“I’m playing dead,” except on the off chance the bear understood English. He wouldn’t have said anything at all, but he wanted Edward to know that G would be on the ground, and so aim his sword anywhere but at the ground.
There was no reply.
Gifford tried to think of what his lady told him to do in this situation, but then he was thinking of his lady, and that flash of flesh, and the possibility that she might love him, and then the possibility that he might never see her again, which got him thinking about the bear again.
G closed his eyes and tried to still his labored breathing. The bear growled and whined and sniffed and pawed at the ground—and then pawed at G.
It was all he could do not to move. Or scream. Where was Edward? Had he left G here to die?
The bear sniffed G’s leg. G tried to make his leg look less like food. The bear pushed G’s shoulder, and pushed again as though trying to turn him over. G wasn’t sure whether complying would make him seem more dead or less dead. But then again, if he were actually dead, he wouldn’t fight being turned over.
When the bear pushed again, G turned over onto his stomach.
The bear pawed at G’s back again, and then did something that made G’s blood run cold. He sniffed the back of G’s head, and licked.
Licking means eating, G thought. Licking means eating!
Jane had told him to play dead, unless the bear was about to eat him, but she didn’t say how he was supposed to get out of such a vulnerable position. The bear licked the back of G’s neck, and G was just about to try to spring to his feet and run for it, when suddenly the bear reared his head, let out a roar, and collapsed against G.
And just as suddenly, G realized he would most likely not die of a bear bite, but of being smothered by a bear. When his lady received the news, he hoped the king would tell her he died of a bear bite. Not because the bear essentially sat on him. He felt a hand grasp his own, and Edward was pulling him out from under the dead bear, who’d not once acted un-bearlike. The Great White Bear of Rhyl was definitely not an E∂ian. Which comforted G.
“I used the broadsword and stabbed the base of the bear’s neck. That did the trick.”
“Wonderful,” G said. “But never forget, I weakened him in the first place by falling on him.”
“You’re right,” Edward said good-naturedly.
They both stood there panting for a while. “You know, Sire, with you being king, and also now a legendary bear killer, I’d say you will be able to woo any woman you desire.”
“And your wife might fall in love with you all over again.”
“If she ever forgives me for putting her in a cage.”
Edward didn’t respond. Then something seemed to occur to him. “Oh, bollocks,” he said. “Now there’s nothing left on our to-do list but go talk to the King of France.”
“I’ve never been to France,” G said, “but I enjoy cheese.”
“I like cheese, too,” agreed Edward, as if they had just found yet another thing they had in common.
The sun rose during their trip back, and G arrived at the Shaggy Dog as a horse. Gracie, Bess, and Jane were standing in the doorway of the tavern waiting for them, although Jane’s expression quickly turned from relief to anger. She glared at him. Said no words. Spoke only with her narrowed eyes.
Suddenly, G wanted to go back to the bear.
She took a deep breath and turned to Edward, her expression softening as she touched a scratch on his face. “Darling cousin, you’re hurt.”
Edward smiled. “It’s just a flesh wound.”
“Come inside. I will tend to it myself.”
G snorted and threw his head back. Jane raised her eyebrows. “And you.”
He sheepishly nudged her shoulder with his nose. She seemed unmoved.
“I would sooner face a thousand Carpathian bulls than banish you from the tavern.” She scowled. “Except in this instance.” She pointed to the forest. “Go to your room.”
It was going to be an awkward trip to France.
TWENTY-FIVE
Edward
It took them four days to get to Paris. And now Gracie was wearing a dress.
“What are you staring at?” she asked when Edward could not stop ogling her.
“You,” he replied. “You’re a girl. I mean, a woman. I’m amazed at the transformation.”