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insisted be laid over the head table. "I am sure she meant no insult."
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"She's a child still and awkward at times," he said, then added with a wry twist to his lips, "and, I fear, a
bit spoiled. Mother always regretted not having a daughter and showered Diamanda with affection when
she arrived to train at Gerville. Mother will be sorry to see her go."
"Is her training done, then?" Avelyn asked.
Paen shrugged. "She trained at Gerville because she was to marry my brother Adam. Now that he is
dead, her father is looking for an alternate husband for the girl. He had decided she should return home
while they make the search, and her Aunt Helen came to collect her, but mother is trying to convince him
to allow Diamanda to stay until she has to marry. A note has been sent to her father, and Helen is staying
on until we get a response." His gaze slid along the table to the girl. "I fear Mother will be disappointed."
"You do not think her father will let her stay?" Avelyn asked with surprise, and he shook his head.
"She is a pretty child. I suspect her father may already have made a match for her and will want her
home to prepare for marriage."
"She looks to be at least sixteen, my lord. Hardly a child."
"She is fourteen," he corrected.
Surprised, Avelyn glanced along the table to the girl in question. Diamanda did have a young face, clear
skin, pixie features. Avelyn supposed she had been misled by the child's figure. While she was small in
the waist and in height, she was also extremely well developed in the bust area. Still, at fourteen she was
old enough for marriage and not considered a child. Avelyn thought no more of the matter as the door to
the kitchens opened and servants began to file in carrying platters of food. The first of the servers moved
to the head table, while the others spread themselves among the lower tables. The food smelled delicious,
and Avelyn smiled at the girl who stopped before her and Paen to serve them. Paen began to pile food
onto the trencher they shared, leaving Avelyn to concentrate on her misery.
She was still finding it difficult to breathe. It was bad enough when she stood, but whilst sitting she felt as
if there were a great band around her ribs, crushing them. Which, of course, there was. Avelyn could not
even imagine being able to swallow any of the food Paen was piling onto the trencher. If there wasn't
room to suck in something as ephemeral as air, there certainly wasn't room for food& which seemed like
some form of torture to Avelyn, for she was quite hungry. She had been too nervous to eat the day
before as they'd awaited the arrival of her betrothed and his family. In fact, Avelyn recalled now, she'd
been rather nervous the night ere that too and had merely picked at her food, so it was nearly two days
now since she had actually eaten. And here was she, all trussed up like a turkey and unable to eat.
To make matters worse, she was also hot and sweaty, and becoming uncomfortably itchy where the
binding stopped below her breasts. The top of the cloth seemed to be chafing the undersides of her
breasts, irritating the tender flesh there mightily. Avelyn tried stretching out her backbone in an effort to
find some relief and perhaps a bit of air, but the effort appeared to do little good.
"Eat."
"Hmmm?" Avelyn glanced distractedly at the man beside her. He had apparently finished piling their
trencher and had already dug in. Paen gestured to the meal and repeated, "Eat."
When Avelyn peered at the food with secret longing, but did not move to take any, he sighed and said,
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"I had hoped for a healthy wife, with a healthy appetite."
The disappointment in his voice was enough to make Avelyn pick up a drumstick from the selection on
the trencher and lift it to her mouth. She didn't bite of it, however, but merely held it under her nose and
before her lips and breathed in. The succulent scent of the roasted meat nearly had her swooning with
pleasure and longing, but she knew positively that there was no way the food would fit into her presently
constricted stomach. It would most likely lodge itself somewhere between her breasts and add to her
discomfort.
" Tis good, is it not?" her new husband commented, apparently searching for conversation.
Avelyn nodded at once, and took a bite since he was watching her expectantly. Unfortunately, he did
not turn his attention back to the trencher as she'd hoped, but continued to watch her, and Avelyn was
forced to chew& and chew. Dear God, it tasted like manna from the gods. Still, she feared she'd choke
on it if she swallowed, so she chewed the meat into mash in her mouth as he watched, then chewed some
more.
"I think you have chewed enough," he commented at last with amusement. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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