From Darkness Won - Jill Williamson [220]
The guests are hungry. They are seated in the great hall, but there is no sign of the prince and his bride.
Achan drew back from Sparrow and stared into her eyes. Say that again, Sir Caleb?
Say what?
His bride.
The guests are waiting, Your Highness. The sooner you eat, the sooner the banquet ends.
Hmm. Point taken. Achan took Sparrow’s hand and led her to the door. We are on our way.
They feasted on roasted quail, venison, fish, ale-flavored bread, stewed cabbage, tarts and custards, dates, pistachio nuts, and spicy mulled wine. Achan lost count after five courses. Sparrow, as she’d predicted, hardly ate a thing.
A minstrel sang several songs about Achan and Sparrow, including “The Pawn Our King” and a new song titled, “The Sparrow that Was a She.” There were other entertainers including a juggler, an acrobat, and a man with a dancing dog.
When it came time for people to dance, Achan was quickly parted from Sparrow in order to dance with Duchess Amal, Lady Gypsum, and Lady Gali. Achan was surprised to see Sir Gavin dancing with a pretty grey-haired woman.
He somehow managed to get free and spotted Sparrow. She was standing near the wall, surrounded by a group of men. Achan nudged his way across the room, but someone grabbed his arm.
“Best wishes to you, Pacey,” Kurtz said.
“Thank you, Kurtz.” Achan braced himself for a comment about the wedding night, but Kurtz surprised him.
“I like what you did for Cole the other night, Your Highness, and that you included me. My father… he didn’t talk much. Too busy with the guardsmen. And he made a sport of women as if they were hawks or dice. Guess that and the sword was all I learned from him.”
Achan dug for something to say, but Kurtz went on.
“What you said about the code, of honoring women and protecting them. I figured it out, I did. That’s why Gavin left me out of your ceremony. I was a bad influence, I was. But you included me in Cole’s night. I guess you see something good in me, eh?”
“There is much good in you, Kurtz. You are friendly and brave and strong. And you remind me to not take things so seriously always.”
“How did a cub like you get so smart, eh?”
“Good friends. A girl named Gren loved me when no one else would. And a fellow named Noam. But I give Gren most of the credit.”
“You’ve done the same for me, you have. By asking me to mentor Cole. I won’t let you down, Pacey. I won’t.”
Sparrow stepped up behind Kurtz, and Achan held his hand out to his bride. She took it, and he pulled her close. “Look who is here, Sparrow. It is Kurtz. And he is not dancing! What do you say about that?”
“He must be ill,” Sparrow said.
“I’m as well as water, my lady. But I cannot pass myself off as a wild stallion anymore. I fear my limp is here to stay. And no woman would look on me now. Not with a scar like this on my neck.”
“On the contrary,” Sparrow said. “Many women will be drawn to your battle scar. To think you fought for the freedom of Er’Rets. You are a hero to this land.”
Kurtz beamed. “Now, I like that, I do. You’ve put the right spin on it, my lady. I’m a hero, I am. All have pity on the hero who’s me, eh?”
Sparrow giggled, and Achan pulled her back to the dance floor. Her cape was so long he had to twist it up and over her arm so she would not trip.
Midway through the dance, Duchess Amal called them over to where Poril had set dozens of small cakes on a table. The duchess stacked three cakes on the floor between Achan and Sparrow. “Let us see if you can reach her, Your Highness, without knocking down the cakes.”
Achan leaned over the cake and kissed Sparrow.
Duchess Amal and Sir Eagan took turns adding cakes to the growing stack between them. Before long, the cakes were piled so high that Achan could see Sparrow’s head only. He bounced up on his tiptoes and leaned over the swaying tower of cake, but his chest knocked into it and the cakes fell against Sparrow. She squealed as the cakes knocked her down in a pile of crumbled sweetness.
Achan leapt to her side and helped her up out of the mountain of cake. “Sorry, Sparrow. I did my best.”
“I think