Lady Eilean

Chapter 30

After some needling from Alex and Calum, I relented and allowed myself to be carried across the day in a state of suspense. All pretense was dropped when lunch was presented on silver platters. A decadent spread spilling over with all of my favorite foods. The feast made me pliant to their demands.

Figs stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped in bacon. A creamy, buttery swordfish stew. Cheeses and fruits of endless variety. Bowls of tart cherries and pink-pickled onions that made your cheeks pucker. Fresh baked brown bread layered with orange rinds and cranberries and slathered in salty butter.

As I relaxed to their will, I found enjoyment in the secrecy and tried to predict their surprises, with little success. They informed me dinner would be a grand affair. All the inhabitants of Stormway had accepted the invitation. After years of eating without ceremony, shoulder to shoulder with the staff in the kitchen, a feast in the great hall sounded extravagant.

"There are flowers, and candles, and miles of garlands. Bess is indefatigable. She wants everything to sparkle. This morning I combed my hair by looking at my reflection in a serving tray. You know the old plates? With the gold?" Alex parroted the chambermaid from earlier this morning.

"And The Fist donated many, many, many barrels of wine," Calum said, biting into a slice of green apple topped with an intense, marbled cheese and drizzled with honey.

"No offense to the Island vintages, but Mainland wine is superior," Alex said with an apologetic grimace.

I waved him off, not at all concerned. If anyone knew wine, it was the Lord of the largest vineyards on the continent. "How long have you been planning this? Where are the bills? Have you been doctoring invoices and pretending they are from the blacksmith?"

"Months," Calum confirmed, smiling.

Alex nodded, agreeing as he gulped down wine. "We started thinking about it during the winter holidays."

My mouth fell open in shock. "And the bills?"

"She has a relentlessly one-track mind," Calum remarked to Alex with an eye roll.

"An absolute miser," Alex agreed.

"Tease me all you want but you have to answer me." I sipped from a golden goblet full of wine. Mainland wine. It was superior; robust and smooth with a smack of tobacco and tomato.

"The cost is being borne by the combined households of Leslie and McKerran," Calum said.

"You can't," I gasped. An uncomfortable heat crept up my neck and flooded my cheeks. "Please, don't. It's too much!"

"Remarkably, very few merchants would take our coin. We insisted, of course, but it seems more than a few people want to repay you for keeping them fed and alive during the miserable years." Alex said this with a softened tone, his eyes sparkling with pride. "Besides, you'll see, it's not all that much. Just some flowers."

"And her gift," Calum said, bringing up the mystery present again.

"And your gift," Alex said with a devil's grin.

"Well, gifts," Calum amended, emphasizing the plural.

"Where are they, then?" I asked, delighted like a star-struck child with the prospect of a stack of boxes to unwrap.

Alex checked his pocket watch and then scanned the spread of food as if making sure we had consumed enough to declare lunch finished. "There should be some in your rooms by now. If you have eaten your fill, you may go unveil it."

"Alone?" I asked with an arched brow.

"It's more of an... experience than it is an object," Alex hedged.