“This really is amazing, Madame Gwen,” Cassy answered.
Grainna’s eyes pierced Duncan. Her smile painted on. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”
“Of course.” Tara found her voice. “Duncan and Fin, this is Madame Gwen. The lady to whom we owe our elevated status.”
Grainna extended her hand.
Duncan shook her hand briefly.
“You put on a lovely show. Have you been doing this for long?” Duncan asked.
“For several years now, Mr...?”
He wasn’t about to tell her his surname. He had no way of knowing if she had encountered his ancestors before his birth.
Fin jumped in when Duncan stumbled on his reply. “Several years? Wow, it must be tiring for someone your age?” Grainna stared at him, displeased with his rude remark.
Duncan kicked Fin under the table. “I think what my brother is asking is if you plan on retiring soon? Although, I doubt any could do as good a job managing this event.”
“If everything works out, gentlemen, I’ll be retiring very soon.” Her gaze drifted to Tara. The scowl on her face lifted. “Enjoy your evening.”
Grainna turned to walk away.
Duncan let out a silent sigh of relief.
They called it roast duck, when they served what was really chicken. Not that it mattered, because Tara didn’t taste a thing. Every once and a while, she would glance up when someone laughed a little too loudly or when a guest stumbled into their table. The party went on around her, but she didn’t notice much except Duncan. Tara didn’t want to see the evening end. But as people started making their way to their tents, and the musicians stopped playing, she resigned herself to say good night.
Duncan walked her to her tent with Sampson close behind.
“Thank you for today.” Tara felt the twinge of an awkward moment, the first she had felt since she had climbed back on his horse.
Duncan took her nervous hand in his and leaned in for the gentlest of kisses. “Sleep well, Lady Tara.”
He turned on his heels, sailed past the guard, and disappeared into the night.
Tara watched him go. Damn!
“Do you think he left?” Tara looked around the extra guard searching for Duncan in the crowd. Cassy grinned through the haze of morning blur.
“I’m sure he’s here somewhere. Maybe he’s sleeping like half the other people here.” She protested their early hour viciously when Tara pulled her out of her bed. “Like we should still be doing,” Cassy added.
Tara cocked her head to one side. “This was your brilliant idea. Don’t go giving me lip because I’m starting to get into it.”
“Yeah, yeah. Where’s the coffee?”
“What are you going to do?” Fin looked over the rim of his cup at the women who hadn’t noticed them yet. Duncan didn’t acknowledge his brother’s question. He was too busy watching her.
Fin waved a hand in front of his brother’s eyes to gain his attention. “God’s teeth, Duncan, you have to focus. Our time is running out.”
“Damn if I don’t know that.” He tore his eyes away. “She is undeserving of what we are doing.”
Fin felt for his brother whose conscience was always getting in the way of the deed. “If we were home, I’d say pursue her as your wife. But since we are not, bed her and be done with it.”
Duncan winced. “And if she doesn’t go willingly, what then, Fin? Even you would not take when permission is not granted.”
“You have all of today and tonight. If the time doesn’t prove fruitful, then tomorrow’s games will give her a taste of the man you are.” Fin knocked his brother on his back and choked out a laugh. “Who knows, maybe I’ll let you win the games so you can be handfasted with her.”
“Let me win?”
“Aye, let you.” Fin laughed at the rivalry, which had always been between them, but one they’d never taken to an extreme.
They both looked over at Tara. A tall well-dressed man stood in front of her. To Duncan’s distaste, Tara smiled at him and laughed at something he said.
Duncan stiffened when he saw the man reach out to shake her hand and then hold it for a minute too long. Jealousy, green as moss on a tree, surged through him. What did the stranger say to make her smile in such a way? And why was he standing so close?
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Steel.” Tara smiled. “Please call me Michael. After tomorrow’s games, we might become better acquainted.”
“I’m sorry?”
“There are very few men here who can joust. I’m happy to say, I have the upper hand.”
An image of a peacock popped in Tara’s mind.
This man strutted like an over-inflated bird.
She looked down, noticed he still held her hand and pulled back. “It’s a compliment you would try so hard.”
Feeling another set of eyes on her, Tara glanced up to see Duncan looking at them. In her delight at seeing him, his scowl went unnoticed. She said, “If you’ll excuse me.”
Duncan’s eyes connected with Mr. Steel’s, when she turned to walk toward him. His chin rose slightly. Tara glanced back at the man, then back at Duncan. Is he jealous?
Before Tara had a chance to say hello, Duncan swept down and captured her lips in a searing kiss.
The clearing of throats reminded her, they were in public. Not that she cared.
“Good morning to you, too.” Tara staggered back. Oh, yeah. He was jealous.
His charming smile looked down at her while he placed her arm in his. “’Tis a lovely day. Let us see what we can do to entertain ourselves.”
Maybe it was his old-fashioned words, or maybe the way his glance devoured her, but Tara would have followed him anywhere in that moment.
Even with Bruno trailing behind them, they managed to have some fun. Jugglers, jesters, a man who breathed fire and even a few really bad actors butchering Shakespeare entertained the crowd.
The children of the fair grew bored. Tara noticed more than a few sneaking behind tents and heard the unmistakable sounds of handheld video games being played. She pointed the kids out to Duncan and rhetorically asked, “What did children in these times do for fun?”
“Most children of the villages work a large part of their day, helping their families in whatever trade they are in. Children of the wealthy have servants to do much of the work, so the males start practicing at an early age to become knights. The females learn early on the way to run their households.”