AntiClockwise

Chapter 15

Liam wrote a letter to Braut telling him that he accepted his offer and he sent it in the morning.

At the palace, Peter was very satisfied with the flow of events.

“Amazing! Now, we have all the eyes and ears on them. Well done Braut! Just wait till the prophecy is fulfilled and you'll have your fortune and worthy position by my side.” He put his hand on Braut's shoulder as a sign of mutual trust.

Back at the Maurers, the whole family was deciphering the map. A red zone on the map was the target place. So, the next step was to find this place.

Ethan: “We must find it ASAP!”

Mateo: “ASAP??”

Ethan: “As soon as possible. It's an abbreviation and of course not found at your times so never mind.”

Mateo: “People from the future are quite lazy to spell words though! Father how about me and Lukas find the place I'm sure that's a piece of cake for us. Right brother?”

The Quokkas stood with their arms around each other ready for a mission possible!

Jonathan: “Be careful on your way, don't let anyone follow you two. Liam we have to go to the palace, Peter must be expecting us to discuss military matters.”

Liam: “Sure. I'm ready.”

Ethan: “Hey guys! What about me?”

Liam: “You'll stay home. It's not convenient for you to go to the palace this time, much less with Braut around. He's sharpwitted. Plus, you can practice with your sword in the meantime.”

Ethan: “How boring!”

Liam and his father went one way and his brothers went another way. As for Ethan, he felt like he was having a day off so he wanted to rest and enjoy himself instead. He had zero intensions to fight with a stupid sword and add some wounds.

Eliana was at the kitchen washing vegetables so Ethan entered to joined her.

“Would you love to have a snack?” Eliana asked warm-heartedly.

“Oh no thank you. I just miss watching my mom being busy in the kitchen.”

“So you could remember more things now?”

“Yeah sort of but still I can't remember the faces. My mom is a dentist she's at her clinic all day but she always saves some energy to cook dinner for us. I have some talents, would you like to use an extra hand?”

“Sure why not. Come on dear.”

Ethan started by showing some knife skills, he did all the cut, dice, and mince things. Eliana approved his talent: “You can cook indeed! The last time Liam tried to cook some eggs, the smoke filled the air in here!”

“Oh! So there's something Mr. Perfect can't do.”

“Actually they're two by now. Add up that he’s not into chitchatting.”

“Hahaha you're right. He’s more like the suffer-in-silence type.”

“Hahaha yes I can relate.”

After sometime, the lunch was almost done.

“My lady, representing to you the best pasta dish and vegetable beef soup bowl.” Ethan served it with a waiter style. “Bon appetit.”

“Thank you dear for whatever this sentence means.”

“Hahaha.”

“You seem to be having a great time.” Jonathan interrupted the laughs while entering the kitchen with Liam.

“You missed it Jon.” Eliana smiled. “How was it at the palace?”

Jonathan was telling his wife about the king's plan to have an army and of how many and so on and so forth.

Liam went directly towards Ethan that was smelling from above the cooker his food's aroma.

Liam: “What are you doing man?”

Ethan: “Final touches.”

Eliana saw Liam and remembered her conversation with Ethan earlier so she said: “Liam my dear son how about you learn some cooking skills from your friend here! He doesn't burn eggs at all!! Hahaha.”

Liam: “Motherrr.” He lowered his voice with an embarrassed tone.

Ethan: “It's ok Mr. Perfect, I can keep a secret. Hahaha.”

“What's uppp everyone?” The Quokkas jumped in.

They found the place on the map. It's something like a warehouse built in the forest where all military needs are found.

More talks were held while having lunch. Everything was under control nothing important happened at the palace and no one followed the boys to the warehouse. This gave everyone a piece of mind and allowed them to enjoy the tasty food.

It was getting dark and cloudy outside so the best thing to do was to stay still for the day and tomorrow go to the warehouse.

This day was blessed. No surprises, no threats, and no escapes. And soon it turned to a cozy night spent with some tea and sweets, some books to read, and some card games to play.

It was bedtime, but Ethan still had to ask about Lena again and again to get an answer.

“So about that girl... Lena... how do you know her?”

“We used to be neighbours when we were kids.”

“Wow! So it's a childhood love story. And why did you part?”

“Nonsense. We were just friends, sleep.”

“Yeah sure...just friends...”