The Lioness and Her Knight Read Free

in a row, they don't seem like much anymore." He broke off abruptly, and his face turned scarlet. "Oh, dear," he said. "I sounded like a terrible coxcomb just then, didn't I? I really didn't mean to."
    "Ay, you did, that," Luneta's father drawled pleasantly, "but I don't doubt you. I'm not much for the knightly arts myself, but I've spent enough time around great warriors to know when someone has the gift. I'd say you do."
    Ywain flushed again, but he looked gratified. "Well, that's what Cousin Gawain said. He stopped by to visit last time he came up to see you, and we sparred a bit. He said ... he said I wasn't so bad. Anyway, that's why I'm off to Camelot. I want to find out just how good I really am, to measure myself against real knights."
    Luneta's mother rolled her eyes very, very slightly, but her father only smiled tolerantly and said, "Well, I hope you find what you're looking for at court."
    "But that's it!" Luneta said suddenly.
    "What's what?" Luneta's mother asked.
    "Ywain can escort me to Camelot!" Luneta said quickly. "Then you won't have to leave during the planting—"
    "I wasn't planning to," Luneta's father reminded her.
    "—or even after the planting's done! Ywain can take me as far as Camelot, and you can write a letter to send along with me to Uncle Gawain, and he can take me to Salisbury to your friend's home when he's able to get away." Part of Luneta's mind was already weaving plans for extending her time at Camelot once she arrived, but with the rest of her attention she was watching her parents' faces.
    Before either could speak, Ywain said, "But that sounds delightful! Were you already planning a trip to court? I would be honored to take you with me!"
    Luneta's mother looked grim, but Luneta could tell that her father was turning the idea over in his mind, and her hopes rose.
    "I don't like it, Gary," Luneta's mother said. "It isn't seemly for a girl that young to travel so far alone with a young man."
    "He's my cousin, Mother," Luneta said. "How could that be unseemly?"
    "A very distant cousin, my dear."
    Luneta changed her tactics. Allowing her face to fall, she said, "I see. You don't trust Cousin Ywain."
    "Now, Luneta, that's not what I meant!" her mother said hastily.
    "Then what do you mean, Mother?" Luneta asked, making her eyes as wide and innocent as she could.
    Luneta's mother stared at her for a moment, but then the little wrinkles at the corners of her eyes appeared, and she looked at Luneta's father. "She's good, isn't she?"
    "Best I've seen," her father admitted.
    "And if I say that I don't think it's safe for her to travel with only one knight..."
    "She'll remind us of all those tournaments that Ywain has won," her father said. Luneta kept her eyes wide, forcing herself not to smile. In fact, that was exactly the reply that she had planned to use.
    Her father said, "She might even manage to remind us that I'm not so handy with a sword myself and hint that she would be safer traveling with Ywain than with us. And, in truth, she would be right. In the unlikely event of danger on the road, I feel sure that Ywain would be much more protection than I would be."
    At this point, Ywain spoke up. "I would take the very best care of my cousin. That I promise you both."
    "And you don't think she would be a nuisance?" Luneta's mother asked.
    Ywain grinned impishly. "To be honest, I would very much like to have her along. I'm sure it's childish, but I can't help thinking that with a lady at my side I'll look like a knight on a quest and not like any other untried knight going off to try his mettle."
    Luneta's mother chuckled suddenly and said to her husband, "I' faith, Gary, I like this cousin of yours." She looked back at Ywain. "Your frankness does you credit, Ywain. All right. Take her along with you, but even if she makes you feel like a questing knight, no questing along the way, do you hear?"
    "You have my word," Ywain said, and Luneta gave him her brightest, most dazzling smile.
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