“That’s his favorite shirt,” she whispered, raising her thin eyebrows at me. “He must be aiming to impress someone today.”
Duke Avery of Wolvington wove through the collection of tables and chairs gracefully. When he had a clear path to the corner table we’d been placed at, Alys and I stood. She was rock solid, but I felt like my knees were made of jelly, from nerves and from the heat I felt in the pit of my stomach. The man was handsome.
Get it together, Genevieve, I told myself. It’s just a man, even if he is the most handsome man you’ve ever seen. There is no need for you to fall apart.
I felt a hand intertwined with mine and looked over at my sister. She had a kind smile on her face, as if she could tell what I was thinking. It was nice to see that smile directed at me for once, but it was still strange.
Duke Avery was dressed beautifully and I couldn’t help but stare as he walked towards us. The teal that I had seen was his shirt, decorated with a large but delicate silver necklace that accented the timepiece he wore on his wrist.
He caught my gaze and winked. Heat rushed to my cheeks so quickly that I had to resist the urge to press my hands to them to check if they were on fire. My gaze dropped to the floor and I took several deep breaths.
I can only hope that I was making as good an impression on him as he was on me. I knew that I looked good, even if I could hardly stand on my own from swooning.
You have faced down trolls and fae with nary a quaver, I reminded myself. This is what gets your knees quaking? Don’t be ridiculous. You can handle this.
By the time he made it to the table, I was able to stand on my own without holding onto the table. Given the state I had been in since he arrived, that was something to be proud of.
“Alys, it’s wonderful to see you again! I was so happy to hear from you!” His voice was light and sincere, with a light burr that made me suddenly homesick. “And you must be Genevieve. It’s a pleasure to actually meet you.”
Surreptitiously wiping my palms on the insides of my pockets, I shook his hand. His grip was firm, but not crushing, and his hands were softer than I expected. Then again, I wasn’t used to shaking hands with men who didn’t spend their entire lives building up muscles and calluses with weapons practice. My gaze traveled from his hands up his flat chest to his slightly stubbly chin, catching at the sight of his plumped lips spread in a wide smile. The grin showed a thin gap between his front teeth, and I realized belatedly that I needed to say something.
“The pleasure is all mine, Duke Avery.”
He raised an eyebrow at me.
“Oh please, just call me Avery. There’s no need to be formal. We’re all equals here, are we not?”
“Absolutely, of course.” I blushed again and nodded.
“Now that you two have met, shall we eat?” Alys interrupted. “I’ve been looking forward to this meal all week.”
“Yes, yes. I’d like to use the restroom first. If the waiter comes while I’m not at the table, ask for a lemonade for me, would you, Alys?
“Sure thing!” She smiled at her old friend, who walked towards the back of the restaurant. As soon as he was out of sight, she whirled on me, her bewilderment plain on her face.
“Will you act like a human being? He’s not that scary!”
“I’m terrible at this! I don't know why I thought this was a good idea. Maybe I should just go?”
Alys’s eyebrows rose to her hairline.
“Are you kidding me? You'll do fine, if you can figure out how to make some small talk and get more comfortable around each other.”
“What do you mean ‘around each other?’ He's not nervous at all! He was winking and joking with you.”
“That's because he knows me. He doesn't know you at all, and you're not giving him anything to work with. He could tell that you were nervous which is why he went to the bathroom before the meal. That's him giving you space to breathe, you gooseberry.”
I blinked a few times, thinking through what her sister had said before speaking. She must have known his behavior patterns on dates better than I’d anticipated.
“Oh.”
“‘Oh’ is right. We talked about this before we came, remember? He likes books and learning about things he doesn't know anything about. You like books, and you know a lot of random stuff. You can talk to him, Gen. It’s not as hard as you’re making it out to be in your head. Oh, here comes the waiter.”
Alys went from lecturing me to chattering with the waiter about the special of the day - suckling pig with carrots, turnips and potatoes - and how his day was going so far. It was an impressively quick change of topic. She ordered a round of lemonades for the table. Once the waiter left to go find their drinks, I changed the topic again.
“Have you found your dress yet for the Prince’s ball?”
Alys sighed, leaning back in her chair discontentedly.
“Not yet. Father’s brought us to town so late that it’s been difficult to find a tailor that’s actually able to take on another dress.”
“Would you like me to ask Poppy if they’re able to take on another gown? Mine is set to be delivered tomorrow, and as far as I know, they don’t have any other gowns to make for this year’s ball.”
Alys’s entire face brightened.
“Oh, do you think they’d be able to make it happen? I have a couple of options from the tailors back home, but they’re not nearly as skilled as the tailors here. Plus, their shop sounds wonderful to just be in. Could we go and visit them?”
“I’m pretty booked up this evening, but I think they’re to deliver my surprise gown tomorrow afternoon. I can ask them then?”
She clapped her hands in delight at the suggestion.
“That would be wonderful, Gen! I wouldn’t have thought to ask them, what with your gown being such a project on its own. I don’t want to overload them at the last minute.”
I shrugged.
“It can’t hurt to ask, at the very least. The worst they can do is say no, right?”
Alys nodded, and then nearly jumped out of her chair when a dark hand clapped her around the shoulder.
“Avery, you cad!” She cried. “It’s not nice to scare people like that.”
He laughed, a deep, booming laugh that brought light into his deep brown eyes and sent a jolt of desire to my nether regions.
“Sorry, Alys! I couldn’t resist. It was such a good opportunity. Ah, and I believe those are our drinks!”
Indeed they were. The waitress set the drinks in front of each of us, to a grateful chorus. She left us to our menus.
“So, Avery,” Genevieve started. He looked over his menu at me expectantly and I faltered for a moment.
Come on. You are a perfectly good conversationalist. Show it.
I started again, keeping my eyes on my menu.
“Alys tells me that you are an avid reader. What have you been reading recently?”
I peeked up at him. His brown eyes lit up and he leaned towards me to tell me about his latest book.
AVERY
By the end of the meal, the three of us were alternating between roaring with laughter at each other's jokes and falling into deep conversations about esoteric topics. I was honestly surprised by how much fun I was having. Genevieve was a delightful woman, full of stories of life at the palace and everywhere her squiredom to Ser Raoul had taken her.
“I hope you all enjoyed the meal,” the waitress said cheerily. “We also have a delightful lemon meringue pie with our own shortbread crust and a raspberry flummery, if anyone is interested in a dessert this afternoon.”
We all demurred, though both sounded delicious. I gave the waitress my full attention.
“I don't think I could eat another bite,” I laughed, rubbing my stomach. “Thank you very much, darling. And I’ll have the check for all three of us, if you please.”
She curtsied, offering me the small slip of paper. Nodding at the price, I pulled my purse out and paid her with four large bronze coins.
She beamed back at me, curtsied and collected the rest of our dishes from the table. I felt something brush my foot under the table. I looked under it just in time to see Alys stomp hard on Genevieve’s foot. I raised an eyebrow at the both of them.
“Is there a problem?”
“No, of course not!” Alys beamed. Genevieve just shook her head. “That meal was one of the best I’ve had since I’ve arrived. I don’t think I’ve ever had suckling pig prepared quite that well.”
I had to agree that the meal had been wonderful. Especially since I had had lovely company to accompany the delicious food.
“That pie was heavenly, wasn’t it, Genevieve?”
We had both ordered the fisherman’s pie. It had been delicious and filling, with three different kinds of fish, spring onions, mussels and scallops under a bed of mashed parsley and potatoes.
“I’ve lived in this city my whole life, and I’ve never had anything quite that good,” she admitted, her cheeks pink.
“What, they don’t feed you that well at the palace every day? I’ll have to tell the King’s cook that they need to raise the bar for you knights.” I punctuated the joke with a wink. We both knew that the cooks at the palace wouldn’t be changing their regular menu for the knights, even for a half-royal Duke.
Her mouth quirked up into a lopsided smile that made my heart stutter. I don’t know how I had never noticed just how pretty Genevieve was before today. Scratch that. I did know. I had been so focused on what Alys needed and my studies that I had barely glanced her way. It was a shame, because now that I had her company, I didn’t want the day to end. I racked my brain, trying to think of ways that I could spend more time with her without being overly aggressive about it. Then I realized, I had seen the perfect thing on the way over.
Focusing my attention on Genevieve’s bright eyes, I grinned.
“I saw a new bookseller’s cart in town. Would you ladies care to accompany me?”
Genevieve glanced sideways to her sister, who was already shaking her head tragically.
“Alas, I have a very important meeting to attend, but you two should go together! I’m sure Genevieve hasn’t finished her shopping for my birthday, and there’s bound to be something suitable at your bookseller’s.”
It was Alys’s turn to wink at Genevieve. I leaned over and grabbed my own satchel, trying to hide the smile on my face, not wanting them to know I’d seen this show of sisterly affection.
“You two go and have fun. I’ll take care of the business with the accountant. I haven’t been scolded by Ianto for years! It will be fun.”
I stood, and both Alys and Genevieve echoed the movement.
“My old friend, it will be disappointing to shop without you, but I hope you do have fun with the accountant. I’m not sure I’ve ever said those particular words in that order, but they’re true nonetheless. My good ser, would you do me the honor of accompanying me on this trip?”
I offered Genevieve my arm, and she accepted it with a stately curtsy. A spark raced straight to my heart from the contact. Alys watched, pride clear in her eyes.
“I believe our carriage shall be here momentarily, Ser Genevieve. Shall we wait outside?”
She smiled up at me and it was like looking into the sun and I never wanted it to set.
“That would be lovely.”
Alys waved at both of them as they walked away, arm in arm.
GENEVIEVE
The carriage ride to the bookseller’s stall was short, but comfortable. People tended to get out of the way for carriages, especially those marked with the royal family’s seal. It was also quiet, or as quiet as a horse-drawn carriage ride could be on a cobblestone road in the middle of the city. Avery and I were taking turns looking out the window of the carriage and glancing at each other when we thought the other person wasn’t looking. I knew that my cheeks were pink, but I didn’t care, because I could see similar spots of pink on his high cheekbones. Before it had fully stopped, he swung himself out and onto the stair between the carriage floor and the ground. He held a hand out to me.
“My lady knight, we have arrived! Would you like assistance getting out of the carriage?”
My jaw dropped in shock.
“What? Is there something on my face?”
Blinking rapidly, I pulled my face into a less shocked expression.
“No, no. Your face is perfect. Um, perfectly fine, I mean.”
I couldn’t believe that come out of my mouth. Well, now there was no hiding the flush on my face, so I might as well roll with it.
“I don’t think anyone has ever offered me their assistance getting out of the carriage before.”
“Really? Not ever? Is it offensive?”
His brow furrowed in worry. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“It’s not offensive at all,” I told him and placed my hand in his still outstretched one. “In fact, it’s rather lovely.”
He squeezed my hand and stepped to the side so that I could get out of the carriage. I shivered slightly at his touch. Hopefully he would mistake it for shivering from the change of temperature from the warm carriage to the early spring streets, and not realize it was from desire.
You know, it wouldn’t be so bad if he did know you were shivering at the mere touch of his hand, a voice that sounded suspiciously like my mother’s said in the back of my mind. I shook the thought away and allowed him to help me out of the carriage.
I found myself standing on a street that I recognized as the outskirts of the Merchant’s District, surrounded on all sides by carts whose owners hawked items of all shapes and sizes for sale. Their voices blended together into a harmonic cacophony that reminded me of the practice fields. The farther into the district you got, the shops changed from carts to stalls to full stone buildings and the less shouting you heard. The prices also got higher, but that usually wasn’t a problem for me. I could see carts stacked with potions, cloth, and several varieties of baked goods. The one salesman I didn’t see or hear was a bookseller.
Turning to where Avery stood beside me, I realized he had never released my hand. It just felt right somehow. Raising an eyebrow quizzically, I glanced down at our intertwined hands and back up at his smiling face.
“Where do we start?”
* * *
AVERY
It was totally inappropriate for me to still be holding Genevieve’s hands more than ten minutes after we’d gotten out of the carriage, but I didn’t want to let go. I blushed and released her hand, knowing that we’d be recognized if we weren’t careful.
I held out my elbow for her to give her someplace more acceptable to place her hand. She took it with a small smile and the warmth that spread over me was like a beam of sunlight shone directly at me.
“The stall I saw was right around the corner, if you don’t mind a bit of a walk, my lady?”
We wandered through the marketplace, stopping occasionally to look at something displayed in a window or to taste something freshly cooked. I loved it. As we rounded the corner, I could see the shop that I’d wanted to visit, and the shopkeeper standing out in front of it. I caught the shopkeeper’s eye and his smile widened, showing teeth that were slightly crooked. When we got closer, he spoke.
“Welcome, fair friends! My name is Bartholomew, and this is my selection of books! Please let me know if there’s anything in particular my assistant, James, or I can help you with while you search. Please refer to me with he pronouns, and to James with xie pronouns.”
He waved towards his assistant, a tall, willowy person with grey hair who looked as though xie might blow away in any strong gust. I nodded my understanding and saw Genevieve do the same.
“Our books are shelved by genre, then by author name, and then alphabetically by title. If there’s something you cannot find, we may be able to procure it for you from one of our contacts throughout the city. We’re fairly well connected between the two of us.”
He finally took a
breath of the cold winter air and smiled at the pair of us.
“That’s the whole spiel I’ve got for you. Enjoy your perusals!”
We exchanged an amused glance and grabbed a basket each, entering the labyrinth of carts with determination. I could still hear the wind whistling through the slats of the carts surrounding us but the cold didn’t reach my skin, which I was grateful for. Genevieve’s shoulders relaxed under her wool coat as she came into the shelter of the labyrinth.
The drafts off of the nearby ocean were always harsh and bitter, even in warmer parts of the year. But between the shelves, it felt warm enough to remove the thick knitted gloves I’d needed in the streets.
I hadn’t had any particular books in mind when he recommended stopping by the stall, but the task of finding a perfect gift for Alys had my brain working hard. I would never admit this, but I had no gift for Alys, either.
Several of her classmates had sworn off giving her gifts entirely, even if they were interested in pursuing a relationship with her. I knew her better than most people did, but I was fairly certain that I’ve only been successful in getting her a gift she actually wanted twice in the decade that I’d been her mentor and friend. If we were lucky, both of us could find something that would impress the famously finicky woman that we both knew and loved.
Unfortunately, I had absolutely no idea what to buy her for her birthday. I whirled around, allowing my cloak to twirl around me in a flourish. Genevieve laughed, a flush creeping across her round cheeks.
“So, have you got any ideas for what to get Alys?”
Genevieve hesitated, shifting her weight from foot to foot before answering.
“She mentioned wanting to learn about the history of Teagan and the region, since her regional education was lacking at the Academy… I was hoping to do something like that.”
“Well, you picked the right shopping companion, then. I happen to be an expert on our duchies’ shared history. But which would be best for Alys?”
I tapped a finger on my slightly scruffy chin in thought, going through the many histories I’d read of the region. Some were too loose with their actual history, others glossed over the realities of the region’s struggles and others were just poorly written. I didn’t want Genevieve to take any of those home for her sister. Just like that, I knew exactly what to get her. I clapped my hands together lightly and stepped closer to my companion.
A Knight to Remember Page 6