Merlot's Eyes

Chapter Seven

Leadequat bons and oqeamia pies drizzled with peach gravy couldn't take my mind off the happenstances of last night. Sweetness popped in my mouth with every bite I took. It was a good way to start the next morning, yet the silence between King Dren, Princess Lex and I was deafening and tedious. Every noise that sounded had me looking up and checking the room, expecting to see another hallucination.
"How is your pain, Your Highness," I asked, poking my pie with the tines of my fork, peeling each flaky layer back to reveal the oqeamia meat inside.
"Hardly there," answered Dren without looking up from his plate. "Us nymphs heal exceptionally fast."
"Yet not all of us are as foolish as my brother here," Lex growled, holding her knife as if she wanted to give Dren another wound.
"Hold your tongue, Lex."
"No! If the human is to dine with us, she can also hear my absolute banter of how disappointed I am in you!" Lex threw her arms in the air and tucked her auburn locks behind her ears. "Meetings are meant to be for discussing. Not bloody fighting!"
"Says the girl who starts a fight over a too-long line for breakfast," murmured Dren into his goblet of morning juice. "What was I supposed to do. Sign the contract saying I would offer my Sentinels in this useless war? Sending my men to their deaths?"
"Don't act like you give two shits about your Sentinels," argued Lex. "Every Gold Sentinel of Moth obeys your head Sentinel and rolls their eyes when you speak up. Everyone knows this. King Dren the Foolish. King Dren Heartland? Ha, more like Jester Dren Heartland."
"Silence yourself!" exclaimed the king, standing and almost knocking over his chair. "I refuse to sit here and listen to your endless attempts to bicker with me. I have important things to go over. Leave, Lex. I wish to be free from your aura."
"Gods!" I stood up, my irritability past its boiling point, my swiftness in standing shoving the chair to the floor. "We are on the brink of a fucking war. And you two choose to simply fight with your mouths instead of your hands and brains? Everyone will be slaughtered if Köd Kunta gets their way! Dren, you're one of the Three, damnit! Why not put your money where your mouth is and find a fucking way to level the heads of the other two? Huh? Is that too much to ask?" I crossed my arms over my chest, my nostrils flaring. "I haven't even lived, yet. For the past years, I've been crawling and making my way to the epitome of my life. I refuse to spend my last days serving a king with more mouth than balls on him and his sister who wouldn't give a crap if her kingdom fell, as long as she got to follow her fantasy! You're rulers. You're royalty. Start acting like it." I pointed to Dren, whose mouth was slack with shock. "You. A meeting is supposed to entail talking and finding equal ground despite differences. Not fucking swordplay and injuries like you're nothing but two-year-old twats drunk on too much power. Go back to wherever you held that meeting; call the other two rulers back and make a damn difference. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to be making some fucking pies for my gods-damn sanity."

—

I'd ordered every cook and baker to leave the kitchens. In my fury, I started making King Dren's seventy-five pies. Turmoil was my mind—everything yelling and shouting at me. Dark shadows clouded my vision. I knew I was moving too fast, especially having barely eaten. I was bound to overwork myself.
"Merlot."
Fuck. I knew who was behind me, yet I didn't want to turn to face him... not one bit. Embarrassment flooded my cheeks, heating them. I was quite ashamed of my outburst at the breakfast table. Even if they both deserved to hear what I said. He's the king, you fool. Sighing, I set down my knife and patted the dough I was kneading. I turned around. "Your Highness," I greeted Dren, dipping into a sloppy curtsy. "What brings you down here?"
"It smells delicious," said Dren, walking closer to me, his hands clasped behind his back. He was wearing a loosely tied tunic colored like the forest. Cuffs of brown leather clad his arms. Though he looked sophisticated, I knew he'd simply thrown on the clothes. I had half the mind to fix the crooked circlet of emerald and gold atop his blonde head. I knew my position was below him; if any other person of my stature was to lay a hand on him, they would surely lose that hand.
"I'm working on your order," I mumbled, dusting my flour-covered hands on my stained apron. "Seventy-five lemon pies topped with a dollop of fresh sugared cream and sprinkled with lime rinds and crystalized honey."
A smile spread across Dren's chiseled face. "How wonderful," he said excitedly. "I cannot wait to taste them."
"What will you truly do with seventy-five pies, Your Highness," I asked sincerely. "A man of your prestige surely cannot indulge in seventy-five pies."
"I will gift them to the people of Korath; the children and elderly."
"That is mighty kind of you," I said.
"I strive to be kind," King Dren said, walking closer. "I strive to be a kind worthy of the people's votes."
"Tis not up to the people which ruler they get," I said carefully, narrowing my eyes at the nymph. "It's all up to the lineage and surname, is it not?"
"Smart girl," Dren sighed, lifting his hands. "You are a bit like my sister. If something is wrong or out of place or organization, you make it known, despite whom you are speaking to." He looked down his nose at me and for the first time, I felt chilled in his presence. So much that I shrunk down a bit and lowered my eyes to his feet. "Apologies. I will watch my tongue."
"Yet, you're not Lex, are you."
"I'm Merlot Elfhallow, Your Highness."
"Correct." Chills suddenly spilt as the king's fingers took my chin and tilted my face up to meet his. "Come with me, Merlot Elfhallow."
"Wh-where?"
"To meet the other rulers of the Threefold Kingdoms."
Flustered, I shook my head, his hand dropping. "I can't! I'm a mere mortal... I'm naught but a baker, Your Highness. Matters of the Threefold are no matters of mine."
"Yet that didn't stop you in the dining room, did it."
Words left me. I had plenty in mind to say to the so-called "rulers." My life was at its prime and I didn't plan to spend it cooped up in some war camp or shelter. If the words of a mortal could change the fate of a kingdom, maybe it was what was needed. If I could be the voice to save a world, I needed to step outside my comfort zone and take the leap of faith—a leap of courage.
"Will they hurt me?" I asked. I tried not to sound like a feeble little girl, but that's exactly how it came out.
"Of course not," answered Dren, hope sparking in his golden eyes. "Stay by my side; they will not touch you, I promise."
Taking off my apron, I smoothed out the pleats of my tunic and stood tall. "When do we leave, Your Highness?"