Everglade: The Underaged

Chapter 10

The next few weeks went by in a blur. Luke was adopted, it was announced, and he received another rotten tomato to his face. Soon Luke's 13th birthday was coming. The Earl was going to throw a huge party for him. Luke was sure no one besides Korman and his family would attend, maybe Luke's old foster family, but Luke was sure that was it. He had never had a big birthday party before.

It had always been just him, his mother and father and Korman and his family. He never got many presents, either. The part that he was least thrilled about was that at his party, he had to wear a brooch, chain, circlet, a chaplet and a collar. All that jewelry seemed excessive. He was glad he didn't have to wear it all the time. He also thought throwing a huge party was unnecessary. That was the life of a noble, he supposed. He just hoped that he wouldn't be the receiver of another rotten tomato. The last one cost him an hour of being poked with needles and pins. It had ruined his best clothes. Rotten food stains didn't come out. He had a backup set of nice clothes. None of the other nobles had a backup set of clothes.

Personally, Luke didn't mind the fact that only a few people would come to his party. He wanted it that way. But, knowing the Earl, he would have nobles come to his party, so Luke could meet them. Someone knocked on Luke's door. He opened it. It was Maggie.

"You're needed in the ballroom."

"Okay." Luke followed Maggie to the ballroom. He'd never been in there before. The ballroom had no regular windows, all the windows were stained glass. The Earl was waiting for him.

"Luke, for your party, do you want tapestries or banners?"

"Uh..." Luke was not expecting to have to make all the decisions for his party. He'd assumed that they'd be made for him.

"How about we have you look at them, then you can make the decision?"

"Okay." Luke was taken to look at the tapestries and banners. He settled on navy blue banners. Then he had to choose the food.

"Would anyone be weirded out if I choose fizznut soup as part of my meal?"

"It's your feast."

"Okay." Luke chose fizznut soup as his first course, with roast chicken as his second, his third was pheasant, the fourth was salads, the fifth was filet salmon and trout and his main was a glazed hog. His dessert course had pudding, tarts, crustards, patties, wafers, doughnuts, pancakes, and marzipan cakes. They weren't done there. He had to decide what type of party he wanted.

"What about a masquerade?" Luke said. He'd never been to a masquerade party before.

"We can do that." The Earl said. The next day Luke watched from the safety of his room as his birthday party was announced. The Earl decided it was best if Luke didn't make any more public appearances. Luke dove from the window as a big rotten tomato hit it. The smell of rot filled his room.

"Blegh." Luke exclaimed as he ran from the room, Eclipse following him, whining. "That tomato was bigger than the last ones." Luke told Eclipse. She whined and pawed at her beak.

"Yeah I know." Where did the people of Everglade get these rotten tomatoes? They had so many. He was just glad this latest one missed. If it had hit him, it would have been disastrous. Luke realized it was time for his swordsmanship training. He hated it. The sword felt unbalanced in his hand. It was too big. He had yet to get one that actually fit him, because the blacksmith kept refusing. Of course, his son had been one of the ones at the Partnering that Luke had stolen an opportunity from. In people's eyes, it wasn't right for the Earl to adopt him. They wanted him locked up. After his swordplay lesson, Luke bathed and got dressed for dinner. The days passed by and the next thing Luke knew, it was his birthday.