Swords and Chores | Sir Leon

Jellies and Jams

Light flooded through the curtains, lighting up the dark and tidy house. Despite her busy schedule she tried to keep her house in order. The only thing it seemed that she could control. The light fluttered through and shone on the table, where she was cooking. Before work, she needed to clean, cook, and take care of her father, making sure he had everything he needed before she left.

Her mother had died a year ago and this had hit her father quite hard. He shut down soon after his wife had died, since then Lailah has had to fend for herself and her father. He barely spoke or moved, Lailah was getting increasingly worried that he too would leave her and she truly would be on her own. A friend of her mother's, the head chef of the kingdom, had offered her her mother's job. Lailah did have dreams of her own and had wanted to go into medicine, but her dreams were quickly pushed aside. Her family came first.

So for now, grief wasn't important, dreams weren't important, keeping moving forward was important. Putting food on the table was important. She had people relying on her.

The kitchen was bustling with people, running around to prepare breakfast and get finished before the kingdom woke. Flour smeared all counters, aprons, and faces. Jellies and jams, meats, cheeses, and fruits sat waiting on the table to be put on before rushing out the door. Pitchers were fetched and filled. Beautifully golden bread was pulled fresh from the oven and the heavenly scent could be smelled from out in the corridors. Silver platters were stacked high and ready for knights and servants to come in for their meal, before rushing out the door to prepare for the tournament.

Leon came in, his golden curly locks were the first thing Lailah saw. She could spot him in any crowd, it was hard to miss him though, being tall and with such amazing hair it was almost hard not to see him. Lailah had joked that she could see him from a mile away.

She smiled and waved at him as she kneaded bread for the next day. Flour covered her apron and oil was gleaming on her waving hand, a smile was stretched wide across her face, it made him smile. He chucked a bit at her disheveled appearance and waved back before leaving back the wooden door.

"Gaius? Are you here?" Lailah knocked on the door slowly opening it to peek her head in.

"Lailah, good afternoon! Come on in," Gauis appeared from behind a curtain, wearing his typical robes and welcoming smile. She walked in and pushed the rough wooden door closed behind her. Gauis and her had met before her mother died and she actually had spent a lot of time reading and watching him work, it's probably why she had wanted to go into medicine. "I have your father's medicine right here, just one second." He said, stepping over a tank of leeches.

Gauis and her sadly didn't get to spend as much time together anymore, but due to her father's condition, she came in regularly. Gaius didn't exactly know what was wrong with her father, his best assumption was a broken heart, but still, he gave her something every day to try to see if he could help the man. Or, more importantly, help Lailah.

While he headed off to get the potion Merlin walked in and walked right past her before flopping on his bed. Lailah was shocked at first, as they were good friends, she even went out to the forest to collect herbs for Gaius with him. But, she soon realized that was probably tired, he seemed stressed out most days. A line formed between his black eyebrows whenever he thought people weren't looking. But, Lailah was.

She couldn't blame him, the prince's life was at stake almost every other day and Merlin always seemed to be the savior. He just seemed to know when he was in danger. Always.

But as soon as he flopped on the bed, Gauis heard him and backed up. "I'm glad to see you resting, Merlin. I take it that means you have the energy to clean my leech tank." A groan could be heard from the raven head boy.

Lailah was back in the kitchens, helping prepare delicious meats and more cheese. She poured the red wine into a pitcher, carefully to avoid spilling. Old red stains still sat stubbornly on her apron from past mistakes.

Eventually, servants came in to start bringing out the entrees and Lailah slipped out the door. The cool night air whipped her hair from her face as she made her way out. There was something beautiful in the darkness, besides the underneath fear of the unknown it had its own type of beauty. The moon was assisted by the torches to light her path and she looked out to the sky to see the stars wink at her.

Shadows covered the edge of the forest and gave the tempting fear and curiosity of what lay further in. It was almost alluring, dangerous but tempting. Having spent all of her life in Camelot, it left a lot of room for what lay outside the high stone walls. Leon filled some of that void with tales of other kingdoms and creatures. But she took it with a grain of salt because Leon played some stories up, but she didn't mind, it made for a more interesting tale. Like fights with creatures created by magic, she had read about all of this stuff before but it was different to be there, see it, feel it.

Her shadow followed her as she went through the maze of halls before reaching a certain place, where she waited for a certain someone. And here he came.