Page 18 of Promises Made at Midnight
“Perchance we should go take our place in the hall for the evening meal,” he offered instead, believing a full stomach was the answer to all their problems.
They rose, and he extended his arm to escort her. She tentatively placed her hand in the crook of his elbow.God’s wounds… there it was again, as though fate was telling him to open his eyes to the gift he had been given if he would but let love into his heart. They walked the short distance to the keep. When they made their way through the portal, ’twas evident that the meal was already in the process of being served.
Roasted venison was piled high on platters that servants were carrying to the tables as eager knights were ready to eat their fill. The faire had been a fun filled day of competition and merry making and Ulrick’s mouth began to water when the aroma of food reached his nose. He had not realized until now that he had not partaken of the noon meal due to the distraction of the lady next to his side.
Dristan waved them forward, and they took their place on the raised dais. Ulrick began filling the trencher that was placed between himself and Bridgette. He waited for her to begin until he, too, reached forward to eat his fill. Wine was poured and he offered a chalice to Bridgette who gladly accepted it.
She took a sip and sighed in pleasure. “Oh, that’s good and just what I needed.” Her smile was so infectious that he gave one of his own.
Conversations filled the room and, for the first time this eve, Bridgette appeared as if she was enjoying herself. Ulrick relaxed and sat back to just watch her face alight with pleasure as she took in every detail going on around her. He could only imagine the thoughts racing through her head as she took in life from the twelfth century. Reaching out for her chalice, she took another sip of her wine and turned those stunning green eyes upon him. The smile she gave him reached her eyes as they sparkled mischievously from the torches in the Great Hall. He did not have long to wait for what she had in store for him.
* * *
Any sense of her early downhearted mood had left her the minute they had arrived for the evening meal. Medieval life swarmed around her in every direction, and she was thrilled to actually be living a part of it. No play acting. No trying to figure out if her costuming was accurate. These were real knights, ladies, and a castle to boot. She was in heaven, especially considering who she was dining with. She still couldn’t believe she was sharing a trencher…a trencher for God’s sake… with a knight of old, although there was certainly nothingoldabout Sir Ulrick.
She glanced at Ulrick and had a bazillion questions race across her mind. “So… what do you do for fun?” she asked, before quickly taking another bit of the meat in front of her.
“Uh… fun?” He glanced around to those who sat nearby, as if looking for rescue. He would be out of luck since they were too busy eating.
“Yeah, like, in your spare time.”
“I do not have… spare time, my lady.”
“Everyone gets free time.”
“We are knights in service to Lord Dristan, Lady Bridgette. There is not a lot of time to do anything, as you say, fun, with the exception of the faire today. But we do not have those often here at Berwyck.”
She thought for a moment, before continuing her one-sided game of twenty questions. Except, by this time, it was more like fifty questions. Her brain was bursting from her curiosity.
“Sir Ulrick, how does it feel to wear all that chainmail?”
“It does not bother me. I have grown strong donning the gear that keeps me alive.”
“Well, obviously. The stuff weighs like a thousand pounds.”
He raised an eyebrow. “That is impossible.”
“No, I was just guesstimating…”
“Lady Bridgette, you have a strange way of having speech.”
“I get that a lot. Most people think I’m from outer space.”
Ulrick looked around uncomfortably. He was clearly intrigued by this mystery woman sitting next to him but also seemed incredibly confused, and who could blame the poor guy. She supposed she should be more careful with her speech. She certainly didn’t want to scare away the one man or person she felt safe with.
“I do not know thisouter spaceyou speak of,” he quietly grumbled.
“Yes, well, that might be a little too much information for me to explain to go along with a dinner conversation, at least for now. What about the water? Is it really as bad as they say it is in our history books?”
He almost spat his food from his mouth at the reference to the future. “We do not drink it much. Since I have no knowledge of your future world, I cannot vouch for how your tomes may reference what we drink and regarding our way of life.”
“They’ve said it was really bad.”
His brow rose. “Is it mayhap your wish to taste it to see if you would agree with your history? ’Tis but a simple matter to have a servant attend to such a request, no matter how odd it may seem.” He smirked and she knew he was teasing her.
Bridgette held back a laugh. “Maybe I’d better refrain.”
Ulrick’s smile broadened. “A wise choice, my lady.”
