By Arrangement by Madeline Hunter

they came upon a most suitable horse, a beautiful small black palfrey. The owner produced a saddle, and Christiana tried him out. While David came to terms with the man and arranged for delivery to Westminster's stables, she scanned the crowd for signs of the long-absent Joan and Andrew. The field was too big and busy for her to find them. Just like Joan to forget the reason for coming in the first place.
    A bear baiter and some dancers arrived to entertain. Christiana had no interest in the bear, but the dancers fascinated her. At court she tried never to miss dancers of any kind. This group was fairly rustic and unschooled compared to others she had seen, but still she followed their movements to the simple music for a long while. A part of her envied these women who were permitted to let the music entrance them, whose bodies swayed and curved and angled like moving pictures.
    “I would have liked to be a dancer.”
    “You dance at banquets and feasts, do you not?” David asked.
    She blushed. She hadn't even realized that she had spoken out loud. “Aye. But that is different. That is like a dinner conversation.” She gestured to the women. “This is like a meditation, I think. Sometimes I will see one wholooks to be in ecstasy, who is not even aware of the world anymore.”
    She felt his gaze and tore her eyes away from the performance to look at him. His face held that penetrating expression that he directed at her sometimes. There was something invasive about this focused awareness, and it never failed to make her uncomfortable.
    It is like I am made of glass , she thought. It wasn't fair that he could do this. He knew how to remain forever opaque to her.
    “I think that you would be a beautiful dancer,” he said. “If you think that dancing thus will give you pleasure, then you should do it.”
    Finally the dancers took a break and the crowd that had formed drifted away.
    “We should find Joan,” she said, peering at the crowd.
    “I'm sure that we will cross paths. If not, we will meet at the horses.”
    She joined him and they examined the wares that the vendors sold. She wondered what Joan was up to with that apprentice, and what Lady Idonia would say if she found out that Christiana had lost track of her.
    One of the vendors offered savories of fried bread dipped in honey. The smell coming from the hot oil was delicious, and she glanced over longingly as they walked by. It was messy food and just the sort of thing that Lady Idonia had never let her buy when they went to festivals.
    David noticed and went to purchase some.
    “It is sure to stain my clothing,” she said, echoing the reason Idonia had always given for avoiding such food.
    “We will manage.”
    He took one of the doughy savories, and gestured for her to follow him behind the stall to some trees. The vendors edged the crowd and field, and there was no one back here.
    He broke off a piece of the honey-covered bread and held it out. She reached for it but he pulled it away.
    “There is no reason for us both to get covered with it,” he said, and placed the dough near her lips.
    It smelled warm and yeasty and sweet and wonderful. Baring her teeth to avoid the fingers that held it, she stretched her neck forward and took the morsel in her mouth. It tasted heavenly and she rolled her eyes at the pleasure.
    He laughed and broke off another small piece. She stretched for it. “I must look like a chicken,” she giggled with her mouth full.
    Those long fingers fed her again. She felt some honey dripping down her lip and licked to catch it. He gently flicked it away, the pad of his finger grazing the edge of her mouth. Her lower lip quivered at the sensation, and her face and neck tingled.
    The last piece was too big and she had to bite into it. Her teeth nipped his fingertips and she blushed, awkwardly conscious of the contact. He still held out the rest of it, and her gaze stayed on that beautiful hand as she chewed quickly and then hesitantly