Free Knight of My Dreams by Lynsay Sands Page A

kitchen it was, she thought with awe. Houghton Castle had a rather large scullery of its own, but this had to be at least ten times bigger. Alice supposed that it was necessary here at the palace. Certainly Houghton Castle, even with all its servants and men-at-arms, still had nowhere near the number of people to feed as did the palace.
    Her gaze skimmed the small army of servants cleaning up the kitchens, until it came to rest on Jonathan. The big knight stood talking to a man she could only guess was the head cook, who was eyeing him with a jaundiced eye and shaking his head firmly.
    Jonathan, Lord Fairley, was not the sort to take no for an answer, though. As Alice watched, he talked and talked and smiled and charmed, then finally resorted to bribery. He pulled out a small sack of what Alice guessed were coins and pressed them on the man—whose attitude abruptly changed. The chef transformed from a narrow-eyed, grim-faced man to a jolly little cherub who pressed a basket on Jonathan and led him around stuffing food into it. Alice eased the door closed again.
    When Lord Jonathan stumbled back out to rejoin her some moments later, he was bearing an overflowing basket and had a skin of wine tucked under his chin. Alice chuckled at the slightly stunned expression on his face, then relieved him of the wine.
    â€œAccommodating fellow, was he not?” she asked with amusement. They moved up the hall.
    â€œAye, once I showed him some coin.” He shook his head. “I think I may have been overgenerous.”
    Alice laughed softly. “Well, it did appear a hefty sack you offered him.”
    â€œI was so hungry, I would have given him half of Fairley Castle . . . and had begun to fear I might have to. He was not eager to indulge us.” He chuckled.
    Alice grinned at his tired jollity, then leaned toward him, poking at the contents of the basket as they walked. “What did he give you?”
    â€œEverything.” Lord Jonathan slowed a bit to adjust for her slightly staggered gait; she was trying to continue forward while twisting about to investigate the booty. “It would be easier to say what he did not give us.”
    Us . Alice left off poking through the basket, her gaze shooting quickly to the knight’s face, then away as the word played in her mind. Us. As if we were a couple, she thought slowly as they exited the keep the same way they had entered. The idea pleased her immensely. In fact, the amount of pleasure it stirred in her was somewhat shocking. Us . She found herself smiling for no reason at all as she followed Jonathan through the darkness.
    â€œHere. The perfect spot.”
    Pausing as he did, Alice glanced around the location he had chosen: a small clearing deep in the royal gardens. Two benches stood on either side of the path, one not far from a statue that seemed to gleam silver in the moonlight. It was that piece that finally told her where they were: this was the same clearing where she had first met Lord Jonathan, where he and his mother had joined her, her mother, and her uncle that first morning.
    Her eyes slid slowly over the statue now. During daylight it appeared sweet, the woman bearing a sad, loving expression. Now, with moonlight casting shadows over it, it looked different. Rather than poignant, the statue’s expression seemed seductive, that of a woman calling to a lover. The gown, which had seemed perfectly respectful and demure in daylight, seemed to cling and emphasize a lush shape.
    â€œAh.”
    Alice turned her attention from the statue to Jonathan. He had settled on the bench they had occupied that first day, and he was withdrawing items from the basket and setting them in the center of the bench. Giving up her position before the statue, Alice moved closer, smiling as he oohed and ahhed over their treasure. It appeared he hadn’t paid much attention to whatever the chef had pressed into the basket, for he was obviously pleasantly