Goddess of the Sea (Goddess Summoning #1)(97)

They smiled at each other and sipped their wine.

"Undine, would you tell me of your time?"

CC shrugged. "Sure." Then she realized she didn't have any idea how to start explaining the twenty-first century to a medieval woman who had never been more than a day's walk away from her home. "Is there something in particular you'd like to know?" CC asked, hoping for some direction.

"I would like to know how food is prepared in your time," Isabel said without hesitation.

CC grinned. "You'll love this. Wait till you hear about supermarkets and microwaves."

CC had just finished explaining to an open-mouthed Isabel about fast food restaurants, when two quick knocks sounded on the door.

CC barked several loud coughs before calling in a raspy voice, "Who is it?"

"Andras."

CC sneezed. "Just a moment."

Isabel was already unveiling the foul-smelling pot. "Time for wafting." She whispered and ladled a generous amount of the yellowish goop onto a linen rag, which she began waving around the room. CC added to the effect by coughing loudly.

Turning her head upside-down CC vigorously snarled her hair into a twisted mess and rubbed at her already much-abused nose. Then she wrapped the blanket from the bed around her shoulders and shuffled to the door.

"Wait!" Isabel whispered urgently. Before she could protest Isabel took the poultice-encrusted rag and hung it around her neck. CC gagged and didn't have to pretend the sneeze that rocked her body.

When CC cracked the door her nose was running. She smelled like a vat of old urine and she looked disheveled and pale. In the hall Andras and Abbot William had their heads bent together speaking in low voices. At the sound of the door opening they broke off their discussion and turned their attention to her. CC was pleased to see the shocked expression on Andras's face and the look of disgust on the abbot's. Emboldened, CC took a half step out into the hall. Both men moved quickly back.

"Andras! Abbot William!" CC said in a thick, nasally voice. "It's so nice to see both of you. Would you like to come in?"

"No!" the knight said hastily. "We would not think of tiring you."

"It would be most improper for Sir Andras to enter your bedchamber, even chaperoned by me," the priest said, fluttering his fingers effeminately in front of him, as if he was trying to ward off her contagion.

"Oh," CC said sadly. The poultice was causing her nose to run and she paused to wipe it on the back of her hand. "Are you sure? After all, Andras and I are betrothed."

"Not officially until your father arrives and blesses the union," Abbot William said. "That is what Andras and I have been discussing."

"I'm sure my father will— ahh… ahh… a… chew! —approve," CC said, pleased beyond words that her latest sneeze had caused the two men to retreat another step from her.

"I, too, am certain of his approval," Andras spoke rapidly. "Now you must rest and regain your strength."

"Yes," Abbot William said, his nose curled in distaste as he caught another whiff of the foul poultice. "Have the servant Isabel bring you anything you wish." The two men were already moving away from her door. "We bid you good night and a hasty recovery."

"Pray for me," CC called after them. She could barely make out their mumbled replies.

As soon as the door was closed she took the stinking rag from around her neck. Laughing, she handed it back to Isabel.

"They didn't want to come in for a visit. Imagine that."

"It certainly does not seem very caring of them," Isabel said, and her cackles joined CC's melodic laughter.

"They did say you could bring me anything I wish." CC picked up her empty goblet and said dramatically. "I wish for more of this excellent wine. It's medicinal. And company. Do you think the other women would be willing to brave possible contagion to visit me?"

"Certainly. It is only right for a princess to have several nurses." Isabel performed a graceful curtsey that made CC laugh. "And I shall leap to obey you, my lady." Grabbing the empty pitcher, Isabel hurried to the door with the energy of a girl one-third her age.

Chapter 28

Several hours later the four old women and CC lay in heapsaround the floor amidst scattered bedding and pallets. Isabel had returned to CC's room accompanied by the three "nursemaids." On her trip from the kitchen, Isabel had interrupted Sir Andras and the abbot at their nightly game of chess. She had explained that the Princess needed more care than she alone could provide, and that she would need that care all during the night. The two men readily agreed, both visibly relieved that the responsibility for Undine's nursemaiding would not be their own. Isabel had mimicked the abbot's simpering voice as she repeated how he had ordered her and as many other women as were necessary to spend the night in the princess's chamber. Isabel had invited the men to look in on her patient during the night. The abbot had explained that his time would be better spent in prayer. Although Andras had appeared honestly concerned about her, he had hastily agreed that Undine must be allowed to rest, and that she certainly could not do so if he insisted on visiting her.

And, of course, the guards stationed outside the princess's door and window would not be needed. Even if the princess was well enough to sneak out—which Isabel assured them she was not—the all-night presence of the old women would ensure that she would have to stay in her chamber.