He stormed away before giving anyone a chance to answer and headed for the door leading to the courtyard.

“My lord,” called out Jarvis, seeing him and running over with Tolin’s cloak in hand. “If you are going outside you’ll need this.” He handed the cloak to him.

“Thank you, squire.” Tolin grabbed his cloak from Jarvis, donning it as he made his way out to the courtyard. Once outside, the wind picked up and he realized that it had started to snow. He saw a woman by the well and went to meet her. “Kit?” he called, walking up behind her. She slowly turned around. Her face was red and her body shivered from the cold. “Kit? Why are you out here in the cold without a covering?”

“I—I just needed some fresh air, that’s all.” She flashed a quick smile that didn’t meet her eyes. Then he noticed her swipe her cheek with the back of her hand. Was that a tear she was trying to hide? “Was there something you needed, Lord Tolin? I mean, Lord of Misrule?”

Her words only made the situation worse. He had meant to reprimand her, but instead, he found himself removing his cloak, wanting to comfort her instead. She looked up at him and blinked away a tear. Those eyes drew him in and clenched around his heart. He actually felt sorry for her.

“You need this more than me. To keep warm.” He gently wrapped his cloak around her. She reached up with one hand and clutched it to keep it closed. “However, I must say that I also know what you tried to do and I am not happy about it.”

Her head jerked upward. “Whatever do you mean?”

“I’m talking about this.” He held up the bean in two fingers. “You were trying to give it to Oliver weren’t you? Just admit it. You wanted him to be the winner of the game.”

Fear showed in her eyes. Then it changed to sadness. She looked down but didn’t answer. There was an awkward silence between them.

“The cake was delicious,” he said quietly, wanting to pay her a compliment. “You are an exceptional baker, Kit.”

“It is who I am. It’s my life. It’s what I do.” Her words came out sounding forceful. “If you’ll excuse me, my lord, I need to get back to the kitchen and finish my work for the night. The morning comes quickly.” She removed the cloak and handed it to him. “Thank you, but I have my own cloak and won’t be foolish enough to venture out into the cold without it again.” She walked away but he didn’t want to let her go.

“Kit,” he called after her, causing her to stop and turn around. “I would like a dance with you tonight.”

At first she looked pleased, but then she looked angry. “I’m sorry, but I have work to do.”

“It’s not a request,” he told her, not liking the way she was trying her best to turn him down.

“Not a request?” She cocked her head. “I see. So, it is the first order from the Lord of Misrule, then.”

“Nay, I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t need to. I know the way the game works, my lord.”

“Don’t be that way, Kit,” he said in a deep voice, not wanting the girl to think it was an order. He only said it because he wanted to spend more time with her. Why couldn’t she see that?

“What way did you want me to be?” she asked coldly.

“Why do you hate me so much?”

“Hate...you?” Her voice was broken and breathy. “Is that what you think?”

“What else can I think?” He took a few steps closer to her. “Every time I’m near you, you are either fighting with me, or trying to run away.”

“I—I’m not. Not doing that, my lord.”

“Then you’ll meet me on the dance floor when you finish your work.”

Her eyes snapped up and drilled into him. He wasn’t sure at all what she was thinking.

“As you wish, Lord of Misrule.” She turned and ran back to the keep, leaving him standing alone, feeling like a loser even though he’d just won the title of Lord of Misrule.