Chapter Eleven THE SOLSTICE PARTY Alison #2
“Rivalry?” asked Rinka. Charlotte filled her and Idris in on the rival bake shop.
“That’s easily managed,” said Idris. “Keir, just evict him. Your father won’t even notice.”
Alison hadn’t realized that Lord Ainsley likely owned the building Julian was renting.
Charlotte apparently hadn’t either, judging by her surprised expression. “You can’t do that,” she said. “He needs the shop to survive.”
“Wait, are we for or against the rival bake shop?” asked Rinka.
“It’s a cheese shop,” said Charlotte. “We don’t want him to leave. We just want him to stop baking things and stealing business from Mrs. Knox.”
“Ah,” said Rinka. “Thank you. Now that I know how we feel about it, I’m ready to do whatever it takes to help…stop the baker from baking. Or the cheese monger from baking? Is that right?”
“Close enough,” said Charlotte.
“Gwenla, can I help you in the kitchen?” asked Alison.
“No, no, no, it’s done. Sit down. We’ll all fit around the table if we squeeze.”
Gwenla had installed the leaf in her dining table, filling up the entirety of the room. The table was already set with six places; the smaller kitchen table had been set up for Finnli and the cats in the kitchen.
Over Gwenla’s protests, Alison helped carry in bowls of roasted sprouts and spiced squash, a gravy boat, and the largest pan of mashed potatoes she’d ever seen.
Gwenla brought in a tray of puffy golden pastries cooked from the fat of the roast, and then she brought in the star of the show: the roast itself.
It was a beautiful cut of beef, nice and brown on the outside, delicately pink and tender on the inside. The entire spread was so lovely it was difficult to tear it apart in order to eat it.
Difficult, but not impossible.
“Shall we have a Solstice toast for the chef?” asked Alison once they had all served themselves. “To Gwenla, champion of Herot’s Hollow. May her days be long and bright.”
“May her days be long and bright. Cheers!” they said in unison.
“Shall we also toast the prince?” said Gwenla. “It’s a first, having royalty at my table.”
“Absolutely not,” said Idris, setting his glass down. “If we keep toasting, the food will be cold.”
Gwenla laughed. “A fair point. Very well. Happy Solstice, all! Dig in!”
After lunch, they gathered in the crowded living room to exchange gifts.
Gwenla received a number of gifts for her garden, including a nice new pair of secateurs from Alison and Keir and some rare bulbs from the continent ordered by Rinka and Idris.
“Oh, what lovely daffodils!” said Gwenla, holding up the package to show everyone the illustration.
“If I plant them right away, they’ll be up by Lupercalia. ”
Charlotte received a special baking pan from Gwenla for making cheesecakes. “If Julian insists on selling pastries, you might as well try selling something cheesy.”
Everyone had brought toys and games for Finnli, who had grown up with many siblings and wasn’t used to receiving more than one gift.
“I don’t know what to play with first,” he said, quite overwhelmed.
In the end, he chose a puzzle and started a war with the cats to keep the pieces off the floor, much to his delight.
Alison had gotten Keir cufflinks made by Weyland to wear at the wedding. “I’m sorry they aren’t quite as meaningful as your present,” she said. Keir had reassured her that they were lovely, and he was kind enough to put them on right away to prove how much he liked them.
No one had known what to get Idris. Alison had gone down to the archive and asked Duncan Corbett (who would be attending her wedding with Nigel Smalls after all, a great bit of gossip) to copy all the stories of local curses and their remedies into a pamphlet.
Alison had worried Idris would find it overly practical as a gift, but he had been thrilled.
“There are some unique stories here,” said Idris as he skimmed through it.
“You know, it wouldn’t be a bad project, going from town to town, collecting their curse lore. Thank you for the idea as well.”
But the winner of the day was Rinka. Idris’s gift to her had come in a huge box he’d struggled to carry into Gwenla’s living room, and Rinka had struggled to even open it. “What did you get me, a horse?”
In the end, Gwenla had to find a crowbar to break into the crate.
“I don’t believe it,” said Rinka as she lifted something round from within it. It was a metal wheel about a foot wide, and wrapped around it was something dark that Alison didn’t recognize. “Are all of these—how many are there? Is this every picture show that’s ever been made?”
Rinka was practically yelling; she was so excited. Alison remembered how it used to scare the Halfling Mr. Theo in their building in Arcas Dyrne when she spoke too loudly. They had come a long way since then.
“It’s every picture show I could manage to find,” said Idris.
“But how are we meant to watch them? They need a projector to run them, and ‘lectrics to run the projector. Oh, this one is so cute! It’s a little fairy princess story,” she said, holding up another one of the reels that must have somehow held picture shows.
“There’s a projector waiting at Weldan House.” Idris smiled at Keir—they’d clearly planned this surprised together.
“Gwenla, everyone, you must come with us back to Weldan House,” said Rinka. “We can send you home in a carriage tonight. I have to show you all of my favorites.”
“Aunt Gwenla, can we go? Please? I want to see the pictures,” said Finnli. “We only get dwarf pictures under the mountain.”
“Let me do some washing up first,” said Gwenla.
“Sit down,” said Alison. “I’ll do that.”
“No, I insist—”
“You can supervise from the kitchen table,” said Keir, joining Alison in clearing the plates.
Gwenla sat uncomfortably at her kitchen table as Keir and Alison washed the dishes. “You really don’t have to—”
“Please, Gwenla. Let us do something. You must have been up all night making all of this,” said Alison.
“And it was worth it,” said Keir. “It was a wonderful meal.”
Gwenla finally sat back in her chair. Alison glanced back to look at her and saw she was smiling and nodding. “What would Lady Willana have said?” she asked, recognizing Gwenla’s look when she was imagining their conversation.
“She would have loved this. Nothing would have made her happier than to see everyone together again. To see the house full of laughter. She would have been so proud of you both.”
“She would have been proud of you too, Gwenla,” said Keir. “You made this all possible.”
“We all did,” said Gwenla. “Together.”