Feazeled his snout with a single bite!”
Ending with a flourish, Leonard wiped a tear from his cheek, and Una laughed out loud. He raised an eyebrow. “The lady laughs! Ah, what a world in which we live when the innocent laugh at the sufferings of Knouts, geestly or otherwise.”
“Whatever does it mean, though?” Una asked.
The jester looked still more affronted. “If art must be explained, it is hardly worthwhile, is it?”
Una laughed again heartily. When she recovered her breath, she shook her head. “Sir Leonard the Jester, the hour is late and I must return home. Why don’t you join me? My father would welcome you, I am certain, and a bed for the night might be found for you. Unless, of course, you have somewhere else you must be. . . .” She blushed at her boldness and was almost relieved when the jester shook his head.
“I fear I must decline your offer, sweet maiden, for tonight I seek the home of the King of Parumvir himself, Fidel by name.” He swept his hand up to indicate the palace looming above them on the top of the hill. “His fools of guards – and I say fools in the basest sense, for I defy you to find a sense of humor among the lot of them – refused me admittance, but I hope to present my reference papers to a steward or housekeeper this evening and perhaps gain an audience with the king on the morrow. It is high time I found employment again, for my raiment is threadbare and my stomach empty. So you see, fair one – ”
“Oh, but King Fidel is my father,” Una said. “Yes, and I’m sure he’d give you work if you want it; we don’t have a jester at court.”
“Your father? Then – ” The jester looked her up and down, taking in her simple day dress, the leaves in her hair, the dirt on her shoes. Then he looked again at her face, and his own face lost all trace of jesterliness. “Your Highness! Princess! I must ask your forgiveness in earnest now. I am an oaf and a clod. I should have seen from your eyes, your manner, that you were royalty.” With those words, he bowed a real bow, and a graceful one at that.
Una felt the red blotches appearing on her nose and was glad the light was dim. “It’s quite all right,” she hastened to say. “No, how could you have known? Think nothing of it whatsoever.”
He smiled a sweet smile, not at all flashy. In this attitude, despite his garish clothing, Leonard seemed almost normal. “Does your hospitable invitation still stand, princess?”
“Of course. Please, do come,” she said.
“In that case” – he offered his elbow – “allow me to escort you home.”
11
Servants and courtiers stared as Una led the outlandish young man through the palace, but she ignored them. “This way,” she beckoned to Leonard and hurried through the corridors. She realized that she must be far too late for supper, so she escorted the jester to the sitting room, where her father usually retired for a few minutes of peace in the evenings. But Fidel was not there.
Frowning and a little embarrassed, Una bade the jester stay put while she hunted up a servant. The first man she came across was the palace steward, a somber fellow without a hair out of place. She caught him by the sleeve. “Where is my father?”
He coughed and straightened his cuff. “His Majesty is in conference in his private study, Your Highness.”
“In conference? On a full stomach?” This was out of character for Fidel. “With whom?”
“The Prince of Farthestshore, Your Highness.” The steward’s tone implied that he had far more important business to attend to than Una’s curiosity, so she let him go.
“Aethelbald,” she muttered and frowned. She had almost forgotten their meeting in the forest earlier that evening. Had she said something, anything, that she wouldn’t want Aethelbald repeating to her father? Would she be due a lecture come the morrow? She sniffed, frustrated, and twisted her mouth. Why couldn’t Prince Aethelbald let her alone for once?
Though, she had to admit, there was some chance they weren’t discussing her at all. Somehow this thought was still more galling.