Frog Meets Girl

Chapter 14--Sleeping Beauty and the Magic...Handshake?

This one is dedicated to Mommybrain because if she hadn't gone to Hawaii, you wouldn't be reading this story now. :)

Despite the story of her drastic behavior shift, Gabby was still quiet at dinner. She ate very little, taking small bites and chewing with effort.

            Isabella was pretty sure Will had been embellishing his stories again. Usually it was funny, but this time, she felt annoyed. Today she’d seen glimmers of the girl Claudio talked about all the time, so she’d almost believed Will because she’d seen something too. Disappointment gnawed at her stomach as she watched Gabriella.

            A few seats down, as always, there was raucous laughter and bantering. Seniore Machiavelli was waxing philosophical about the general.

            “It is much better for a leader to be feared than loved. Just look at what happened to Mark Antony. No, the general had better keep a tight grip if he wants any chance of succeeding.” He slurped some soup, dribbling a little in his beard.

            Someone chimed in about tight grips on other things and the conversation deteriorated to a series jokes. Will chuckled from his spot next to Gabby’s plate, but she didn’t even seem to be listening.

            “He he he! That was a good one! A doublet! I’ll have to remember that one to tell Lance,” Will chortled. “Hey, can I have some more of that mutton? I miss that stuff.”

            Gabby didn’t move, or even look up.

            “Hello?” He waved his webbed hands. He was about to do something drastic, like jump in the gravy, but she finally looked up.

            “Oh! Sorry. I was…um…thinking. What did you need?”

            “Thinking?” He distinctly remembered her saying earlier that day that she didn’t think about things. That was odd. “Well, um, when you get a minute, can I have some more mutton?”

            Without saying a word, and quite unlike previous meals, she dished him a satisfyingly large helping of meat without a word about vegetables. Then she went back to her listless consumption of half crumbs.

            Will looked over at Isabella, who was also looking at Gabby with some concern. She was never going to believe him now. Well, looking at her again, he almost didn’t believe it himself.

            He turned back to the men’s conversation. It was much more palatable than the mope fest at his end. The conversation was heading deep into speculations about that day’s battle and what it would bring. Some said the army was outmatched. Others said their army’s training was superior. They talked of weaponry and the intricacies of training, terrain, and weather. Will didn’t really know anything about the military strengths in this part of the world, so he didn’t say anything, though normally he was an avid speculator in all things weaponry and sports.

In the end, they all decided that they wouldn’t know anything until the messengers got there tomorrow with word of either triumph or defeat. Then they turned to talk of the weather until someone could find an equally engrossing topic.

            Because Isabella sat on the side of him opposite the men, he did not see her look up sharply at the men when they spoke of the battle that had begun that morning and look over with more concern toward Gabriella. In fact, no one really noticed the moisture gathering in her eyes. If anyone had been looking when she reached out and put a hand over Gabby’s, they would have thought she was trying to comfort the princess, not trying to gain some comfort of her own.