THE ROYAL CROWN WARS

Chapter Thirteen

"As the Queen and King will find that the wine perfectly complements the food tonight. For the first course, we have Herb Salad with Feta, Roasted Red Peppers, and Toasted Nuts."

I wrinkled my nose. Why couldn't adults just want to eat pizza or chicken tenders? Why did they have to insist on eating all this 'fancy' food?

The waiter sat the salad in front of all of us at the same time. There were lush greens, and bright reds, mixed in with the nuts. The salad almost smelled a bit spicy, and yet sweet. I picked up the salad fork and began to push the food around.

Mom and Dad quickly dived into their salads, humming at the taste. Dad leaned his head back in appreciation. "This is wonderful, Dean. This will be perfect for tomorrow's dinner."

"It's excellent," Mom agreed. "However, I'm a little concerned about the nuts in the salad. So many people have tree nut allergies and I would not want to risk anyone at the dinner."

"Do we know of anyone coming to the dinner with tree nut allergies?" Dean asked.

"Not that I'm aware of," she said. "However, I wouldn't want to endanger anyone's lives with such a common allergy. Surely, you understand."

"Of course, Your Highness, I will remove the tree nuts from the salad for tomorrow."

We ate in silence. Lizzie and I pushed the salad back and forth mostly. Lizzie took far more bites than I had. After Mom and Dad finished, and we reluctantly ate a bite more of the salad, the waiters came to pick up our plates.

Dean sat in the far corner writing some notes. He pushed to his feet. "Now the main course for tomorrow evening's dinner is Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Oranges."

The waiters came back in and sat the plate down in front of them. Each plate had three medium-sized pieces of chicken, roasted sweet potatoes with some kind of green on them, and oranges. The oranges looked grilled.

"Oranges and chicken?" Lizzie asked. "Dean, do you know that everyone loves chicken tenders?"

Dean snorted. "Yes, Lizzie, while chicken tenders are a big deal, the orange actually brings out the flavor of the chicken. It provides sweetness and balances it out. Trust me it sounds weird, but I think it balances perfectly."

With as much grace as possible, I cut off a piece of the chicken and popped it into my mouth. The sweetness of the orange was almost overwhelming, but there was something else too. A BBQ flavor I hadn't been expecting. I hummed at the taste. "That's actually...pretty good."

Dad chuckled. "If my daughter likes it then it must be good."

The remaining three cut off a piece of their chicken. Lizzie's knife clanked on the plate as she struggled with her remaining piece. Dad took a small bite and began to hum.

"Dean, this is delicious," Mom said.

"This is a recipe you're going to have to make more often," The King said.

To my surprise, even the sweet potatoes were not gross and actually pretty good. I almost cleared my whole plate when a young man dressed in a guard uniform came in.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt your highness, but Ms. Alexandria wants to have a word with Lizzie."

Dad waved his hand dismissively. "Ms. Alexandria is welcome in our home anytime. I'm sure she's dropping off an overnight bag for Lizzie. Please tell her to come in. I want to have a word with her."