Goddess of Legend (Goddess Summoning #7)(70)

"Whate'er," Madeline, one of the cooks said. "We thank you for trying."

"Thank me if it works."

"What are we doing today, mum?"

"We are playing a thing called baseball. Well, a Camelot version of baseball," she amended.

As she went to place the four small rushes around the yard, she explained, "We will divide into two teams. The teams take turns being the ones trying to score points and the ones trying to keep the other team from scoring points.

"The team trying to score points will send one player at a time to here," she said, dropping one of the rushes on the ground. "This is called home base. The player will toss a rock as far as she wants, but try to keep it from heading straight to a member of the other team, who will be scattered around the other bases, trying to defend - "

"Mum!" Mary squealed, then nodded her head toward the far side of the bailey. "The queen. She is coming."

Sure enough, Gwen came running over, holding up her skirts just enough that Isabel caught a glimpse of black beneath them.

Everyone in the bailey seemed to freeze as they watched their queen join the ladies.

They all curtsied and remained in that position, heads down.

"Please rise," Gwen said. "We have games to play. So what have I missed?"

JAMES came rushing into Arthur's working study without knocking. Arthur was about to chastise him for the unannounced interruption, but the look on his man's face stopped him. "What is it?"

"Sir, you must come see this."

"What?"

"I cannot explain. Well, I might try, but trust me, you will want to witness for yourself."

Arthur rose quickly and followed James out the door and through the great hall and out into the bailey.

He stopped short as he watched one young girl running around in a circle while others around her tossed a stone to one another and tried to chase the girl down.

There were squeals of delight and clapping and cheering. It appeared to be some sort of game Arthur had ne'er before seen.

His eyes sought out Isabel, because as certain as he was breathing was he that this was her doing. She was clapping, then cupped her hands around her mouth. "Try for third, Sarah! You can make it!"

The running girl, who was also laughing with glee, touched her foot on a mat of sorts and then kept on running as the stone was thrown all about. "What in blazes are they doing, James?"

"'Tis a game the countess calls Camelot baseball."

"Camelot baseball," Arthur repeated.

Over the last several days, he had watched as Isabel had engaged the servants in increasingly stranger and stranger play. This one, by far, was the strangest.

And yet the ladies appeared to be having such fun. "You were right, James, you could not have described this to me. It is too priceless not to see it for myself."

Without taking his eyes from the bizarre scene before him, he asked, "Is it true that our men seem to be happy with this playtime arrangement?"

"Oh, indeed, sir. They report that their wives and sweethearts seem to be in much happier moods, that they seem to have an extra skip to their steps."

"Do you see this in Mary?"

"My Mary has always had a skip to her step, but yea, I see her joy and excitement when she tells me of her day. She also reports that productivity in the kitchens, in the laundering rooms and in the sewing room has risen, as the women get back to work with a newfound vigor. I would report, sir, that this recess time appears to be a great success."

"Leave it to Isabel," Arthur said, smiling slightly. "She seems to infuse enthusiasm wherever she goes with her creativity."

He almost laughed out loud at the understatement. As much as he woke each morning, excited to get to work, to start a new day afresh, he also could not wait for night to fall, so that he could join Isabel in her quarters. And 'twas not just the lovemaking that he treasured, but also the times when they lay in each other's arms, speaking quietly of their days. He found himself more and more seeking her counsel on matters important to him. She was an avid listener, with a quick mind, grasping concepts he was certain she had never needed to confront or consider in the peaceful lands of Dumont.

Her ideas were as inspired as they were - what was that word she used? Oh, yes. Quirky. She often prefaced a sentence with, "This might sound quirky, but hear me out ..."

More often than not, her thoughts made him laugh, but then the more he pondered, the more he would see the merit in them. Or at least slight variations. But they always, always provoked thought.

He loved that so much about her. He also loved her passion in bed sport. One touch from him in just the right place and she would immediately turn into the eager lover. He craved the moment he would get her naked, save for that blue necklace, which as far as he knew, she never, ever took off.

Her skin, so soft and creamy -

He realized suddenly that James had said something and he had not heard.

"I am sorry, what?"

"I said do you see, sir, anyone else familiar amongst the women?"

Arthur peered closer at all the others. Most were familiar, of course. He had too many servants to count, but he made it a mission to know as many by name as possible. To his way of thinking, they deserved that much, if not more, from their king, who they served so faithfully and with little complaint.