Page 29 of Christmas Secrets

* * *

When Holly walkedout into the great hall with Willow and Morag, Percival couldn’t believe his eyes. Holly looked so beautiful! Anyone would swear she was a lady. He put down his tankard and pushed the wooden spinning top over to Noel and his brothers, running over to escort her into the room.

Wearing one of Willow’s ornate gowns, Holly was dressed in bright green with white lace. The long tippets, or sleeves, reached all the way down to the soft, pointy satin slippers on her feet. Her hair was braided, and in the braid were woven sprigs of dark green holly with bright red berries.

Her clear blue eyes sought him out. She looked frightened and he didn’t want her to feel this way. He smiled at her and winked. The fear in her gaze seemed to leave her, once she saw his face.

“My, you are beautiful,” he told her, holding out his arm. May I escort you to the table?”

“Yes. Please,” she said, being ever so polite, taking his arm, gripping him tightly with her fingers.

“Mmmph,” he mumbled as he headed toward the dais where the nobles sat. “Any tighter with that grip and you’re going to draw blood.”

She leaned over and spoke softly. “Percival, everyone is staring at me. I’m so nervous that I feel my body shaking.”

“Of course, they are all staring, and rightly so,” he said, still heading for the dais. “You are the most beautiful woman in the entire room.”

“Nay, don’t say that. You know it is not true.”

“It is true to me.” He reached out and stroked her cheek, looking deeply into her eyes, feeling his body warming just being in her presence.”

“Thank you,” she said in a mere whisper. When he continued to walk toward the dais, she suddenly stopped in place. “Don’t take me up there, please. I cannot go. It is not right.”

“Why not?” he asked.

“You know as well as I that the commoners eat below the salt. Only the nobles sit at the dais.”

“I really don’t think anyone would object. I mean, you look like a lady today, even if you aren’t one. Besides, you are my guest, and that is where I am going to sit since I am brother to the lord of the castle.”

“Please, Percival, don’t make me do this,” she begged. Her voice quaked and her face paled. He wasn’t sure she wouldn’t swoon. She gripped his arm even tighter, and he could feel her entire body trembling. He realized she really didn’t want to go up the stairs, even though he wanted more than anything to bring her with him. Not wanting to make her feel more uncomfortable than she already was, he decided it best to just sit below the salt with her.

“Fine. We’ll sit by Noel and my brothers. I want to keep an eye on those toys since they were so hard to make and took so long.”

“But you shouldn’t sit below the salt. Your place is on the dais, Percival.”

“My place is with you today, Holly. And if you are sitting below the salt, then so am I.”

“Thank you,” she said, reaching up and giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Ye’ll have to do better than that since ye’re standin’ under the kissin’ bough,” called out Morag from her seat at the dais.

“What?” Percival looked up at the ceiling and groaned. Sure enough, one of those silly kissing boughs was directly over their heads where they stood. “We don’t have to do this,” he told her, not wanting to terrorize her more with everyone watching. Actually, he wasn’t feeling all that confident about kissing her in front of everyone either. Although, with the way she looked, he wanted to kiss her more than anything right now.

“Of course, not. We won’t kiss.” Her long lashes lowered and she stared at the floor. “It would be silly.”

If he didn’t know better, he’d think she was a bit disappointed. It was almost as if she wanted to kiss him under the blasted thing. A minute ago she was too upset to go up to the dais, but now she wanted to kiss in front of all the nobles? He really didn’t understand this girl at all.

“Brother, take a seat,” called out Bedivere. “Father John is going to lead us in a prayer so we can eat.”

“Sorry,” said Percival, escorting Holly to the table with the children, taking a seat across from her on the long wooden bench. The prayer was said and the food and drinks served. This opened the feast and the start of the Christmastide celebration.

* * *

Holly had never tasted sucha delicious meal in her entire life. Percival kept apologizing that the food wasn’t as good as up at the dais, but it was still better than anything she’d ever eaten in her life.

The feast started with a rich, thick soup that actually had meat in it, along with lots of vegetables, spices, and even salt! That was followed by pickled rabbit in a dill gravy. Boar’s head with brawn pudding was part of the meal, as well as roasted goose with sugared quince and lots of walnuts and currants. Root vegetables were served alongside a thick cut of venison drenched in brown gravy that Percival brought to her from up at the dais. He insisted he wanted her to taste it, but honestly she thought it was only because he personally didn’t want to miss out. The highlight of the meal and the star piece was a cooked peacock in full display with its feathers reattached and spread out in a beautiful array of colors.

“Oh, my! This is all so amazing,” she exclaimed. “I’ve eaten more today than I can ever remember. I am so full I couldn’t eat another bite,” she told Percival near the end of the meal. He kept filling her goblet with red mulled wine, so her head was already spinning. He was drinking some kind of strong whisky that she could smell all the way across the table. He offered some to her but she declined, already starting to feel giddy.