A Dishonorable Knight(99)

"I believe I enjoy baiting you almost as much as Cynan loves to rile me," he said with a wicked grin.

Elena's eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. She concentrated on giving Gareth her most thorough look of supreme displeasure, waiting for him to squirm and apologize for taunting her. To her utter chagrin, Gareth's smile only broadened. Afraid her facial muscles could not hold the grimace one more minute, she allowed Gareth to kiss her back into a good mood.

"Just a warning, Gareth ap Morgan: I detest merely arguing for the sake of arguing. Don't play the devil's advocate with me."

"You have my word. I shall only provoke you when I truly disagree with you."

Elena shook her head as she snuggled against the curve of Gareth's chest. "For some reason, that does not comfort me."





Chapter 20




Late that afternoon, their lungs crying out for fresh air, their muscles longing for a position other than supine, Gareth and Elena dressed and snuck out of the house, Elena going first to determine if anyone would be about to see Gareth leaving her room. Like a couple of children, they ducked out the shop's front door and ran down the street towards the rocky beach they had briefly visited their first night in Aberystwyth. Once there, they continued their child-like behavior, chasing seagulls down the shore, skipping stones across the water, and dispelling the slumberous clouds that had filled their heads during their lazy day in bed.

The day was bright and sunny with high white clouds dotting an otherwise flawless blue sky. Despite the vigor of the sun, a stiff breeze off the ocean gave the air a tangible briskness that tingled in Elena's cheeks and occasionally brought the sting of tears to her eyes. The beach was deserted and Elena gave no thought to hiking her skirts to her knees as she ran the length of the shallow cove in which the ships docked at Aberystwyth. The coarse sand and smooth rocks went unnoticed beneath her thin-soled boots as she ran. Her blood sang in her veins and she inhaled the crisp air in great, heaving breaths, feeling totally and completely alive. Glancing over her shoulder, Elena was delighted to see Gareth giving chase behind her, his own cheeks ruddy, his unruly hair for once completely off his forehead as the wind caught it and tugged it behind him. Though he could have easily caught her, he remained at her heels, playfully grabbing at her skirts and her hair, which had come, unbound and now streamed out behind her. Long before she reached the end of the cove, she slowed to a stop and flung herself down on a patch of coarse grass, winded and warm, despite the cool breeze. Gareth joined her on the earthen bed, stretching out beside her, his hands behind his head, his breathing only slightly labored.

Elena cushioned her head on his shoulder and stared up at the brilliant sky. More clouds had gathered, though they were innocently white, devoid of any threat of rain as they sailed across the blue expanse behind them.

"Do you see that cloud over there?" Gareth asked, pointing to a large formation on the northern horizon.

"Yes."

"Don't you think it looks like a running horse?"

"A what? It just looks white." Elena squinted, trying to decipher a horse in the huge blob of cloud.

"No, look carefully. See? Right there is his head with a mane flowing out behind it. You can't really see his forelegs, but his hindquarters and tail are easy to see."

Slowly the image took shape for Elena and she gasped in amazement. "You're right."

Gareth turned his head and looked at her. "Haven't you ever watched the clouds before?"

"Never."

"Truly?" he asked, amazed.

"When would I have lain on the ground staring at the sky? Perchance while Lady Elizabeth was sleeping?"

"What about as a child? I used to have to tend my father's flock and every afternoon I would spend hours imagining stories around the things I saw in the clouds."

Feeling defensive, Elena said, "I was learning to read real stories as a child, remember?"

"Ah yes. Well, it's never too late to learn. Let's look for something else. There," he said, pointing at a cloud directly over them. "That one looks like a huge tree. If I were a child back in Gwynedd, I would imagine that was a magical tree inhabited by fairies."

"Fairies?" Elena asked. "There's no such thing as fairies."

"How do you know?" Gareth asked incredulously.

"There just aren't. I would have read about them if there were."