It’s Not Easy to be Me
Year of the Golden Gilled Boar, 1983, Kliloln, Misng 26th
True to her word, Hanni kept the child busy, the children to be exact. By some minutes past noon since the morning Litoc rode out, Jakeli’s kids arrived. Being that it was already the fourth day since our own arrival at Bariststal, I assumed the children were taken on the longer route instead of crossing the river.
The arrival of Vindeth and Jenaila proved to be a godsend but it wasn’t one sided. More lesser nobles started to arrive as well as the nobles in charge ofChas and Sipo, Itrip, Iola, and Hubri, as well as Gorgi and Cleoli. I was not expecting the nobles for at least another day. The first nobles to arrive did not have much in the way of entourages, wives not even with them. That explained one side of travel time question.
How fast were the criers riding?
When the children arrived, Hanni and Jibel were on their way back to our room and caught them, so we all had lunch together. Even the prince came by to share a meal with us, although he didn’t have long before a knock came at the door. The loremaster and his attendants were waiting outside, announcing that the first noble had arrived. I am not exactly sure why or how the children came to like each other, considering the situation that brought them together, nor did I care. I was just thankful that they were.
Granted, the first few hours was awkward, Hanni relayed later, because of the royal kid’s attendants who kept fussing and worrying about their charges. It was only when Hanni, through Cheki, asked them to let the children be that things started to go smoothly.
Riding lessons, with the addition of two stable hands looking out for the children, went as much as could be expected from beginners although the royals were much better at it than Jibel. The group took a rest towards midafternoon over some snacks I arranged from the kitchens. After the rest, they all went for lessons in sword fighting. Their day was going way better than mine.
For the first stretch of the morning after Hanni and Jibel left, I did nothing but sit in front of the writing supplies I requested. By the time servants arrived with food for lunch, I’ve only managed to open up a roll and separate one sheet. It had holes in it. I counted four. Four holes and several short, but thick hairs.
After lunch, when all of them had left and I still no idea where to begin, I did what any person with tasks to do would do – I took a nap. I couldn’t tell how long I’ve been out of commission when I woke up, I only knew it wasn’t enough. The angle of the sun, when I finally headed out to the grounds, told me as much.
“And I’m telling you, he is looking forward to it.” Said I to the cook who was still hesitant to serve the prince anything that wasn’t fresh.
“Lord, in the history of cooks, I have not been the castle’s cook for long,” he protested, “and I would like to remain as cook.”
“Listen,” I replied to his protestations “it’s quite easy to tell if he likes what you make or not. Check the dishes once he’s done, instruct whoever takes it to bring it back to you as is. If he ate a considerable amount, then you know he likes it.”
“And if it’s untouched, Lord?”
“Then it’s either he was too busy, or he didn’t like it. In any case, don’t serve that dish again unless he asks. Now where’s my nuts?”
The cook motioned for the three maids with us to go and get the roasted nuts. One came back with a tray piled with something wrapped in boiled leaves. I thought it was boiled. It could have been dried halfway before being soaked and airdried again.
“What’s this?”
“It’s the nut bars, Lord. We couldn’t find a way to make it less sticky without burning it or risking it to clumping like stones so I thought to wrap them in portions.”
“Do you have any left? Of those that clumped and hardened? Not burnt, of course.”
He gestured again and a maid came back with something that looked like a rock. I had to stab it several times with my dagger before I could pry a piece I could comfortably bite from. I tried the wrapped ones next.
“You have changed the recipe, I see.”
“Yes, Lord.” The cook confirmed. “The first one we made was a little too much of one thing.”
Sweetness is what he meant. It had nothing on but syrup. The batch I was tasting, was balanced with salt. The texture and taste were almost close to how I remember my favorite snack tasted like.
“I like the change. You just need to push the balance a little bit more. Now, I can’t decide between these two.”
“Lord?”
“See, this hard one has a crunch, a good crunch. And you have to chew on it well for all of the sweetness to come out. But it sticks to the teeth. There’s less stickiness on my fingers though. But this,” I pointed to the wrapped one, “the flavor is instantly there. You only need suck on it for a bit. Not as crunchy though. And its stickiness clings to the roof of my mouth long after I’ve chewed all the nuts. Try it.”
We all stood around testing thinking which one was worse and which one to serve to the prince and his guests. No one was able to pick a winner.
“You have more of these?” I asked, indicating the hard one.
“Yes Lord.”
“Break them until they’re a size small enough to pick with two fingers. Serve them both. Let them decide which one they’ll like. Have some wet cloth for each guest just in case.”
The trays were ready in no time. In addition to the sweetened nuts, there were pies of different kinds, including sweet bread with nuts in them. No meats this time. I asked for two trays with the same items to bring to Hanni’s group.
“By the way, the prince is looking forward to the dipti as do I.” I said before I left, reminding them to have the different kinds of roasted nuts sent to our chambers.
I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the children practice their stances under Hanni’s watchful eye. I could not help but chuckle when an attendant reacted with a jerk every time Hanni hit any of the two royals with a stick. Even Jibel was not spared.
The children, however, were serious and took it as part of their training. Interesting how disciplined children can be if they thought they were doing something remotely adult. The number of onlookers has increased from the previous day, I noticed. Most of them were soldiers from the barracks.
It wasn’t long before I got bored, so I walked back to our room and tried to come up with ideas. I took the pointy sticks with shaved ends, dipped them in the small, wooden boxes, and doodled on the sheets.
You should be working!
By the time I fell asleep, slumped on the table, I already went through half a roll of parchment. And bowls of nuts.