The Leopard Prince (Princes #2)(68)

“He’s fine. Will is staying with Bennet Granville.” George went to open the curtains.

The sun was dying, but even that little light made the room seem less gloomy. She made a mental note to have the maids open the one window in the morning to get rid of the stuffy sickroom odor.

She came back beside the bed. “Apparently, Will hid when they took you and then ran all the way back to West Dikey to tell the Cock and Worm’s landlord what had happened. Not that the landlord could do much.”

“Ah.”

George frowned at the thought of Harry in that cell being beaten every day with no one to help him. She shook her head. “Will was most anxious about you.”

“He’s a good lad.”

“He told us what happened that night.” George sat down. “You saved his life, you know.”

Harry shrugged. Obviously he didn’t want to talk about it.

“Would you like some beef tea?” She removed the cover to the tray of food the maids had already brought.

On her side was a plate of roast beef, steaming in juice and gravy. There were potatoes and carrots and a savory pudding. On his side of the tray stood a single cup of beef tea.

Harry eyed the food and sighed. “Beef tea would be very nice, my lady.”

George brought the cup to his face, intending to hold it as she had before while he drank from it, but he took the cup from her fingers. “Thank you.”

She busied herself arranging her tray and pouring a glass of wine, but she watched him from the corner of her eye. He drank from the cup and rested it on his lap without spilling. His hands seemed steady. She relaxed a bit inside. She hadn’t wanted to embarrass him by hovering, but only a day ago he’d been quite insensible.

“Will you tell me your fairy tale, my lady?” His voice had strengthened since this afternoon.

George smiled. “You’ve probably been on tenterhooks, wondering about the ending.”

Harry’s bruised lips twitched, but he replied gravely, “Yes, my lady.”

“Well, let’s see.” She popped a piece of beef into her mouth and thought as she chewed. The last time she had told him the story… Suddenly she remembered that she’d been quite naked and Harry had… George swallowed too suddenly and had to grab for her wine. She just knew she was blushing. She snuck a look at Harry, but he was looking resignedly down at his beef tea.

She cleared her throat. “The Leopard Prince turned into a man. He grasped his crown pendant and wished for a cloak of invisibility. Which would have been quite handy since, as we discussed before, he was most probably nude when he turned into a man.”

He raised his eyebrows at her over the rim of his cup.

She nodded primly. “He put the cloak on and set out to defeat the nasty witch and win the Golden Swan. And while there was a small setback when she turned him into a toad—”

Harry smiled at her. How she gloried in his smiles!

“Eventually he was able to resume his natural form and steal the Golden Swan and bring it to the young king. Who, of course, immediately carted it off to the beautiful princess’s father.”

She cut a piece of beef and held it out to Harry. He eyed the fork, but instead of taking it, he merely opened his lips. His eyes met hers and held them as George placed the food in his mouth. For some reason this transaction made her breath quicken.

George looked down at her plate. “But the young king was out of luck again, for the Golden Swan could talk just as well as the Golden Horse. The father king took the Golden Swan aside and quizzed it and soon discovered the young king wasn’t the one who’d stolen the Golden Swan from the nasty witch. Potato?”

“Thank you.” Harry closed his eyes as his lips took a piece from her fork.

George’s mouth watered in sympathy. She cleared her throat. “So the father king went storming out to confront the young king. And the father king said, ‘Right. The Golden Swan is very nice, but not exactly useful. You must bring me the Golden Eel guarded by the seven-headed dragon that lives on the Mountains of the Moon.’ ”

“An eel?”

She held out a spoonful of pudding, but Harry was looking at her dubiously.

She waved it under his nose. “Yes, an eel.”

He captured her hand and guided the spoon to his lips.

“It does seem rather odd, doesn’t it?” George continued breathlessly. “I did question Cook’s aunt about it, but she was quite certain.” She speared another piece of beef and held it out. “I myself would have thought, oh, a wolf or a unicorn.”

Harry swallowed. “Not a unicorn. Too close to the horse.”

“I suppose. But, anyway, something more exotic.” She wrinkled her nose at the pudding. “Eels—even golden eels—don’t sound exotic to you, do they?”

“No.”

“Nor I.” She poked at the pudding. “Of course, Cook’s aunt is getting on in years. She must be at least eighty.” George looked up to find him staring at the pudding she’d just destroyed. “Oh, I’m sorry. Would you like some more?”

“Please.”

She fed him some pudding, watching as his lips enveloped the spoon. Goodness, he had lovely lips, even when they were bruised. “Anyway, the young king trotted off back home, and I’m sure he was quite nasty when he told the Leopard Prince that he had to retrieve the Golden Eel. But the Leopard Prince had no choice, did he? He turned into a man and took his emerald crown pendant in his hand, and guess what he asked for this time?”