Bride Of The Two Warlords

Chapter 8

A day in the Castle of Gadleigh begins very early and the  busyness of servants.

Breakfast had to be ready before the lieges woke as they were early risers, who went to train with their warriors.

The servants gossiped in the kitchen about their new lady as they had breakfast.

"Did you see the lady yesterday? A princess, oh the grace I felt in her presence."

"The clothes she wore were of fabrics I have never seen. Such splendor. Such beauty. She shone like the most dazzling sun." A second servant chipped in.

"He maids and guards were also dressed in such becoming attires. Do you think the Princess will give us too?" A third sighed in envy.

"Hahaha. Just you Mary, better give up. Those attires are not for the likes of us commoners. They are for the lady's maids." Simon mocked Mary. Such finery and she wanted to wear, let alone touch, Simon felt that looking at the lady was blasphemous.

"It is undisciplined for servants to gossip behind their masters backs. Take this as a warning, if I catch you next time I shall have you punished." Ruby said as she entered the kitchen. 

She could not understand why these servants were so undisciplined. She would report to the mistress and await further instructions on how the mistress wished to deal with them.

She pointed at the men behind her. "These are head chef Six, chef Seven, chef Eight, baker Nine, baker Ten, brewer Eleven and brewer Twelve. From now on henceforth, they will be in charge of the kitchen and bakery and all meals in future. Nobody else is allowed in the kitchen apart from those head chef Six has appointed and the apprentices they chose. the same rule applies in the bakery where you shall follow and report to head baker Nine." Ruby relayed the instructions her highness had given her.

The Castle's cook, Thomas was not happy with this arrangement. He was about to protest to this little girl who thought just anybody could cook, when he saw, Hosterns, the butler, behind her glaring at him. He wisely shut his mouth.

Hosterns had been following behind the new Lady's head maid to support her in case she needed his help. He was also curious as to what she would do, but he knew better than to provoke the maids of the Lady. By the looks of her maids the new Countess had a different way to run the keep and he was going to adapt. It was why generations of Hosterns had served the Kelmaris Lords. They knew their place. And no servant had any business going against a Lady's instructions.

Head chef Six got right into business, he walked around the inside and outside of the kitchen, checking all the ingredients and seasonings in the kitchen.

Poultry and animal products such as eggs, milk, cheese and butter were all available in the kitchen. There are a lot of marinated and cured meats and sausages of Beef, wild boar meat, goat and mutton all hung on the kitchen vent. Unmilled barley, wheat, oats, rye, and beans were abundant. The spices of all Cronia and those from merchants afar were available, pepper, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, mace cinnamon, saffron , anise, cumin and cloves, rosemary, sage, garlic, parsley, coriander, mint, fennel, black pepper and cumin.

The vegetables were just cabbage, carrots, olives, onions and peas and the fruits are mainly apples, pears, lemons and native berries picked from the wild forests belonging to the Counts. There were several jars of wild honey and several sun-dried and stored fungi and mushrooms. He saw a few live chickens in cages at the door, and there were a few more fish in the wooden bucket in the kitchen, as if they had just been delivered. It seemed like a variety but in the whole of the Eastern Cronia, only these kitchen had so much food in quantity and variety.

The staple bread was made in the castle's bakery, so there was only a small amount of flour- mixed with wheat bran- and the like in the kitchen, he did not like this type of flour on bit. However, there was always a solution to everything and the chefs quickly got into the preparation of breakfast. But before that, this whole kitchen was to be cleaned until it could barely be lived in.

"Miss Ruby, leave everything here to me. I shall cook the Princess and the lieges a feast fit for an emperor." Six assured Ruby, cooking was his most proud craft and together with his brothers Seven and Eight, he was sure to do a job wonderful enough to please the Princess.

First he would make some cooking oil from the olives and coconuts, enough for them all using the traditional method.

With the assurance of the head chef, Ruby lead, Head chef Nine and chef ten walked into the bakery. It was as dirty as the kitchen with smogy walls. Nine's first reaction was that this place was no bakery. He wanted to have the whole place cleaned up. His precious baked goods could not be baked in such an abominable place. It took a little cleaning and the persuasion of Ruby before he relented to bake anything.

Jade went into the dining room as Ruby had ordered and had the servants behind her clean up the whole place, It was not going to be as perfectly clean and hygienic till soap and detergent were made, but a good scrubbing would do. The Princess could not lose her appetite because of they dereliction of duty. Later on they would see to the cleansing of the whole house.

Pearl, Amber, Opal and Beryl made their way upstairs to await their Lady's orders once she woke up.