Chapter 43: Pies
Aedrik was on his way to the training grounds as he had done since he had come to Lune de Neige, when he saw lady Lea, Frey's friend waiting outside the west wing of the castle.
"Good morning, lady Lea" said as he approached the young woman, whom Frey considered her best friend.
"Good morning, prince Aedrik, I am sorry to say it, but I wanted to speak with you alone for a moment, if you have some time" Aedrik like Lea, she was straightforward, but she mostly kept to herself, but what he had seen. She interacted differently with Frey than most others.
"Certainly, lady Lea, what may I be of service with?" Aedrik asked curious, he still had a fresh impression of Noelle's visit last night, if it had been someone else like Danielle, or lady Liliane, he guessed it would be something similar to what Noelle had done, but Lea was different.
"I just wanted to ask you, to be insistent with lady Frey" Aedrik smiled surprised by her words.
"Insistent?"
"I think you know that there is much more of Frey than meets the eye, yet she more often than not, restrains herself. She needs to be encouraged, pushed, that is why I am asking you to be insistent with her" Aedrik listened to the young lady advice, here was someone who also saw Frey with a different perspective.
"I will try my best, lady Lea, I'll try my best to encourage her, and to grand my support" he replied happily and yet Lea rolled her eyes.
"That is what I am worried about. You give her to much room, when she doubts she tends to overthink things, she could even stop trying if she believes she will bother you. Encourage her, push her, challenger her even…" Lea was frowning as she tried to explain herself.
"I think I understand what you are trying to say, lady Lea. Thank you it is an incredibly valuable advice, for all I care for her, I can be overprotective. Lady Frey is lucky to have you as her friend" Lea had a relieved expression on her face.
"She does a have a good eye for picking friends, perhaps even husbands" Lea said smiling "It is up to us to play our part, right?"
"Absolutely. Say lady Lea, would you be willing to visit Frey, when we travel to the Empire?" Aedrik had also been trying to ask Lea about it, he would also ask the rest of house Lunebleau, but Lea was important for Frey. Lea crossed her hands considering his proposal, he worried he might have crossed their familiarity, but she smiled when she noticed his frowning.
"I would love to prince Aedrik, but to be honest, my family could barely afford the travel expenses, my father likes to stock on grain fearing a long winter" Lea replied honestly, Aedrik regretted his words immediately.
"I am inviting you lady Lea, if you are willing, it is only natural for a host to see that you can reach the destination, I wanted to surprise Frey with your visit, but I had to know if you would like to visit her, before I said something that might not happen" Aedrik had truly considered covering the expenses, and yet he placed Lea on a difficult situation, offending her was the last of his intentions. He should be more aware of his words, her mother and Siv would have reprimanded him.
"If that is the case, then I would love to, prince" Lea honest smile was the reply he needed.
"Please call Aedrik, I am grateful about your friendship with Frey and I hoped we could become friends as well"
"I will, only if you do the same. Agreed?" Lea offered her extended hand, Aedrik laughed and took it.
"Agreed, Lea"
"Well, that is all I wanted to talk to you about, and there are many things to prepare for the wedding. I won't keep you from your training" Lea gave him a small bow, he replied in kind, and he saw her return the castle.
Aedrik remained there for a moment before he continued on his way to the training grounds, as he walked, he saw a very nervous armsman Matt eyeing at him with uneasiness.
"Good morning armsman Matt" Aedrik saw the young man smiled awkwardly at him.
"Good morning, sire" there was something on the tone of the young man.
"Is something the matter, armsman?" Aedrik was curious, but he saw the armsman had to clear his throat before he spoke.
"I am sorry sire, lady Lea, came to me yesterday asking if I knew where you went early in the morning, I ended telling her about your routine sire" the armsman was full of guilt, he was aware he had been out of place, for all Lea was the daughter of Sir Lois, the armsman pledged his oath to house Lunebleau, and Aedrik was Frey's fiancé. Aedrik smiled at the young man, he was remorseful, he knew he had screwed up.
"Did she threaten you anyhow armsman?" Aedrik asked with a somber look and a hard tone, the guard eyes were mortified.
"By no means, sire, but it was worst, she came smiling, I just, I could not help it sire, I am truly sorry, I told my captain after it happened… I am never going to become a knight, right?" the young guard looked to be about to come to tears, Aedrik sighed and patted the guard should.
"You understand what you did was wrong, that is important. Lady Lea is a respectable part of house Lunebleau, I would not fault you for sharing her information, and you reported your actions, that is enough armsman. Learn from this" Aedrik smiled, and the guard calmed down a little "I know very well that a smile can be more dangerous than any knife, arrow or spell, specially one from a beautiful Loirian woman" Aedrik winked at the confused armsman "just remind yourself of your station, oath and honor armsman, you will become a fine knight" Aedrik nodded at the guard, and left him pondering on his words.
"I will, thank you sire" came the relieved voice of the armsman behind him after a moment.
The training grounds of the castle were a small courtyard mad between the west wall and the castle barracks. There was a group of armsman, and knights spread about the courtyard, there was always a group training. It was still early for their formal training session, for the moment the men were practicing and sparring amicably. There was a small armory, Aedrik went and picked a great sword, a two hander, a bit slimmer than his usual sword but it would serve for his practice.
"Do you care for small session?" Siv asked him, as he came with the sword in hand. She had arrived before he had, he nodded at his meister.
He moved in front of her, Siv ha a short sword in hand, after they both had finished stretching, they started their practice. Quick and repetitive movements, they moved in synchrony, even though they had different weapons. After a few repetitions they started moving faster, precise strikes and gentle movements, short steps, a trust, and upper cut followed by a lateral descending slash and a disengage.
Most of the courtyard was watching at the two practice, the most complex and hardest series of movements and repetitions they've seen. Siv and Aedrik had practiced them for a very, very long time, until doing the repetitions calmed them. When they finished their practice, they were sweating but smiling.
"I think you had a visitor last night, is everything all right?" Siv asked as they returned the weapons to the rack.
"Yes, she wanted to let me know, she care for her sister, deeply" Aedrik said smiling as he remembered his conversation with Noelle, Siv nodded at his words.
"Good"
The practice they had done, was enough to keep their bodies ready, secure the basics and make sure their muscle memory was refreshed. They were about to go head back to the castle when Aedrik noticed most of the armsman and knights were on attention, he turned and found Frey, smiling at him from one of the entrances of the barracks.
"So, here is where you go every morning" Frey said as she came to them, Aedrik and Siv both nodded a little embarrassed.
"I've needed to move about, make sure my injuries are nothing serious" Aedrik started excusing himself.
"You usually wake up a bit later…" Siv said at the same time that Aedrik, Frey laughed at the two.
"Well let's get back to the castle, I need you to change. We'll meet at the dining room for breakfast, and afterwards I wanted to show you around the city. I've already talked with my mother about it" Frey said rapidly before Siv added anything else, she left before they could answer.
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"Do your best Aedrik" Frey was shouting excited, Siv and a couple of armsman kept her just a little separated from the rest of the people at the closed street.
They had been walking around the city, Lune de Neige seemed to be aware that lady Frey and her Fiancé the Fey Danan prince were walking around, as the streets were packed with people. As Frey was showing the city to Aedrik they stumbled upon a pie eating contest, somehow the guild master of the baker's guild who knew Frey managed to convince Aedrik to take part in the contest. Frey was cheering him standing near the contest judges and organizers, Aedrik on the other hand was placed at the end of a large table next to a confused but not disturbed broad fellow.
"THE RULES OF THE CONTEST ARE VERY SIMPLE, THE CONTESTANT WHO EATS MORE PIES BEFORE 20 MINUTES, WINS" the contest organizer, the master of the baker's guild was radiant. He had spotted Frey and Aedrik as they were walking around, and he managed to convince the prince to take part in the contes, he would boast about this, forever.
The contest took place on a junction which led into the baker's street from the glass street. The contest was popular enough, but as word spread about the foreign prince, lady Frey's fiancé participation, the street was filled with people.
"LADY FREY, WOULD YOU DO US THE HONOR OR RINGING THE BELL TO SIGNAL THE START OF THE CONTEST?" the guild master said offered Frey a small hammer as he pointed at a bell.
Frey accepted the hammer and nervously prepared to ring the bell. She had always moved around freely in Lune de Neige, she knew many people and most denizens of the city were polite and amicable to her, but she had mostly kept to herself, she had never taken part in an event like this. Her parents did, and Luka from time to time, Noelle on rare occasions, but she had never, but she had agreed when the guild master invited them, she wanted to remember her home, a small memory of her and Aedrik.
The cheers, laughs and whistles woke Frey from her thoughts, she blushed and embarrassed hit the bell as hard as she could. She turned to see a grinning Aedrik looking at her mesmerized.
They had been giving silverware, Aedrik was going to use it, but he noticed the man sitting next to him, was grabbing the pie with both hands, so he quickly forgot the idea, and went for his first pie with both hands as well
The crowd was applauding and laughing, marveled at the sight of the foreign prince stuffing large pieces of pie as he could, and he seemed to be doing a fine job and somehow, he had managed to contain the mess to his mouth alone.
Next to him was the favorite to win the competition, a round and broad man, a butcher by trade, with a legendary sweet tooth, the man was already working on his second pie. Then was a tall man, he had a lean frame and he was eating with a steady rhythm, the last contestant was a woman, she was the smallest of them, but she was the fastest, she was working on her third pie.
The contest pace changed as most reached the fifth pie, the butcher, Eugene was starting the sixth pie and so was Camille, she had lost her speed and seemed to be struggling. Aedrik was at the half of his fifth pie but he was still going as he had started, the tall man Theo, was about to start his sixth pie, but he looked sick already.
"TWO MORE MINUTES" the guild master screamed as he looked at the sand clock on the judge's tables, Frey was impressed by Aedrik's competitiveness, he was well invested in the contest, the crowd cheers and applause had not stopped.
The tall man Theo had pushed his chair from the table as he finished the sixth pie, he was sick and full. Camille the only woman had stopped at eight pies, she had not managed to keep her fast pace. There were only two people still going, Eugene the butcher and Aedrik. They were both on the tenth pie, both were reaching their limit, the butcher had slowed down which allowed Aedrik to match his rival, but Aedrik was at the end of his ability.
As they started the eleventh Aedrik was eating like a dead man, he was not willing to give up, but he was obviously bested by the butcher who was already past half the eleventh, and from what Frey could see, the man should be able to finish the pie. The butcher saw the sand was about to run out, and stopped eating, Aedrik tried to stuff as much as he could, but the bell rang ending the contest.
"WE HAVE A WINNER, FOR THE FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW, EUGENE BEUBOIS WITH A RECORD OF 11 AND A HALF PIES" the crowd roared, whistled and applauded. The butcher stood up and celebrated, much to Aedrik's surprise, Frey saw Aedrik was not only defeated but it seemed as if life was leaving his body. Aedrik was lazily cleaning the pieces of pie on his face, he wanted to craw somewhere and sleep for a while.
"ON SECOND PLACE WE HAVE, PRINCE AEDRIK, HE MANAGED TO GET HIMSELF TO THE ELEVENTH PIE AS WELL BUT WAS BESTED BY OUR BEST IN THE END" the crowd went wild, Aedrik paled at the response he waved, and the butcher Eugene went to shake hands with him. Frey saw Aedrik embarrassed about the way he was cheered and encouraged, seeing that she could not help herself, she went next to him, and kissed him. For a moment everything went quiet, as they saw the lady kiss her prince covered in pie in front of everyone else, soon the placed broke into cheers and whistles, Frey felt red to her ears, but she didn't mind, the look on Aedrik's face was more than enough.
Frey smile was radiant, Aedrik for all he had felt like a fool, was happy. As long as he could see Frey smile, he was happy, he felt like the luckiest man alive. He grinned like a madman as she cleaned him with a piece of cloth.
They did not stay to see the prize ceremony, as the guild master talked about the rest of the contestants, Aedrik took Frey by the hand, and they ran from the stage. Siv and the rest of the armsman had seen them and they were following them behind. They were walking on a small and lonely street close the first inner wall.
"I did not expect you would take the second place" Frey said still smiling "You are very competitive"
"Only on important things" Aedrik replied with a very serious tone
"Like pie eating contest" Frey responded amused
"Is it not, something really important?" he had a big smile.
It was such a simple thing they were just walking, but it felt good. Aedrik looked at Frey, and worried, he needed to talk with her, they had discussed about the future in the library, but they have had to little time, and there was just so much he wanted to talk and do with her.
"I want to talk with you after dinner" he told her, Frey eyed him, and nodded. They both knew they had too.
"I understand Aedrik, but I want to walk around with you more time. I want to have fun" before she knew it, Aedrik had come close to her, he touched her hips gently and smiled like a naughty child.
"I consider myself a gentleman Frey, I will do my utmost to fulfill a lady's wishes he kissed her cheek "Thank you Frey, I just did not want to see you stop smiling"
Frey saw the troubled look inside his complicated eyes, she stood on her tiptoes and gave Aedrik a short Kiss "Come, I want to show you more parts of the city, and I also want to hear about your sisters" Frey grabbed his hand and they continued walking along the wall.
"I've already told you about them, what more do you want to know?"
"Your explanation was too plain, they will be here in less than a week, I would like to receive them properly, to make their stay in Lune de Neige the best it can" Frey said after considering what she wanted to know.
"They are very close to each other, more so than us brothers, or better put, they actively look out for each other" Aedrik corrected himself "I've already told you; I am close to Lucy, she would always follow me and Pan around when we were at the castle, she wanted to hang with us"
Aedrik had already told her that he was closest to Lucy, princess Lucylle, she was younger and had a twin brother, with whom Aedrik had the worst relationship among his siblings.
"Why?"
Frey stopped as she noticed Aedrik had as well, he was considering his answer, she frowned and he smiled cheerfully "Because were always lazing about, or playing" Frey frowned, she had seen the look of worry on Aedrik when he felt there were chores to do in Meury, but she could quiet complete the idea of him that way.
"After I was sent to the north, whenever I was back, I make the most of the time. Siv was making sure my training as a norkrieger could not be judged, I was spending almost no time back at home, so I make the most of it. I played with my siblings, I joked with them, I… was lazing about mostly"
"You were a bad influence then?" Frey asked curious
"I was, on Lucy at least. I was admonished by my parents about my influence on her, but she found her way when she started going to Enora, she has too much energy, and she had finally found a place to use it"
"She was trained as a ranger there, right?" the famous rangers of the bronze hills, fey land as well.
"They tried, I don't think Lucy has officially completed her ranger training, she joined a druid circle and is an herbalist trainee. She needs nature, she has too much fey inheritance insider her"
"How so?"
"I want to leave some surprises Frey, I think I disappointed most of Loire by not having horns or another pair of ears, but I think Lucy can fulfill a little of that expectation"
"I thought you being kismet made you the one with more fey blood?" Frey had been curious about Aedrik's fey heritage before she knew him, afterwards, she wanted to know him, she had not worried about his bloodline.
"Fey are strange, they are known as wild elves because they were once elves, but they longed to keep a more direct relationship with nature and magic. Fey can change as they grow, Lucy did. We all inherited something from our mother, but if I were to put it in quantities, I guess Lucy took more to her fey side, then it would be Luna, mmm me, Levi definitely is at the half, I would say Vanya, Nika and lastly Ilya"
"So, the twins are opposites?"
"They are in most ways, that is surely a good way of putting it" Aedrik stopped as they reached the end of the street, it followed the wall, and they had been trailing a path upwards, the street ended on a balcony, a small open space with an apple orchard.
"This is the apple peak" Frey said happy as she saw the surprised look on Aedrik's face "You like it?"
"Its wonderful, and I suppose is a fine place to read under the shadow" Frey blushed, she truly came to read here often, it was quiet place.
"Come, I like this view of the city as well" Frey took Aedrik's hand and guided him, beneath the apple trees.
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