The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf Read Online Free PDF Page B

maidservant gasped.
    "I suppose it will go on without me," Lady Eileen said indifferently. "Mind you hurry, now. My friend has been traveling far."
    Lynet tried to intervene. "No, my lady ... I mean Lady Eileen ... you mustn't miss a banquet on my account. Indeed, I couldn't—"
    "Nonsense. We'll be much more comfortable in here by the fire. Horrid banquet hall is always freezing, even in May. Well, Flora? What are you waiting for?" The maidservant started nervously and scampered from the room. Lady Eileen turned her eyes to Lynet and looked at her quietly for a moment. "I suppose you'd better tell me all about it," she said. "To begin with, what is your name?"

    Lynet returned Lady Eileen's gaze, but forlornly. "Must I tell?"
    "It is customary. Is there a reason you should not?"
    Lynet nodded. "I ... I wish I could. I don't like to hide. But I'm not here for my own sake, and ... if I..." she trailed off helplessly.
    "Never mind," said Lady Eileen. "Can you tell me your story without using names?"
    Relieved, Lynet told about her sister and about the siege by the Knight of the Red Lands.
    "I see," said Lady Eileen, when Lynet had finished. "And you've come to ask Arthur to send a champion to fight the Red Knight?"
    Lynet started to speak, but was interrupted by the arrival of Flora, followed by a serving man, bringing their food. While the serving man laid out a dozen or so plates of enticing food, Lynet answered, "That's right. And my sister will marry the knight who delivers us."
    Lady Eileen raised one eyebrow. "Of course she
will," she murmured. "And no doubt your sister is the fairest damsel in all England."

    Lynet looked at her sharply. "Oh, dear. You make it sound so ordinary."
    "Every damsel in distress is the fairest in all England, it seems," Lady Eileen said drily. "Truthfully, now. Is your sister even passably good-looking?"
    Lynet nodded vigorously. "She really is. Flawless. A little wispy thing with mournful eyes and a trembling smile. Besides," she added prosaically, "she's rich. She owns our castle and all the best farmland in our region."
    Lady Eileen looked at the serving man, who had finished laying out the meal. "Thank you, Beaumains. That will be all." The kitchen knave left, and Lady Eileen said musingly, "How unusual! A maiden in need who is really beautiful!" She smiled ruefully at Lynet and added, unexpectedly, "And how dreadful for you. I should hate to have a gorgeous sister."
    Lynet dimpled. "It
is
trying, sometimes."
    "I imagine so. I don't suppose she's the sort who will get sadly overweight when she grows older, is she?"
    "No such luck," Lynet replied mournfully. "She'll still be stunning when she's ... oh! I didn't mean to say that!" Lynet put a hand to her mouth, but Lady Eileen's eyes held so much understanding that Lynet began to giggle. "I don't really wish her ill, but it's
true that I used to daydream about the day when she would be fat and peevish looking. She hardly eats anything, though, and I had to give it up."

    "Don't give up," said Lady Eileen reassuringly. "She'll be skinny and peevish looking, and that's even worse. Shall we eat?"
    "Yes, please," Lynet said, and for some time they devoted their attention to their meal.
    When at last they were both satisfied, Lady Eileen leaned back in her chair and said, "So, if I understand you, you need one of Arthur's knights, but you're afraid that if you tell who you are, then he won't send one. Right?" Lynet nodded. "But you have no other recourse. This Knight of the Red Laundry or whatever it is has bottled you up in your castle—" She trailed off and asked suddenly, "How did you get out, by the way?"
    Lynet shook her head doubtfully. "Em not really sure, myself. I made a plan to escape at night — I was going to pretend to be a maidservant and walk right through the Red Knight's camp—but it never would have worked."
    "I shouldn't think so," Lady Eileen said. "You walk with too much assurance. So what happened?"
    "That's