Dreams of Stardust by Lynn Kurland

from making a complete fool of herself, she led
her stranger to the stables, her brothers trailing along behind her,
Sir Walter and his men trailing along behind them. Jake spent a goodly
amount of time looking at his shoes as he walked, shaking his head as
if he either couldn't believe he sported something so completely
repulsive or he couldn't fathom that anyone would put those colors
together and call it fashion. Amanda shared his opinion thoroughly, but
refrained from comment.
    She stopped at the entrance to the stables and waited until the
stable master had come out. He bowed politely.
    "Aye, my lady? Are you thinking to exercise your sire's finest again
today?"
    She looked at him archly. "I am a very good rider, Master Otto."
    "Too good, I'd say," he replied, but with a polite nod. "Who will
you have today?"
    "Have we not some mount about who might bear this lord hence to his
home?"
    Master Otto looked Jake over, then nodded and retreated into the
stables. He came out several minutes later leading a tall, black horse
with a white blaze down his nose. The animal looked good-natured, but
not overly polite. Amanda recognized him as one her father had bought a
month or two ago. She'd never ridden him, preferring to see what sort
of demon horses she could liberate from her father's stables. Perhaps
Jake would find him to his liking.
    Master Otto invited Jake to mount.
    Jake stared at him blankly.
    John made "I-said-as-much" noises that forced her to elbow him in
the ribs. He coughed and fell blessedly silent.
    "Montgomery, tell him he may take the horse."
    "I don't know how to say horse in Scots," Montgomery said.
    "Then say, 'Get up there and ride off,'" Amanda suggested. "Say
anything!"
    Montgomery said something. Jake considered, then shook his head with
a smile. He made walking motions with his fingers.
    "As I said," John muttered. "He's hopeless!"
    Amanda could hardly believe her eyes. Was it possible this man, this
handsome, powerful-looking man, could not ride? She stared at him in
shock and a bit of dismay. Perhaps he was as John had said: a simpleton
let loose from his village when someone failed to attend him closely
enough.
    But, by the saints, he was so handsome. She could hardly bring
herself to believe he wasn't what he seemed.
    Perfect.
    Beautiful beyond belief.
    "Show him the gates," John prodded, "before he forgets how to use
his feet."
    Jake sighed.
    With regret, if anyone had noticed.
    As if he might have liked to stay.
    "Tell him to go, Montgomery," John said pointedly. "Before our
sister swoons any further."
    Montgomery sighed and said something to Jake. Jake replied,
haltingly. Montgomery looked at Amanda.
    "He said, and 'tis but a guess at that, that he's sorry to have to
leave the table so quickly but stew stirred too much turns to mush."
    Amanda considered.
    Very well, so he was an imbecile. "Tell him he is free to go but to
have a care. Ruffians abound, as he well knows. Can he find his
village?"
    Montgomery and the man attempted conversation for quite some time
before Montgomery turned back to her.
    "He hopes he can find his village. As I said, Mandy, his language is
very weak. But he promises to be wary and thanks you for the
hospitality of your cooking fire." Montgomery paused. "It sounds to me
as if he learned his words at the cooking fire of an ill-humored
Scottish grandmother."
    Amanda blinked. "I daresay."
    John blew out his breath and walked away.
    Amanda gestured toward the gates in front of her. "There you are,"
she said to Jake. "Off with you, then."
    He turned toward her. The next thing she knew, he had taken her face
in his hands and was scrubbing off the soot. She stared up at him in
surprise, then wished she hadn't. Daft though he might have been, and
incapable of intelligible speech, she had to admit that he was quite
magnificent.
    And his touch made her tremble.
    He smiled once more, then walked away.
    Amanda stood amidst the activity that was normal fare for her
father's home, and