CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT TREW
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
TREW
The kitchen sprawled across the back of the first floor, all stone ovens and hanging herbs and the lingering scent of the evening’s meal. Most of the staff had retired for the night, but I knew at least one person would still be there.
Sure enough, I found Betina standing at the main preparation table, her face creased as she kneaded dough. Her gray hair had been pulled back in a practical bun, and flour dusted her apron.
She looked up as I entered, her eyes widening with surprise before crinkling with warmth.
“Your Majesty.” She curtsied. “I heard you’d returned, but I didn’t expect to see you tonight.”
I moved closer to the counter, watching her return to her work. “I couldn’t come home and not stop in to visit with the best chef in the realm.”
“Go on with you.” Color filled her face. “It’s lovely to see you too, Trewyn.”
She’d called me by my first name from the time I was three and slipped away from my nanny and made my way to the kitchen for a treat. I was happy she still used the name when no one else was around.
“What can I do for you this evening?” she asked. “Looking for a treat?” She tilted her head toward a platter heaped with tiny cakes, each ornately decorated with frosting shaped to look like flowers.
“You know I won’t leave without eating at least three.” I popped one into my mouth and groaned at the amazing flavor. “Make that five,” I said with a smirk. “Though actually, I came here to put together a tray for my evening meal with…”
“Your young lady, Princess Amarissa.”
News traveled fast.
I leaned against the counter, adopting my most charming smile. “She’s important.”
“That she is.”
If Betina could see it, so would most of my kingdom, and I wasn’t sure what I thought about that. I didn’t like putting her in more danger.
Smiling, Betina reached out with a flour-dusted hand and swiped a smudge across my cheek.
“I remember a three-year-old prince who thought he was a master of stealth. You’d hide under that very table with a stolen burrberry tart, convinced that if you squeezed your eyes shut, the crumbs on your chin would be invisible to the rest of the world. ”
I shifted against the wooden counter, the radiant heat from the stone ovens seeping into my spine.
For a brief, blissful moment, the weight of the coming war and the suspicion of my council felt cleks away, replaced by the scent of yeast and dried herbs.
“I wasn’t hiding from you, Betina. I was hiding from the etiquette tutors who insisted I learn the proper way to hold a fork while my kingdom was grieving. ”
“And you’re still hiding, in your way,” she said, her expression softening into the maternal concern I’d relied on since my mother passed.
She stopped kneading to look at me properly, her eyes searching mine.
“You’ve been the pillar of Syllavar since you were a boy, Trewyn.
It’s a heavy thing to be the only one who isn’t allowed to break.
” She reached for a fresh linen to wrap the bread, her voice dropping.
“It’s good to see someone finally helping you set that burden down, even if it’s only for the length of a meal. ”
“She doesn’t just help me set it down. She makes me feel like I don’t need it to be whole.”
“Half the castle is placing bets on when the wedding will be,” she said.
“Are they now?” I didn’t hold back my grin. “What odds are they giving?”
“Most think within the year. A few optimists say even sooner.” She wiped her hands on her apron, leaving streaks of flour.
“I, for one, think it’s wonderful that you’ve found someone who makes you smile like you just won a war without fighting.
” She moved to the cold storage, pulling out covered dishes. “Sweet or savory? Light or hearty?”
“Both,” I said. “Everything. I want her to have choices.”
As she turned back, Betina’s smile widened. “You’ve fallen hard, haven’t you?”
Completely. Utterly. Without question.
“Just help me bring a smile to her face,” I said.
“Oh, I think you’ll manage that all on your own.
” But she was already moving around the kitchen, assembling items on a big tray.
“Fresh bread from this afternoon’s baking.
I’ve got some honey butter that’ll make her weep.
Roasted fowl. There’s a complete bird left from dinner.
Cheese, fruit, and plenty of the little pastries you adore. ”
I pretended to pout. “Will I have to share them with her?”
“I’ll give you extra, though, if I know you, you’ll be feeding her most of them and grinning while she eats them all.” She arranged everything on the tray, adding a carafe of wine and two glasses. “Will this do, or should I add more?”
I surveyed the spread, already imagining Isi’s expression when I presented it to her. “It’s perfect. Thank you, Betina.”
“Don’t thank me yet. You’re carrying it all the way to wherever you two will dine.” She fixed me with a mock-stern look. “And you’re going to tell her that Betina Farlain prepared this food with her blessing on what’s growing between you.”
“I will.” I lifted the tray carefully. “I should warn you, what’s growing between us is already well past the seedling stage, so if you’re placing bets, keep that in mind.”
“Oh, I shall.” Her trill of a laugh followed me out of the kitchen, echoing in the stone corridor as I made my way toward the back stairs.
The tray held enough food to feed four people. But I’d seen how Isi ate when she was truly relaxed, putting away portions that would shame most warriors. The woman had an appetite that matched her spirit; fierce and unapologetic.
I navigated the corridors, nodding to the few guards still on patrol, smiling at them and dipping my head, not caring what they thought of a king carrying a tray of food through the castle.
I’d found the woman I intended to spend my life with, and I wasn’t going to waste a single moment pretending otherwise.
She wasn’t inside my suite. Frowning, I left, taking the food through the halls to the room she’d been assigned once she’d bonded with Pherin.
I rounded the final corner and stopped short.
Light spilled from beneath her door. Voices carried through the wood, too muffled to make out words.
At her door, I shifted the tray to one arm and knocked with my free hand.
“Come in,” Isi’s voice called out.
I nudged the door open and stepped inside.
Four pairs of eyes turned my way. Isi sat on the bed with Lexie beside her, both women bent over a book. Kerralyn had taken a chair near the window, and Derren stood near the fireplace that crackled with flames.
They all looked up at my entrance, staring at me with varying expressions of surprise and amusement.
“Your Majesty,” Lexie said, her lips twitching. “Do you work with the kitchen staff now?”
“Apparently.” I moved further into the room, setting the tray on a low table near the bed. “Betina sent her blessing on whatever is growing between Isi and myself.”
Isi’s laugh rang out.
“You brought me food,” she said, her eyes dancing with delight. “Aren’t you wonderful.”
“I brought you a feast.” I gestured to the spread. “Courtesy of our head chef, who seems to think we need spoiling.”
“She’s not wrong.” Isi rose from the bed and strode over to me, her hands settling on my chest as she looked up with so much love in her eyes it gutted me. And that made me want to drop to my knees and worship her. “You’re perfect. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. You haven’t tasted it yet.”
“I don’t need to.” She stretched up and kissed me, soft and sweet and thoroughly distracting. “It looks delicious, like you.”
When she pulled back, I caught Lexie and Kerralyn exchanging knowing looks. Derren studied the fire.
“Should we go?” Lexie asked.
“No,” Isi and I said at the same time.
“Stay,” I said. “Share the food. Tell me if you found anything in the library.”
“Are you certain?” Kerralyn asked, though she was already eyeing the pastries.
“Positive.” I settled onto the bed and tugged Isi down onto my lap, wrapping my arms around her.
Kerralyn placed the tray between us.
“I want to hear everything,” I said. “And I want to watch my future wife eat while you tell me.”
The words hung in the air for a heartbeat.
Lexie whooped, Kerralyn clapped her hands, and Derren’s solemn face cracked into a genuine smile.
“Future wife?” Isi’s voice held laughter and love and a hint of exasperation. “You’re announcing this to our friends before we’ve even discussed details?”
“We discussed details last night in the hot spring.” I kissed her temple. “You said yes. The rest is just ceremony.”
She shook her head, but her smile was so radiant it stunned me.
I reached for a pastry and held it to her lips. “Now eat and tell me what you learned. We have a kingdom to save.”