She walked silently, never speaking to the ladies beside her, never looking up until she reached the table below the dais where he stood. Then her eyes went straight to his, a shock of blue that was almost unearthly. It was the gown she wore, the color of sapphires, that accentuated the blue of her eyes. Or it was the simple gold circlet set on her hair, a gleam across her brow. Her coiled braids glowed beneath a crespinette modestly studded with pearls. He could think of nothing but freeing her hair from its confines, watching it swirl around her face as those blue eyes moved across his bared body with fascination.

She looked at him for barely an instant, just a pause in her glance before she turned away and sat. It left him to stare helplessly in her wake, and he was hardly alone. It should not be possible for her to be yet more beautiful, and with only a fresh gown. But the rich color and stark simplicity of it made her beauty stand out, and those few women in the hall who dressed more opulently were hardly noticeable next to her.

“I would wager there is none more fair at Edward’s court.”

Lady Eluned had appeared beside him at the dais, watching him closely. This transformation was her doing, and her look told him it was calculated – not only to establish Nan’s status as more than servant, but to emphasize her beauty to the utmost. He tried to imagine why, but he could not seem to think past the look of Nan, the luscious curve of her mouth and the gentle arc of her cheek, the way she had said not a thing to him with her look.

“You think you are worthy of her?” Lady Eluned asked it in an undertone, almost but not quite goading, making it clear that she doubted it.

Of course he was not, but there was no reason to admit it to her. He tore his eyes from Nan, knowing she would not look up at him again, and turned to meet Lady Eluned’s shrewd gaze. “Are you?”

She was not flustered in the least by his challenging tone. Her chin lifted, a smile softened her lips as if his question pleased her, and she said, “I am least worthy of all, my lord. Shall we dine?”

So saying, she took her place at the high board next to Lord Robert. Gryff sat too, uncomfortably aware of the attention on him. His true name had not been given out, but it was a public declaration of his high status to seat him on the dais. He stopped himself from looking at Nan again, but noticed that Lady Eluned’s eyes kept straying to where she sat.

“How come you to take such an interest in her?” he asked, careful to speak in Welsh.