We walked back inside after sunset and plenty of requests for Zephyr speciality, and he well entertained the others.
He even took Yelena and Carlos for a ride, the maid helping us with a bath with having a longing expression and offered her a turn as well. Which she took immediately.
She turned from a polite maid into a teenage girl who couldn't stop laughing. He was nice and took Carlos for an extra turn as well.. and Ciren one more time.
I saw him a little fatigued, so I postponed my joy and shooed the others away.
We were changing in our rooms into something more refined and were almost ready for dinner.
Our truce held, and I occasionally caught him staring at my figure or getting lost in my cleavage but made no move or even said anything remotely teasing.
I smiled in the mirror at his reflection, keeping his eyes on my ass. I turned around, hiding it, and helped Anna with her dress.
She still preferred basically boy clothes, which allowed her to move better. But, her new dresses were both lady like and comfortable enough to move, she wore a little choker like me around her neck.
It was uncomfortable but very much in style in the city. I helped with her putting on her dress when I looked at the reflection in the mirror again.
Looking at him sitting there..
He looked gorgeous.. he put on a smaller black shirt that hugged his muscles, almost seeing it as if he was shirtless.
His arms became more refined, from the hard work and working under the sun for months it gave him near identical olive shade like those ladies from Lentila.
His hair is now about an inch longer, making him even more attractive, and those damn eyes.
He should walk around in cloth, covering them and only take it off for me.
" Mom..stop! I need it ON!! "
I saw how I took it off, the dress, and apologised quickly. I turned away, but I could tell his arrogant smirk even blindfolded.. Hmm, blindfolded him or me..
He saw my reflection and raised an amused eyebrow.
" We are..we are..umm are we late? " I asked.
" Did you have impure thoughts? "
Caught red-handed, with my back turned.
" Good one.. now are we or are we not? "
He laid down the bed and answered to the ceiling.
" You heard Carlos, my love. His chefs are prepared.. They sure have a strange bunch."
" How's that? "
" Weird tastes.. be prepared for some delicacies. Dharma must be a wild place. " he theorised.
I finished with Anna this time focusing. She looked like the perfect image of a girly girl, if only for a few hours.
We walked downstairs and into a dining room with a long table, seven chairs, only three empty.
We were seated by the maids. Zephyr takes one head of the table, and we are sitting by his side.
Carlos had a great big smile and rested his hand on his heart.
" Ahh..our first dinner Zeph..can you feel it? "
" I am hungry.." he nodded.
" No..it's fate. I have been feeling it since the first moment I layed eyes on you. He refused to kneel in front of Mai. " With a nostalgic smile, he signalled the butlers, and the maids poured something in the adult glasses.
" It was fate, brother.. I'm telling you."
Zephyr looked like he felt the same. At least his expression was of quiet understanding. He lifted his glass.
" A toast then .."
He waited until we lifted our glasses as well.
" ..To faith. " he smiled warmly at Carlos.
"" To Faith.""
The food came in small plates, and Zephyr was right. They did look strange. Like this one..ain't this just a burned potato?
A maid came and cut it open for everyone, the insides were steaming, and with a fork, they put butter and cheese in there, melting it both.
Then something.. like tomatos with beans and corns in there. It smelled incredible, and I felt my mouth watering.
" It's a baked potato Zeph, with chilli. " Carlos watched our reaction, paying little attention to anything else. " Baked beans other vegetables with beef. Go, I want to see what you think. "
He looked intrigued and took a bite, and Ilianna and I followed after.
Saying it's delicious was an understatement.
It was filling and savoury, the cheese melted and mixed perfectly with the chilli. It was also a little spicy but nothing bad. A very pleasant dish indeed.
Zephyr and Anna seemed to like it, too.
" It's delicious...its..the house of Em on a plate, brother. " he genuinely liked it and gave the greatest compliment he could. Then, he turned to Anna.
" Princess, the score, please. "
" 100 points. "
The table and even the help were charmed by my little girl.
" Well, thank you, little Anna, in the name my ancestors and my humble myself. Please enjoy. "
Carlos seemed so happy by the compliments he almost floated alway. We eat gratefully while barely spoke. Soon, the maids came and took the empty plates.
More food followed in tiny portions.. some better than others. One looked slimy and disgusting, and Zephyr stopped us.
He turned to Carlos.
" Em? I thought we talked about the snails. "
Did he just say snails?
" I know, but I also feel like you haven't given a fair try. " he put up his hands and put them together as if praying. " Please.. just try one more bite. If you still dislike it, we never have it again."
He made hand gestures to the chef, standing near and making sure he understood he meant it.
Both Yelena and Lovely looked disappointed. What is going on? Ciren was smiling happily and saw how Zephyr reacted now that he knew the stakes.
Zephyr contemplated it a little, then used the fork to cut off a small slime piece.
I felt my stomach churning. He quickly put it in his mouth and carefully tasted it. Raised his eyebrow in surprise and slowly nodded along.
He seemed to enjoy it.
" Big brother, you were right again. It's worthy of your good taste. It's creamy and mushroomy..it's the whole package for sure. "
Carlos clapped with a winning smile like it was a performance and signalled everyone to eat.
I saw the ladies of house Em breath again and started their own plates with a happy smile.
I looked at the shells of the poor creatures that were removed and used for a light yellow sauce .. probably butter, and I picked my fork up, but I felt a hand on mine.
" Lylly.. you hate mushrooms, love, and Anna is allergic. She hates them, too. Just skip this one. " his eyes showed he was dead inside.
Even angry at me, he cared so much. Ahh..
I turned to Em's with a disappointed look.
" Ohh ..it's too bad. Mushrooms are a bug.. a big no-no. Sorry. "
I took his hand under the table and supported him as he ate them fast.
I never loved him more than when he chewed those disgusting things.
The dinner went on ..it was much more like a small celebration of food.
After two hours, Carlos had them bring in an entire village worth of alcohol. And went into deep conversation with Zephyr.
Anna and Ciren threw leftovers at each other, having quite the fun with Lovely exusing herself once she saw how needless her presence was.
I finally found myself closer to Yelena.
" So tell me.. how long will you and Carlos have been married? "
" Just over a year. In Dharma, we marry mostly in the summer. " she had a half-hearted smile and sipped some of her wine.
" It's strange to marry in winter. Insatel sure have different customs. " I smiled.
Well, I kind of liked it..
The snow covered everything it made it look brand new and beautiful. All the ugly blemishes got a coat of white and allowed to be viewed as beautiful for a brief time.
She looked towards Carlos with a sad expression and then leaned closer to me.
" Also ..we couldn't marry for months, he was so distraught about Juan gone. It's the reason why we're here in this kingdom in the first place.."
Who was Juan? Why would someone, who from sounds of it.. dead? Would you keep him here?
I wanted to ask for more, many more, but she turned from me and listened to Zephyr and Carlos talk about Karta and the coming war.
" ..t when is the question, Zeph? "
" All I know is that the second largest of the four and not much else. Still, it will make the king move .. hopefully soon. " he leaned forward and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder.
" He have to meet them head on. I'm just surprised they didn't wait until spring. It happened much sooner than I thought. That's a good thing.."
Carlos' hands turned white, making a fist, and didn't let up until Zephyr placed his own hand to stop the shaking.
" I'm sorry, Zeph.. I ..
Zephyr tapped his hand a few times with a grim look.
" Soon .. Em. "
Carlos nodded some more and relaxed in his high chair with a grateful smile.
I looked at my Zephyr and thought I might have to lose on purpose.. to ask the questions this small snippet of their conversation created.
What are you planning, my love?