The Velvet Promise (Montgomery/Taggert 2)

They burst into laughter.

“Let’s hurry and eat these or we’ll have to share them. If I’m not mistaken, Elder Brother approaches.”

“Do I ever find you except in the company of men?” Gavin frowned down at them.

“Do you ever greet me with anything except criticism?” Judith retorted.

Stephen snorted with laughter. “I think I should return to camp.” He leaned over and kissed Judith’s forehead. “If you need help, little sister, I too can find another’s eyes.”

Gavin grabbed his brother’s arm. “Has she enticed you, too?”

Stephen looked back at his sister-in-law, her lips stained dark pink with berry juice. “Yes. If you do not want her…”

Gavin gave him a look of disgust. “Raine has already asked.”

Stephen laughed and walked away.

“Why did you leave the camp?” Gavin asked as he sat

beside her and took a handful of berries from her lap.

“We reach London tomorrow, don’t we?”

“Yes. The king and queen don’t frighten you, do they?”

“No, not them.”

“What then?”

“The…women of the court.”

“Are you jealous?” he laughed.

“I don’t know.”

“How could I have time for other women when you’re near? You keep me so tired, I do well to stay on my horse.”

She did not laugh with him. “There is only one woman I fear. She has separated us before. Don’t let her—”

Gavin’s face was hard. “Don’t speak of her. I have treated you well. I don’t pry into what happened at Demari’s; yet you seek my soul.”

“And she is your soul?” Judith asked quietly.

Gavin looked at her, her eyes warm, her skin soft and fragrant. The past nights of passion flooded his memory. “Don’t ask me,” he whispered. “I’m sure of one thing only, and that is that my soul is not my own.”

The first thing Judith noticed about London was the stench. She thought she knew all the smells humans could create having spent summers in castles overrun with heat and humanity. But nothing prepared her for London. Open gutters ran on each side of the cobbled streets, overflowing with all manner of waste. From the heads of fish and rotting vegetables to the contents of the chamber pots, it all lay in the streets. Pigs and rats ran freely, eating the refuse, spreading it everywhere.

The houses, half-timbered and stone structures were three and four stories high, and so close together that little air and no sun reached between them. The horror Judith felt must have showed on her face, for both Gavin and Stephen laughed at her.

“Welcome to the city of kings,” Stephen said.

Once inside the walls of Winchester, the noise and stench were less. A man came to take their horses, and as soon as Gavin helped Judith from hers, she turned to see to the ordering of the carts of baggage and furniture.

“No,” Gavin said. “I am sure the king has heard of our arrival. He won’t appreciate waiting while you set his castle to rights.”

“My clothes are clean? They aren’t too mussed?” Judith had dressed carefully that morning in a tawny silk undertunic and a bright yellow velvet dress. The long, hanging sleeves were lined with the finest Russian sable. There was also a wide border of sable along the hem of the gown.

“You are perfect. Now come and let the king look at you.”