Goddess of Legend (Goddess Summoning #7)(60)

"And are you contrite?" he asked, unable to keep the smile from his face.

"I cannot tell you how much. You are not the only one who has thought of little else."

"Then this king has decided to absolve you. It shall never occur again, am I right?"

She curtsied. "My most dire wish, sir, is that it actually begins to occur."

"You will allow me to teach you how to undress me?"

"I have always been a big proponent of higher education."

He grinned, picked her up and twirled her around. "I am so in love with you, Isabel."

He set her down, dumbfounded that those words had escaped his lips. The shock on her face told him they were very premature. "I am sorry. I know not from where that came. Perhaps an abundance of exuberance."

"Perhaps from the heart?" she whispered.

"But those were not words you were prepared to hear."

"It doesn't make them any less special. In fact, more so, as they were not planned. You spoke what you were thinking."

He shook his head. "I had no right. And I know 'tis a sentiment you perhaps are not prepared to return."

"Then again," she said, running a finger from his temple to chin, "perhaps it is."

"If 'tis, may I hear the words from your lovely lips?"

"I am falling in love with you, Arthur. It seems an untenable situation, but the heart wants what it wants, right?"

"It does."

She offered him an impish grin. "Last nonvirgin to the castle has to be served all of the eel."

He watched for a moment as she lifted her skirts and then took off running.

Grinning, bursting with happiness and gratitude to the gods or to fate, he took off after her. Not very fast, however, for he was well aware of her aversion to eel.

Chapter Eighteen

THE evening meal began as a somber affair. Apparently all were worried about the health of their queen. But Arthur stood tall and announced she was quite on the way to recovery, and the mood lightened. Even Lancelot had arrived, which sort of stunned Isabel. She thought for certain the poor little puppy would be attempting to sneak into Gwen's heavily guarded quarters or be off plotting revenge against mushrooms worldwide.

As her platter was placed before her, she realized that she'd been served a ton of vegetables and duck and not one ounce of eel.

She looked over at Arthur, and his plate was piled high with the vile stuff. He grinned and winked at her, then whispered to a server. That platter of eel was replaced with a bowl of what looked to be some kind of stew.

She ducked her head and smiled, digging in to her veggies. Oh, yes, like it or not, she had fallen fast and hard. She was so in love with Arthur it almost hurt.

Arthur spoke into James's ear, who then spoke into Tom's ear, who then spoke into Isabel's ear. "He says that the bet did not include actually having to eat the eel. Does this make sense?"

She nearly had wine flying out of her nose and mouth. She caught herself and tried to pull it all together. Then she whispered into Tom's ear, "Relay to King Arthur that this is a thing called a loophole. And he is lucky to be given reprieve this time."

Tom relayed the message to James, who said, loudly, "A goose pole?"

"A loophole," Tom said to James. "A loophole! You know, when a person attempts to get away with something. By using sneaky tactics! Jeesh. And the countess has decided to give the king reprieve on this one."

Again, Isabel and Arthur's eyes met, and neither were able to contain it. They both fell into gales of laughter. Isabel covered her face with her napkin, hoping when she lowered it, everyone would have magically disappeared. No such luck.

But, instead, Arthur stood. "Sirs, the Countess Isabel and I must needs discuss possible goose poles in our potential treaties at the meeting. Please stay and enjoy the sweets."

He came around to her chair. "My apologies, Countess, I did not discuss whether you would prefer to stay for the sweets."

"Oh, no, King Arthur," she said, standing. "I am quite anxious to explore the possible repercussions of these goose poles."

ALL decorum they attempted to maintain dropped the moment they entered the solarium, two rooms away. And then Arthur took her hand and led her back out to the gardens, both finally allowing their laughter to let loose.

Isabel had to hold her tummy. "Oh, Arthur, we were so bad."

He grinned, the light from the lanterns making his eyes gleam. "Yes, but it felt so wonderful."

"We should return to the table, having resolved our disagreement over goose poles."

He laughed again. "We shall announce our mutual understanding when we break fast in the morn."

"Are we for it or against it?" she asked.

"I assume we must define what 'it' is."

Isabel almost lost it. "I guess we must."

Arthur stopped grinning, then pulled her close. "I am so happy when I am with you, Isabel. You make me feel like I can soar. From the moment we parted this afternoon, I felt lacking, your presence so missing from me."

Isabel sucked in a breath because she couldn't have said it better. It was a busy afternoon, yet empty. Without Arthur there, it just wasn't the same.

She nodded. "Yes, Arthur, I miss you when you aren't there as well."