Crowning Glory (In Bloom Book 2)

10: Into the War Zone

I caught sight of some soldiers bobbing their heads.

"We learned how to cook at Night Raven College as well!" Silver blocked Lilia's path to the fire pit in the middle of the camp. "Please, leave it to us."

"If you're so insistent, then I'll leave you all to it. Be warned, my palette is quite refined," Lilia lowered his hood. "I'll know if you put something weird in the food."

Sebek assured him, "We'll prepare something to suit everyone's tastes."

The food left from the supplies were all familiar to us. There was also a bounty of wild herbs and leafy greens growing near the camp. Silver and I managed to produce a large amount of cheese risotto to feed everyone. Sebek and Grim finished roasting the chicken and sautéing the wild spinach with garlic. 

The meal preparation was completed in the nick of time. I worried we would have to deal with hangry soldiers.

Silver prepared a plate for Lilia and held it in front of him. "Father-I mean, General Vanrouge. Here you go."

"Again, you can call me anything you'd like except for that. I'm only 300 years old. Now, what is this?" Lilia inspected his food with complete disgust. Though, Silver managed to persuade him to try a bite.

Lilia at last took a small forkful of the risotto and a piece of chicken and put it in his mouth. He slowly chewed before his jaw stopped moving. His eyes froze on the plate.

Silver stood, awaiting his approval, "Is something wrong?"

"It tastes like the refined food I ate when I had dinner with the senate bastards in the royal capital. This meat is tender...is it undercooked?! This is going to destroy my stomach, you idiots!"

"No, Sebek made a kiln using some stones from the river in order to roast the chicken. We checked it to make sure it was fully cooked before we served it."

Lilia nodded. His cold and hard expressions softened,"...It's very good. Well done."

As the soldiers continued to eat, Baul returned to report to Lilia what he found. The General encouraged him to eat some of the food we made, but Baul refused and said he had a sufficient amount of his provisions for his evening meal. Though his stomach said differently.

I handed Baul his plate, "Here, eat up."

"Did those humans make this?" he looked behind me to Silver and Sebek, who finally got a chance to sit down and eat themselves.

"They did. Sebek especially put a lot of effort in the chicken and spinach."

Baul pushed the plate away, "Absolutely not."

"Pardon me?"

From the corner of my eye, I saw the shocked expressions from the two Diasomnia students. 

"I'm not interested in food prepared by humans."

I gave him one last chance, "Are you sure?"

"Take it back. I have enough portable food with me.

"Alright," I began to walk away. "Don't blame me when you fail in battle because you were hungry."

Grim finished licking off his plate. He raised his paws, "Cassie! I'll take it!"

"Actually...I'd rather eat that than allow it to inside a monster's belly. Give it to me," Baul took the plate from my hand and began to devour his meal. He ended up having three servings of everything.

"We should get as much rest as possible," Lilia addressed his soldiers as they ate. We have to deliver Meleanor's letter to the Eastern fortress and it's a long trip."

Meleanor, the Princess of the Valley of Thorns and leader of the Valley's armies. Malleus' mother.

The Princess had sent delegates to the Silver Owl's fortress to the east to reach an agreement, though none had returned. It was a long trip, which could be cut down in time if the fairies used flight magic. Hence, the Princess made the decision to send in her armed forces to not only deliver her message, but to also stop the Silver Owls' further operations.

"Diplomacy is usually the work of nobles. We have one here," Baul motioned to me, "Why do we have to be forced such a task?"

Lilia interjected before I could answer, "Humans greatly outnumber fairies. We've always been short handed, even with witches by our side. Besides, the nobles are all individuals who seem to faint just by the smell of iron. I don't know about you, but I'd like to get this job done quickly and return to Wild Rose Castle as soon as possible."

I asked, "Are you worried about the princess?"

"Worry? Me? About Lady Meleanor?" Lilia burst into laughter. "She will throw lightining at you if you anger her. She once destroyed the castle from a temper tantrum she threw while I was gone."

Now I know where Malleus gets his temper from. 

"A country's princess should be someone to be protected. Our princess is so strong that the entire army couldn't win against her even if we joined forces. She is hot tempered, quarrelsome, and terribly vicious. If I'm slowing down, she'll roast me with flames. She's the Valley's most evil princess," Lilia continued. "As far as I can remember, I've been swayed by that princess for centuries. If she was the kind of princess to wait for a knight in shining armor riding on a white horse, I wouldn't have such a hard time with her. The only salvation is that she will be quiet in the castle for the next 2-3 years. I don't think she'd be reckless enough to do anything until her egg hatches."