A Dishonorable Knight(98)

Bryant seemed relieved by her news and said, "I hope you enjoy your meal. Rest well, my lady and simply call out if you need anything at all."

Elena smiled sweetly. "Thank you. Be assured I will do so." She tried to close the door but Bryant held it open again. Elena quickly switched from a smile to a questioning glance, her left eyebrow raised imperiously in an expression she had long perfected. As always, it worked immediately.

"Excuse me," Bryant said, quickly removing his hand from the door and stepping back. "Good day."

Elena nodded and firmly closed the door. Turning to Gareth, who was holding his shirt clutched to his waist, she suddenly felt uncomfortable, her unspoken confession hanging heavily in the air. Whirling around, she threw herself onto the bed, hoping to regain the seductive playfulness in which they had been swathed for the past twelve hours. As if sensing her plan, Gareth pulled on his shirt and moved to bring the tray to the bed. Setting it on the soft mattress, he carefully sat on the end of the bed opposite Elena.

"What have we here?" he asked, as casually as if they did this all the time: dining half naked in bed after having just made love. Gareth sniffed the stew appreciatively and pulled back a linen cloth to reveal a large chunk of cheese, a half a loaf of bread, fresh fruit, and some sort of desert tart.

Elena picked up the spoon. "I should have asked for two utensils."

Gareth laughed. "No, that would not have looked suspicious. What would you have given for an excuse?" In a falsetto voice, he joked, "Dear, angelic Bryant, I am so hungry I need two spoons so that I may shovel in my food with both hands."

The awkwardness of a few moments before quickly dissipated. Affecting mock offense at Gareth's impersonation, Elena broke off a bit of bread and pelted him in the face with it. Surprised at the attack, he hesitated only a moment before snatching up the missile and launching it back at her. The ensuing bread fight was accompanied by whispered threats and laughter smothered into pillows. It ended abruptly when Elena took a handful of juicy berries and crammed them into Gareth's laughing mouth. His eyes widened as he tried to swallow the mouthful, sweet juices running down his chin. Transfixed, Elena grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer, leaning over the tray which separated them, to kiss the juice from his mouth and chin.

When the kiss finally broke, the food was nearly forgotten but for an indignant rumbling from the depths of Gareth's stomach. They both laughed and Gareth said, "Pray forgive me, sweet lady. I would gladly satisfy your appetite--" he raised his eyebrows suggestively-- "but I fear I will faint with hunger if I do not first satisfy this hunger," he finished, patting his stomach.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Heaven forbid the ever strong and valiant Sir Gareth should do something so weak and detestable as faint! Hey there! You need not devour everything before I get a bite! I have been without food as long as you, now hand over that spoon."

A good while later, their several appetites satiated, they lay in comfortable companionship on the narrow pallet comparing stories of their childhood.

"You mean to tell me," Elena asked incredulously. "That you did not learn to read until you became a squire?"

Gareth frowned defensively. "'Tis not that uncommon for a lad to wait until his training to learn his letters. When did you learn to read?"

Elena squinted her eyes in concentration. "I must have been six or seven."

"Six or seven? You are pulling my leg."

"No, no. Truly, I learned to read and write when I was but a young child."

"Well that is more unusual than me not learning until I was a young man. Besides," he argued, a thought occurring to him. "There are many a churchman who would say it was wrong of your parents to teach you to read at all, you being a girl and all."

"And what would be their reasoning for such a claim?" Elena asked, baiting him.

Gareth shrugged. "Ask a churchman. I just listen to what they preach and most of them say women should not read."

"Then perhaps 'tis time for a new church."

Gareth laughed aloud before catching himself and pressing his hand to his mouth. "Now I know you are pulling my leg. A new church indeed."

"It could happen--"

“Now, now, you would claim it is God’s will that women are granted the same intelligence as men? What an unwomanly notion!”

Elena was torn between screeching at him or hitting him over the head when she caught the glimmer in his eye and a twitching muscle near his mouth that belied his antagonistic remarks.