When Given a Lemon

Part 30

There are other ways to travel between the two sides of the country, but most were in the form of steep mountain passes that closed off half of the year or winding out along the lowlands to the south that was not only a much longer trek but had a tendency to flood. I already knew without a doubt that Denyel had the strength to wreak havoc against any rock that ever dared to stand in his way, making him a prime candidate for tunnel excavations. Cayeol, while standing much taller and therefore appearing a bit slimmer, has shoulders about the same size and width as Denyel's so I can only imagine what they got done when they teamed up.

“That hat looks like it would be the perfect thing to use as tinder for the fire.” Lemon stated blandly to our new member before grabbing my arm and pulling me back outside, not giving me the chance to finish greeting him.

“Wait, Lemon, stop it.” I pull my arm away. We're already several steps outside the kitchen. “You can't just be rude to lieutenant Wilo and our new squad member!”

“So what? We can say hi later,” they brandish two warm bread rolls from nowhere; “but if we don't eat these now, they'll be cold, and that just sounds terrible.” seeing the wisping heat rising off of them, I couldn't argue. The most I could do was make sure we made it far enough away to be out of view of the kitchens before biting into them. The exposed steam wafted into my nose and eyes, filling them with savory aromas that matched the delight in my mouth.

The insides were stuffed with seasoned poultry and gooey gravy and it was absolutely phenomenal. I think there's a new cook here that might have been a head chef somewhere before getting enlisted. Hopefully they were hard at work training all of the other kitchen staff on new recipes. The thought of not having to live off of hard tack and soggy porridge sounds like a dream and I wondered if it was someone that also came with the group from Berrypond.

After I licked the last of the gravy from my lips, I made a mental note to apologize to Cayeol later for abruptly slipping out during introductions. For now though I was going to let my stomach enjoy the savory dish, even licking my fingers clean when I was done. After we ate, Lemon dragged me out into the dell to gather young pinecones with them. Someone had previously made a syrup with an earlier budding variety of conifer when we’d first arrived here so Lemon thought this might be a good place to start if we were going to start making candies ourselves.

We would have to beg sugar or honey off of one of the cooks but I doubted we’d need too much of it to make it work. Not that I know what I’m doing. For this, I am completely relying on Lemon.

Later on, we were just finishing up stowing the young cones in a container inside our tent when Denyel and Cayeol headed over to us. I try not to stare. Luckily Merryl is with them this time and distracts everyone with stories he is telling Cayeol about our first night together out in the freezing ruins. I'd rather not remember that night personally, but the way he recounts it makes it sound a lot more amusing than it was to live through.

I try to look at other things, but my eyes keep going back to him. The spots of snow still hugging the ground make Cayeol’s rich complexion look even more vibrant, like he carries the budding spring around with him everywhere he goes.

We make eye contact and something about their demeanor makes me smile at them. Lemon takes this chance to jab me in the stomach with the heavy bowl, spilling honey onto me. When I growl they abruptly go back to making sure each of the cones is submerged in the oozing sweetness before sealing the lid. I grimace down at the sticky texture oozing over my fingertips, but manage to keep from dropping anything. I safely stowed it the instant the lid had been properly fastened in place then looked around for something to clean myself with.

“It’ll need time to ferment before it will be ready.” Lemon states, setting aside the empty container the honey had been in saying they'd take it back to the kitchens later on. I try to ignore the sticky mess on my hand after not finding a rag, for some reason feeling it would be too silly licking the sweetness off in front of anyone here right now. I’ll have to go find clean rags and water to get this off.

Merryl hoppes over my bench to grab their jacket out of their tent, nodding congenially before stating that he is off to help Obert in the medic tent again. They spend a lot of their time helping out there these days. We all wave him off.

I guess he gets bored just training and cleaning debris from the village. Not that I can blame him. Since the whole debacle, and other than when in the wrecked village, we haven't been leaving the safety of the camp all too often.

With him gone, the rest of us are left with nothing to do but watch the silent Denyel helping Cayeol stow his gear into the tent they would be occupying not too far from Merryl and Obert’s.

A short while later even Kipol showed up. I was surprised to see her. Even though her tent was still here, she rarely came back to sleep in it.

Nodding a sharp greeting before popping into her own tent that was positioned between the Merryl’s and Denyel’s tents. After they'd disappeared behind their tent flap we all silently looked at each other. Everyone seems as equally surprised to see her as I am. She has been nearly as scarce as that damn monster is these days. Kipol didn’t resurface again that night and was gone before any of us had risen the next morning dashing any hopes I had in talking to her.

I wish she hadn't run off so quickly. In the past I was never that close to her in the first place, but that doesn't stop me from worrying about her. I know that she and Bill became really close the moment they met and I hated how much what happened to him was hurting both of them.

Even after I had left the medic tent for my own, he was a long way from being released himself. It's true he was no longer at risk of dying in the night from his injuries but he still had a long road to recovery ahead of him. He would live, but life for him would be very different than the one he had set out to live. Kipol, for her part, was dealing with it the best way she knew how; by spending every waking moment of her day hunting for the beast that did this to him.

Without Merryl, the boisterous night quickly petered out into an uncomfortable silence. Our first evening spent with the new squad member is a bit awkward. No thanks to Lemon, I can't help but internally grumble.

I’m not sure what’s up with Lem, but they have been acting very prickly ever since they sat down by the firepit with us. It makes me wonder if maybe they had met Cayeol somewhere in the past. Though neither of them have mentioned anything when prompted. If they had met somewhere I am rather curious what interactions they could have had that would tempt Lemon to treat them so disparagingly.