Court reconvened again before we knew it. Mariela's tea parties were slightly less terrible than the dowager queen's had been. Partly because I got to spend the majority of the ti holding baby Roland and partly because she made sure to include lemonade for .
Unfortunately, it didn't change the fact that tea parties were hot spots of gossip and inane chatter that made my brain bleed. Every single morning I had to sit around and deal with it.
Rosenia got bad-talked in that special noblewoman way a lot in her absence. Everyone whispered about her fallen state and how she had gotten pregnant too late, being careful to be sure the queen didn't hear. She probably would have burst a blood vessel if she was here so it was for the best that she was stuck in bed.
I briefly wondered what these people would say about once Al and I ran away to the mountains. Not that I cared. This pack of vultures ant nothing to .
The countess would probably lose her mind though, which could be a bit botherso. She had been over the moon since I beca a princess. The cynical part of thought that Adele better marry very advantageously to make up for how much of a disappointnt I would be.
Technically speaking I would be the "queen" of our new nation but the Kanta were so small and even further behind technologically than the rest of this already primitive world. She would likely be horrified.
I was petty enough to enjoy thinking about her future distress but also felt a tiny bit of guilt for the ss that would leave my fake siblings in. We had been spending a lot of ti with them lately. It beca harder to leave the palace when so many nobles were milling about.
Percy had begun actively seeking a wife at his parents' insistence and was not at all happy about the prospect. Out of all of my siblings I saw him least because he was too busy calling on various noble families with marriageable daughters.
Adele clung to like glue whenever she visited, which I didn't mind one bit. But every ti I saw heror any of my fake siblings, reallyit made miss Abby even more than usual.
Edmund hung out with us a lot too but usually found an excuse to go to the kitchens, be it by himself or with us accompanying him. Al's earlier theory that he might have a crush on Marcy didn't seem so far-fetched.
He had been finishing up his final exams at Calabaster Academy in the spring and hadn't been able to join the family when they ca up for court so this was his first ti visiting since my wedding. I was surprised he had rembered Marcy from their one encounter.
"What are you making?" Edmund asked eagerly, leaning over to peer into the contents of a bowl of red liquid.
Marcy smiled sunnily at him and continued chopping strawberries into mush. I was amazed that she was actually pureeing sothing without the use of a blender. I supposed people must have done it sohow before they were invented but had never seen it personally.
"I'm trying to get the juice out so I can have strawberry-flavored whipped cream to put on top of miniature chocolate cakes. I've never done this before but it's fairly easy; all I have to do is mash up the strawberries with a knife and stick them over so cheesecloth to filter the juice."
I was floored. She had simultaneously invented strawberry frosting and cupcakes. I had never heard of either of those things in this world before now.
"You're making cupcakes," I said stupidly.
Marcy raised her eyebrow at . "That's a cute na for them. I suppose the wells I've been baking them in are like cups. You have the most interesting ideas sotis, Katie."
I flushed. Oops. It was a good thing she didn't say anything about the doughnuts, which Edmund would definitely realize were not from the country. This wasn't the only ti this had happened either.
She was a culinary whiz and had invented multiple things from my ho, including ice cream without saying a word about it. It tasted a bit different than what I was used to but I wasn't complaining.
Marcy liked experinting in her free ti. During the off-season when the nobles were at their country estates she had more ti for that sort of thing. She created caral, marshmallows, and even tapioca pudding after receiving so imported cassava plants from Idaris.
I was most excited about the marshmallows. It took a long ti for her to boil down the gelatin but at least there were a lot of bones to use around here. at was on the nu almost daily in the palace.
I would miss the ready availability of marshmallows for my hot chocolate and all the other sweets Marcy made when we left here. No one would ever be able to replace her culinary talent but I hoped she would give so recipes so I could still try.
Adele held my hand as she watched Marcy continue dicing and straining the strawberries curiously. She looked up at her with big blue eyes and blinked innocently.
"Can I have so first when you are done?"
The pastry chef bead at the little girl. "Of course you can! I would be honored to have you be my first taste tester."
Edmund continued chatting with Marcy and eventually the subject changed from her culinary experints to what it felt like for him to be done with school. Al and I hung back to give them a little space and make sure Adele didn't touch anything she wasn't supposed to.
Reviews
All reviews (0)