While I was at the palace, it felt like the best ti to speak with Kathrine.
“Kathrine, I’m having a farewell dinner tomorrow night, just inviting my friends, as we’ll be leaving the city the day after. Would you like to co?” I asked.
Kathrine had an honest smile. “I’d love to. I heard from Luis already that he’d be attending.”
“The rest of the family is invited as well, but I wasn’t sure if inviting them would cause so political drama or not,” I said, embarrassed.
Kathrine laughed. “It likely would, yes, but Elijah will certainly attend as well. Any excuse to have a drink works for him.”
I was about to say my farewells to Crisplet and Clifford, who had returned to adding the finishing touches to the statue, but I rembered I still had a couple of the fla pastries I had put aside.
“I have sothing for you.” I pulled out two of the pastries and handed them to her.
“I’ve seen these before. They sell them in the market, right?” She said, taking them.
“Not quite. Try a bite. You shouldn’t need to eat all of it,” I suggested.
She hesitated for only a mont before shrugging and taking a large bite.
Slowly she ate it, seeming to take it all in. “Tastes alright. Could do with a bit more spice. I’d prefer it to have more of a kick.”
I would rember this for later, but that wasn’t the point. “Check your buffs,” I insisted.
Kathrine’s eyes went wide.
“You got it?!” she said, looking at her hand, which burst into flas.
Crisplet, who must have seen or felt the fire, rushed over, and emulating the fla, he likewise erupted into a larger fla, copying what was happening to her hand.
I watched as the fire started to leave her hand and condense into a ball, while Crisplet still seed to copy.
Soon she had what looked to be a tiny, eye-sized ball of condensed fire in her fingers, while Crisplet had it floating above his head, pushing across joy and excitent.
“I think you’re teaching Crisplet sothing new,” I said, smiling at him.
It was only then that Kathrine took her eyes off her hands and really paid attention to Crisplet, while Sylverith stood to my side, a smile on her face.
“Oh, uh, well, once you get it like that, you essentially just throw it at soone, perhaps use a burst of heat to project it far, because despite the small size, it packs a punch,” she instructed Crisplet.
Looking around, I couldn’t see where she could throw it that wouldn’t cause any damage.
Crisplet didn’t seem to wait and threw his little ball of fla at the statue. The ball seed to suspend in the wings montarily before they erupted in flas, sending a giant pair of wings covering the courtyard, raining down sparks.
I just stared in awe, while Kathrine seed to co to the sa conclusion I did, choosing to follow Crisplet and throwing her own fireball into the wings, where it was absorbed, and I couldn’t help but notice the fla was different.
Where Crisplet’s was much more like a campfire, with its oranges and yellows, and only getting the streaks of black and dark when he was angry, Kathrine’s fla was deep red when it exploded, sending large deep tendrils of red fla coursing through the wings.
“Will it absorb all fire spells I throw at it?” Kathrine asked curiously, looking at Crisplet.
Sylverith let out a soft chuckle. “Crisplet is not sure. He simply said fire mana is good.”
“Also! The wings unfurl? You didn’t ntion that part!” she looked excited.
Crisplet just let off a burst of sparks.
“Crisplet says that it was a surprise, dear, and it does appear that you’ll be able to activate that for a short period of ti,” Sylverith said with a smile.
Clifford was standing back, a small smile on his face as he watched the wings burning above, raining sparks down over the courtyard.
I caught Clifford’s attention and noticed he had a tear running down his cheek before quickly wiping it away.
“Sorry to interrupt. I wanted to invite yourself and your wife to the farewell dinner tomorrow as well,” I said.
“It would be my honour, sir,” Clifford bowed.
I wanted to protest the “sir,” but we were at the palace, and if you were going to follow formality anywhere, it should be here, so I bit my tongue.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“I think Alira will really enjoy seeing this, but we should leave you to it. See you tomorrow,” Sylverith smiled.
“The nobles are going to lose their minds at this,” Kathrine shook her head.
I felt like it was a good ti to head back to the house. I had a lot of prep to get started with for the dinner tomorrow, as I wanted to join in with the dinner and not spend the whole ti in the kitchen instead, so I wanted to get most things semi-prepared today so I could just serve tomorrow.
Which reminded .
“I’ll make you so more,” I said, pointing to the pastry, as I went to get back inside the carriage.
“That would be amazing. I wonder how we could get this up from minor potency, though,” Kathrine said.
“I have so ideas, but I’ll accept any new ingredients when I return in a few months,” I smiled.
“Oh, Trevor, I really like the gloves. It’s a nice touch. You’re looking much more noble every ti I see you,” she said as I was leaving.
“Uh, thanks?” I wasn’t sure how to take it. Knowing she ant it as a complint, and I suppose it was true. I was likely wearing armour that cost an absolute fortune, if it could be purchased at all.
Sitting in the carriage, I was joined by Sylverith before waving my last goodbye and watching as the burning form of Alira grew smaller in the distance.
“I said it before, but Alira does enjoy people worshipping her. She will love that statue and likely shower young Crisplet in gifts for it, if she doesn’t try to steal him directly,” Sylverith chuckled.
I didn’t, however. I was now scared that she’d steal Crisplet.
Sylverith must have gleaned my thoughts, because she stopped her laughter.
“Don’t worry, Trevor, dear. She won’t actually take him, and Crisplet would never agree anyway. That little elental is bound to you like I’ve never seen before and would give his life a hundred tis over to protect you,” she said seriously.
“I hope he doesn’t do sothing silly like that. He’s got a long life ahead of him,” I said quietly.
“As do you,” Sylverith comnted.
***
Sylverith dropped off at the house, letting know she wouldn’t be ho again until dinner the next evening, as she would be collecting her friend.
I was very curious who she was inviting, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous that she was going to show up with another dragon or sothing.
But I tried to shake that thought from my mind and made my way to the kitchen.
The rest of the afternoon was spent preparing various food items to prepare for tomorrow. Part of wanted to invite everyone I had interacted with, so Toby and Max as well, but I felt like a smaller affair would be more enjoyable, especially with the group already being fairly large.
The first items I wanted to prepare were several dozen large sausages, making the most of the grinder and sausage filler at the house. I had not used it much since Archie got it for , so today I was going to put it to good use.
I would make Buvul, titan boar, and Baelvryn sausages, the Bael seasoned with an extra spice and kick.
In addition, I spent a long while baking fresh rolls. I wasn’t really looking to infuse everything, as there was no actual need to give all these items buffs. I didn’t want to take the risk of hurting soone unexpectedly.
What I really wanted to spend the afternoon making was the item I knew I’d be harassed the most after, and with Liane and Jen out at the mont, it was the perfect ti to start the dessert. I planned to make several berry tarts.
The pastry was easy. Surprisingly, it was very similar to the pastry flas I made, just no onion powder, replacing that with sugar, and replacing the suet with butter.
The berry mixture itself was incredibly simple. I took out a selection of all the berries I had left after making candies, with there still being Ril berry, Roe nuts, which despite their na were actually closer to a berry and had a soft, sweet, white flesh to it, along with the last of my Dilwater berries. I figured I’d get so more once we were on the road.
To these berries, I added plenty of sugar, half a lemon’s worth of juice, and a small amount of flour. There was no need to cook this off now, as it would be cooked in the oven with the tart pastry.
I wasn’t confident doing it without Crisplet’s help, however, so I would wait.
I also followed that up with so cookies and muffins mixture, again not cooking it yet until Crisplet showed up, but I had done it just like Julia had taught .
With the afternoon racing by and several items already stored away, just waiting to cook, I figured the last thing I should do was prepare a bunch of the fla pastries for Kathrine. This ti, however, not only would I use the Ignel petals, but I wanted to incorporate the Embercore into it.
And looking at it, I didn’t know how. There was no real blue glow to it, so I didn’t think that the item itself was edible. However, that made wonder: could I give it to Crisplet in the fire, and that would influence the dish?
It was worth a shot, and once I’d prepared two dozen fla pastries, I decided to take a break.
Entering the living room, I was surprised to see so many already there, or more to the point, that Liane was there and had not co into the kitchen.
Crisplet and Lily were still absent, though.
“I didn’t expect to see everyone back already,” I said, falling to my chair.
“Got back an hour ago, but Hari wouldn’t let bother you,” Liane grumbled.
Hari just nodded from his chair.
“It was probably for the best. I was making desserts for tomorrow,” I laughed.
The look of pain on Liane’s face at hearing that was imnse, and I suspected Hari would pay for this affront at a future date.
“It’s alright. I didn’t cook anything except so rolls, but I have a lot of things prepared. I’m going to smoke a bunch of at and sausages tomorrow. I have prepared berry tarts to bake, and I have cookie mix and muffin mix ready to go, but I wanted to wait for Crisplet,” I said.
“That’s alright, then, I suppose. I didn’t miss out on anything,” Liane grumbled.
I was fighting back a laugh. It was always amusing. On so topics she was so cold, so mature, but when it ca to food, all that was thrown out the window.
“Excited for the trip?” Hari asked.
Nodding, “Absolutely. I can’t wait to get back on the road.”
“We’ll be escorting a small group of rchants, similar to Troy and Saddie in so regards, though we’ll be making more stops along the way than normal, as they deliver and sell goods to villages,” Hari said.
“The aim for them is to arrive at Elarith Vale empty so they can load up on grain and head back to the capital before doing it again,” Milo added.
“I had a friend from the orphanage go to Elarith Vale. They got the acolyte class, so I’m hoping to see her when we get there,” I said, wondering now how all the other orphans were doing.
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