Wherever I Am

Chapter 20 - Part 2

"It sounds like Lauretti will be here tonight or by lunch tomorrow at the latest," Ellie said as she came into my chambers for breakfast, trailed by her maids and Zoe's little brother, Mihai. Both of them moved stiffly, Mihai with a pillow under his arm.

I smiled at him before turning my attention back to Ellie. "You went to the scroll?"

"I didn't want to bother you two, and I see Oana's turned up. How was the kitchen?"

While the others settled in around the table, Oana went into a long explanation of what she'd done that day and night, including being unceremoniously dumped from my bed. Lucian and Gabriel looked uncomfortable at this new way of eating. I was glad the table here was larger than in my old chambers as we barely fit at this one. We probably should go down to the Realm dining room in the future, but being slightly cramped would work for this morning.

To say that the cook and food delivery crew was shocked when they saw Oana smiling and waving at him from the table was an understatement, and I couldn't help but smile. "I understand Maid Oana helped in the kitchen yesterday."

"Ummm...yes, Milord. I didn't—"

"That's fine," I replied, waving him down. "She enjoyed it and will probably come down to help in the future if she did a good enough job yesterday, and it's okay with you."

"She did, Milord. It would be an honor—"

"No special treatment," Ellie said, smiling. "The same as yesterday, and we'll keep her in trousers for cleaning that refuse chute."

The cook blanched slightly, then bowed deeply as he gestured the others to serve us.

A mug of the morning's ever-present yaupon tea was set before me. The steeped yaupon holly leaves continued that caffeine boost I'd gotten used to in preparing for college classes with coffee or Dr. Pepper, and they even had a small cup of honey for sweetener. They had been learning my preferences.

The cook presented me with this morning's selection, which included smoked fish.

"What fish is this?"

"Redfish, Milord."

"That's a saltwater fish, isn't it?"

"It is, Milord, brought in by traders from the coast. Is this satisfactory?"

"It is," I replied. "Thank you." I wasn't sure that it was, but this was obviously not the norm for the populace, so I wasn't going to complain. I needed to find out more about this trade. Some women wore jewelry made from abalone, which Ellie thought came from the Baja, so there was a lot more going on than we'd originally thought.

I selected a couple of eggs and whatever cooked greens they'd brought up to go with the fish.

The smoked redfish was different from salmon but good in its own way. So much of the food here was different. Cattle had never found their way here, nor had wheat. However, pigs had, and so had goats, sheep, and cotton, or maybe some of those were always here. Venison was pretty standard. Despite little in the way of European food crops, there was variety.

The cook continued to stand at attention, along with the two servers. He needed permission to leave. I forgot...again.

"Thank you, Master Tadzi. We will have lunch and supper downstairs and plan to eat there instead of up here most of the time in the future. The table is a bit crowded with our group, and we're still missing a couple of people."

"Yes, Milord. It would be more comfortable in the dining lounge," he agreed, bowed, and left. The two younger servers, of course, stayed. Anything we might need would be added to our plates or mugs, and the teens would clean up afterward. All of these were the local natives and were among the best of the servants of Baemardis, and wore small round medallions representing their livery specifically to the Realm.