The Fairest Beauty by Melanie Dickerson

Author:Melanie Dickerson [Dickerson, Melanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Romance
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2013-01-22T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Sophie awoke in a room by herself, though there were two more beds beside hers. She had obviously displaced three of the men from their normal sleeping quarters.

The sun was still not up, but tentative rays of light were showing through the window. Sophie got out of bed and dressed in her new makeshift clothing, since she wasn’t sure what had happened to her old dress after her bath yesterday. She went downstairs and all was still and quiet, but someone had built a fire in the kitchen fireplace, so she set about mixing up the dough for a loaf of flatbread. While it was baking, she cooked some apples with some spices she found on a shelf and made several pie crusts. She began frying apple pies in a pot, then used lots of cream and dried plums to make a plum custard. Then she fried a large stack of ham.

She’d had to shoo the occasional curious man out of the kitchen while she worked, but now she invited everyone to the table.

“This is quite good, Sophie,” Dominyk exclaimed.

“V-v-v-very g-good.”

Vincz laughed. “Much better than what Gotfrid made last week. He tends to mix the salt up with the sugar.”

Gotfrid scowled even deeper than usual and suddenly made a rough grab for Vincz’s shirt. Sophie didn’t dare breathe until Dominyk sat them both down with a stern look.

Walther looked over at Sophie and winked. “Maybe you can make some labels for the jars.”

The rest of breakfast continued on peacefully, though by the end of the meal Sophie was anxious to leave the table. She had gone to check on Gabe earlier, but Bartel wouldn’t let her in Gabe’s room, claiming Gabe wasn’t yet dressed. As the eight men promised to clean up after breakfast, Sophie put some food on a wooden tray and hurried up the stairs to see Gabe.

Gabe felt as weak as a kitten, but at least his fever seemed to have lessened and his head no longer felt like a horse was kicking him in the back of his skull. His shoulder still hurt but not as sharply. He might actually live.

Now that he felt better, he realized he was hungry. Bartel, the monk caring for him, had been giving him watered-down wine with herbs, and Gabe hoped his next course of treatment was food. Whatever was cooking downstairs smelled wonderful.

Sophie had knocked on the door earlier, but Bartel was just helping him get up and dressed, meaning she needed to stay in the hallway. He hoped she would come back soon. He had a fuzzy memory of her sitting beside him the day before and telling him they were safe, and he was eager to see how she was doing now. He had been crazy with worry when he was too weak to go look for her, and he had called for her numerous times without her appearing. He kept remembering a room full of nothing but men when they’d arrived.

Now, alone again, Gabe was tired of lying in bed.

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