Time Travel Romances Boxed Set (17 page)

But perhaps that was best. It could do no
harm to appear foolish to Bard, after her many slips on this day.
Aurelia leaned closer and dropped her voice. “What is wine?”

Bard did not mock her. Nor, unfortunately,
did he act as though she was slow of wit. “You do have things
pretty simple up here, don’t you?” he mused, just taking the
question in stride. “It’s made from grapes.”

“
Grapes?” That did not tell
Aurelia anything and Bard evidently guessed as much.

“
They wouldn’t grow here,
but I thought they might be shipped in.” His glance was
questioning, but Aurelia shrugged her incomprehension. Furs and
slaves were shipped, to her knowledge, and settlers brought
livestock and tools. Certainly one would not make a beverage of any
of those things.

Bard swished the red liquid in the glass
flagon. “Grapes are a fruit that grows in warm places, warmer
places than here.”

The juice of a fruit. There could be no harm
in that. And it would certainly be safer than the water. Aurelia
nodded. “I would like to sample some of this Chianti, if you
please.”

Bard poured her a finger’s depth in the
bottom of a glass and offered it to Aurelia. “Try it first. See if
you like it.”

The vessel he handed her was like a chalice,
stemmed and shaped like an inverted bell, but wrought of very thin
glass. Aurelia was amazed yet again at the craftsmanship they all
took for granted.

Their fingers brushed in the transaction and
Aurelia fought to hide any sign of the way her heart stopped. Those
green eyes never wavered from her, though, and she deliberately
turned her attention to the wine. Her very flesh tingled in
awareness and, yet again, Aurelia felt that Bard could read her
thoughts.

Why could he not have been born a wretchedly
ugly man?

Aurelia sniffed the wine and found its aroma
quite pleasing. Under Bard’s watchful eye, she cautiously sipped.
The juice tasted of richness and sunshine - Aurelia closed her eyes
as she rolled this wine across her tongue and imagined herself in
this warmer clime, a place so warm that she could bare her very
flesh to the sun. In her mind’s eye, a handsome warrior who was not
entirely unfamiliar bent to brush his lips temptingly across her
own.

Then she heard Bard chuckle. Aurelia’s eyes
flew open.

He had read her thoughts again!

And now he laughed. Oh, he must think her a
fool to have fallen so readily for his scheme! Aurelia felt herself
flush scarlet.

“
You look completely
entranced.” Bard’s voice was low with a thread of humor, his lips
quirked at one corner. His eyes gleamed as though he was talking
about more than the wine.

Had he guessed that she found him
dangerously handsome? Aurelia felt uncharacteristically flustered
at the prospect. She was not used to people reading her thoughts so
easily - usually she was the perceptive one!

And she certainly was not used to being so
aware of a man. There had been warriors in her father’s court
anxious to win her attention, but Aurelia had easily ignored
them.

Bard, however, was markedly difficult to
ignore. He spoke to her as though he cared for more than her fine
features, which proved to have a dangerous allure.

That he knew her weakness for him only
rubbed salt into Aurelia’s wounded pride.

“
I like it very much,” she
said formally.

And she held out her goblet for more.

*

This pizza, however, did not rate so well in
Aurelia’s estimation. A kind of bread, it was slathered with a red
sauce of considerable spice, the entire thing smelling of fish. She
certainly had known better fare, but hoped no one noticed her
circumspect examination of the food.

She had no such luck.

“
Disgusting, isn’t it?”
Julian asked and tossed his piece back on the board. He took a deep
draught of his wine as though he would wash the taste from his
mouth, then reached for the glass flagon to refill his goblet.
“Aurelia? Could you use a bit more?”

Aurelia nodded. To her surprise, once Julian
was done, he lifted his goblet in a toast. “To Aurelia’s superb
taste! May none of us ever have to eat pizza like this again!”

And he drained his goblet once more.

Aurelia, not wanting to antagonize the
priest after having won a measure of his acceptance, followed
suit.

“
You don’t have to eat it,”
Bard muttered darkly.

Julian filled his glass to the brim. “Good.
More wine?” His question came too late for Aurelia to have stopped
his refilling of her goblet. He winked. “It gets better by the
fourth glass.”

This made no sense to Aurelia but she said
nothing, stoically continuing to eat her pizza.

“
Really, Baird, darling,
it’s just too terribly fishy!” Marissa dropped her pizza back onto
the board. “I don’t even eat fish with this strong of a flavor!”
She sipped at her wine, her gaze locked on Bard.

“
I thought you were
ravenous,” that man commented.

Marissa rolled her eyes. “Desperation,
darling, is quite another thing. And I’m certain I couldn’t
possibly eat another bite.”

Bard eyed the whore’s half-eaten slice of
pizza dubiously, then his glance flicked to meet Aurelia’s. She saw
a skepticism there that she certainly shared - why, Marissa had not
eaten enough to sustain a mere rat!

“
Well, it’s all there is,”
Bard said tightly. He looked to Aurelia again, his eyes tellingly
bright. “Will you have another piece?”

Aurelia was not about to slight the
hospitality of her host, however barbaric his court might be. A
princess had to show some dignity, after all.

And she was very, very hungry.

She wiped her hands fastidiously on her
oddly thin napkin and eyed one of the other pizzas. Aurelia was
curious to know what all three tasted like but was mindful of her
decision to eat only what Bard ate first.

“
Shall we try the other
one?” she suggested and Bard grinned.

“
Absolutely.” He fired an
arch glance to his courtiers, both of whom grimaced with distaste
and drew back.

“
Looks like it’s just you
and me, princess.” Bard offered the pizza and Aurelia took a piece,
sipping her wine until he had taken the first bite.

Then she practically inhaled her second
piece. Gods and goddesses, had she ever been so hungry?

“
Whoa!” Julian whistled
through his teeth. “You look like you haven’t eaten in a thousand
years!”

Vulgar man! Aurelia glanced scornfully in
his direction. “I have always been blessed with a healthy
appetite.”

Marissa snorted. “I should say so! I could
never have eaten more, even if it had been one of Sebastien’s
glorious pizzas!”

To Aurelia’s surprise, it was Bard who came
to her defense. “There’s nothing wrong with a woman being honest
enough to eat like a human being.”

The whore straightened proudly. “What is
that supposed to mean?”

“
Only that most women pick
at their food and eat about three bites a meal. It’s not good for
you to eat so little.” Surprisingly, he granted Aurelia a smile.
“The princess obviously has a good appetite and enjoys food.
There’s nothing wrong with that.”

The glint in Bard’s eyes made Aurelia’s
resistance to him melt a little more. She felt that the room had
become much warmer, though it maybe it was finally having something
in her belly. Aurelia cleared her throat, uncomfortable to be the
sole point of his interest, and tried to laugh.

“
One must always take
advantage of an opportunity to eat,” she said lightly. “My mother
often said that one never knew when there would be a meal
again.”

“
Let alone a good one,”
Julian interjected.

Bard ignored his priest. “Sound advice,” he
concurred.

Marissa snorted. “For vagrants, it makes
wonderful sense.”

“
My third foster mother
said the same thing and I always believed it,” Bard retorted.
“Despite an unsettled childhood, I’ve never actually been called a
vagrant before.”

Marissa’s eyes went round and she
immediately began making fulsome apologies.

Bard ignored his whore and offered the third
pizza to Aurelia, “Should we try this one, princess? I don’t think
Julian’s going to do this Vegetarian Special justice.”

“
Oh, yes!” Aurelia took a
piece and Marissa inhaled sharply.

“
Give me that!” she snapped
and snatched up a slice of pizza.

The priest chuckled to himself and drained
his wine once more. “Is the prey really worth the price of the
hunt, Marissa?” he murmured inexplicably.

Aurelia glanced between them all in
confusion and caught the end of the wicked look the whore fired
Julian’s way. There was the evil eye in action, if ever she had
seen it! Aurelia concentrated on her pizza for fear of attracting
such malice to herself.

“
You just go ahead and
finish up that cheap wine, Julian, darling.” Marissa’s voice was a
low with animosity. “You’ll regret it in the morning, you can be
sure.”

“
Oh, I don’t think so.”
Julian leaned forward unexpectedly, the flagon in his hand. “What
do you say we make a bet, Aurelia?”

She looked warily to the priest, wondering
what his game might be. “A bet?”

“
Sure. You may be able to
eat more pizza than our Marissa, but can you drink more wine than
me?”

Aurelia surveyed the priest who was her
competition in more matters than this. “You mean to make a
wager.”

“
Yeah, just a little
friendly competition.” Julian topped up her goblet with a flourish
and waggled his eyebrows expressively. “There’s nothing else to do
around this damned place.”

“
Careful, princess,” Bard
warned with a smile. “This man likes his wine.” He offered the
first pizza again, much to Aurelia’s relief. This fare was not
terribly filling. Aurelia took another slice while she considered
Julian’s offer.

A challenge over fruit juice. The Viking
pride Aurelia had inherited from her sire would not let her turn
him down.

“
And what do I win?” she
demanded saucily.

“
Satisfaction!” Julian said
and lifted his glass high.

Oh, there would be that, Aurelia was
certain! If she could best Bard’s priest in any matter - even one
so minor as this - she would be more convinced of the power of her
own abilities against his own.

And less convinced of the efficacy of his
own. That would be no small thing.

Aurelia lifted her glass high. “To the end
of the wine,” she declared and Julian laughed aloud.

“
Or of us, whichever comes
first!”

*

Two hours later, Aurelia and Julian had
drunk the better part of four bottles of wine and Julian was
wrestling with the cork of a fifth. Aurelia was feeling very, very
relaxed.

And more than a little bit happy. She liked
the Chianti well, and felt more carefree than she had in quite some
time.

Perhaps it was because Bard had settled back
in his chair, his green gaze burning bright as he watched her.
Aurelia supposed that they were all providing his entertainment,
but for the moment, she did not care.

She felt very feminine beneath his regard
and very much alive. A small smile toyed with his lips and with
each glass of juice, the hum of desire deep within Aurelia buzzed a
little harder.

Julian tugged savagely on the strange curly
implement he had inserted into the cork, but to no avail. “Whoa!
This is a tight one!” He turned it some more, grimaced and pulled
again.

The cork did not move, but Aurelia laughed
at Julian’s antics. Truly, Bard had no need of a fool with this
priest in his household!

“
Oh, you make too much of
too little!” she scoffed, the curious heat in her veins making her
playful.

“
Oh yeah?” Julian grinned.
“You’re drinking as much of it as me - you open this
one.”

“
I do not know the
spell!”

Julian managed to look innocent. “What
spell?”

Aurelia chuckled. “You will not trick me
that easily into matching my powers against yours!” She shook a
finger at an apparently astonished Julian. “You do not fool me with
your jest!”

“
What jest?”

“
Pretending that you cannot
conjure that cork out the bottle in the blink of an eye!” Aurelia
scoffed. “A powerful priest such as you. For shame!”

Marissa trilled the same odd laugh she had
given when explaining the magic of the peephole to Aurelia. No one
joined her laughter, or even acknowledged it.

Julian blinked and slanted a glance to
Bard.

Bard leaned forward and braced his elbows on
his knees. “Priest?” he echoed quietly.

“
Oh, surely anyone with
their wits about them could see that Julian is your advisor! Who
else would have the king’s ear but a priest? Julian is certainly
not a warrior, with that strange garb!” Aurelia chuckled to herself
that they should pretend the truth was anything other than what it
obviously was.

Silence filled the restaurant, but Aurelia
was oblivious to the stares of her three companions. She drained
the last of her wine and held out her goblet for more with a
winning smile.

For fruit juice, it was quite good. A bit of
a tang - likely the grapes had tainted slightly during the shipping
Bard talked about - but it was flavor one could grow to like.

“
If I concede that the
powers Rome grants to its priests are far greater than imagined,
would you open that cursed bottle and share it
contents?”