Page 83 of The Sword and the Damsel

“What you’vebothbeen able to accomplish,” he whispered in her ear as he pulled out her chair so that she could sit. “I know how hard you worked.” Louder, so that the rest of the table could hear, he said, “You are a truly amazing woman, Alais, and I am the luckiest man alive.”

Giles, who came over from Guestling for the festivities, yelled “Hear! Hear!” in her father’s ear. Her parents raised their glasses in agreement.

“Maybe the second luckiest,” Daniel quipped, kissing Carenza’s hand.

“We shall have to agree to disagree,” Victor answered with a laugh.

“You’re both wrong,” her father said, shaking his head with a smile. “Because not only do I have the best wife in the world but the best daughters.” At that, everyone cheered and raised a glass. “And my sons-in-law aren’t bad either,” he added with a conciliatory grin.

“Not that it’s a competition,” Giles interjected, “but I have the best son, the best daughter-in-law, and…” he looked around the table for dramatic effect, narrowing his eyes, “the best cook.” Everyone burst into laughter at that.

“Marie is here, by the way,” he told Alais in a loud whisper that everyone could hear. “I brought her along. I thought you might like some proper cooking on your birthday.”

“Lord Giles,” Carenza interjected. “I believe I can outdo even you. You see, I have the best husband, the best parents, the best sisters, the best son, and…” she paused, “the best troubadour.”

“You?” Daniel asked with an innocent smile.

“Hush your nonsense! You know I meant you,” she snapped back in mock outrage.

“Oh, Carenza,” Alais said, shaking her head. “I can beat you. I have the best husband, who also happens to be the best swordsman. I have the best parents, the best sisters, the best father-in-law, and…” she smiled regally, “it’s my birthday.”

Iselda stood up with her cup, looking awkward, with a nervous smile across her face. Everyone went silent and turned attentively, wondering what she could possibly say after all of that. “I love you all.” They all watched her expectantly, waiting for her to continue. “That’s all,” she said, blushing furiously and sitting down as the whole family burst into raucous shouts and applause.

The feasting began, starting with Marie’s sublime pottage, followed by snapper in red wine sauce, stuffed capons, suckling pig, and a peach tart for dessert.

“A peach tart?” Alais murmured to Victor, raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t you like it?”

“It’s delicious. It’s just…”

“You’re thinking of the song.”

She nodded.

He smiled.

“Can one ever have enough peach tart? I, myself, find it quite delicious. I wonder how much peach tart I could eat in one sitting before my tongue got tired.” He reached out to squeeze her thigh beneath the table, sending a shiver up her spine.

“But I’ve eaten so much. I need some time to digest before the…um…tart eating begins.”

“Of course. No need to rush,” he said with a lascivious grin that promised a long and lugubrious night ahead.

As the meal wound to a close, Alais’s parents, Giles, and Iselda all excused themselves and headed off to bed. Daniel sent for more wine and for his friend Gerard, the troubadour, who joined them with his lute. He sang a few old favorites as theyall sat and drank wine and laughed together. As the evening progressed, they all got drunker, and he moved on to some of the more risqué songs he knew, including one by Guillaume IX, Count of Poitiers, and Duke of Aquitaine, about two horses that made Alais giggle.

“Do you know the one he wrote about the cat and the man from Auvergne?” Alais asked with a devilish smile.

Gerard froze, looking around at the others with wide, worried eyes.

Victor burst out laughing. “Don’t panic, Gerard. She’s heard it before.”

“And I am the birthday girl,” she added with an ingratiating grin.

Gerard looked at Daniel, who chuckled and shrugged, and then at Carenza, who looked conflicted, but then sighed and said, “She’s an adult. She’s married. I suppose it’s past time I stopped trying to protect her innocence and defend her virtue. She’s her own woman.”

Alais stared at her. Carenza was treating her like an adult? Carenza was passing up an opportunity to scold and moralize? What was the world coming to?

“Besides,” Carenza added, “I like the song about the cat too.”

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