Equinox (Book One of the Firebird Chronicles) WATTY AWARD HIDDEN GEM WINNER 2015

Chapter Nine: A Brief Appearance of a Queen

'Lumina?' Fabian's voice brought me back with a thud, and I jumped, clattering my knife into what looked like an entire dish filled with butter. Reddening, I used my napkin to dab at the butter that had flicked up my arm and along the knife handle. Then I peered at the butter dish, wondering if they expected me to eat that entire plate of butter. Is that what royalty did?

I shuddered, and peered up at Fabian to see what he was doing.

But Fabian had only taken a small amount of butter and was putting it on the traditional Angelican bread. It was small and round, with the outer part being glazed and seeded, and the inside mixed with a paste of herbs, flavouring the bread. I copied whatever he ate, and he began to notice, laughing at my inability to eat for myself.

'What, have you never eaten at a table before?' he chuckled, but when I blushed, his face dropped.

'A table yes, but, not like this,' I murmured. 'This is a lot bigger, and we had simple cutlery, not...not all this...' I gestured helplessly at the endless ladder of pots, dishes and trays that led all the way to Fabian's end of the table.

'I agree, it's a little formal.' Fabian looked sad. 'I'm sorry. I thought...well I forgot, having dinner together used to be a favourite activity of yours. But we haven't had dinner together for a long time, and a lot has changed.'

He said it mildly, but I was grateful that he was honest.

'I am enjoying it,' I admitted honestly, and I couldn't contain my smile. 'I'm just nervous about being improper. I didn't know whether I was supposed to eat all of the butter in that butter plate...what if it was rude not to?' I shrugged, then realised I had been rambling once more in my anxiousness.

But Fabian threw back his head and laughed loudly and genuinely, and I felt a strange heat blossom in my chest.

He was wiping tears from his eyes when he caught sight of the butter dish and burst out laughing again.

'What's so funny?' I said sulkily, crossing my arms. Apparently, it was not wise to be so honest with him.

'I'm sorry,' he said with a grin, 'but that kind of dilemma has never crossed my mind. Upper class dilemmas, eh, having an entire dish of butter to yourself.'

I smiled, despite myself. 'I've never seen so much butter before.'

Fabian was still laughing, and although I could see the humour, I began to think of the starving orphans back home. I didn't need to try hard to conjure up an image of all the children at the orphanage, and how their eyes would swell with wonder if they could just glimpse this table.

'Actually...this is really very lavish,' I said quietly, hidden by Fabian's laughter.

'Sorry, what did you say?'

I set my knife and fork down, feeling very uncomfortable.

'We used to steal for this kind of food,' I said openly, and I stared at him, daring him to be disgusted. People looked badly upon thieves, particularly the rich. 'We stole bread to survive. We stole things like butter as a luxury. I've never seen so much food before, because this would have probably fed me for a month, all of this.'

Fabian's mouth was hanging open as my voice grew louder and more upset.

'And I don't know how to eat at a fancy dinner table because we were fighting just to get food, and I feel so guilty for having all of this, to myself, when there are so many hungry people I know!'

The room was silent after I finished speaking. Fabian and I just stared at each other, and the heat rushed to my face.

I dropped further into my seat, ashamed. Fabian's mouth had fallen open slightly.

'So the mouse can roar,' he said, looking astounded. 'That was brilliant.'

'I'm sorry!' I said immediately, 'You're being kind to me and I was very rude just then. I didn't mean to be, this is a lot...'

'Lumina,' Fabian interjected, 'right there I saw, for the first time, a Queen.'

I felt more heat creeping up my neck, and a strange blur of feelings when Fabian called my name, as though shooting stars had just burst upwards from my feet. But I was also aware that Fabian still thought of me as the beautiful, elegant lady, which was so unlike me that it brought a nasty taste in my mouth. Did he mean that I looked like a Queen, or his childhood love was?

Fabian shook his head. 'I prefer that you are honest with me, Lumina,' he said. 'I only wanted to make you feel welcome. I know it's a strange place for you...I thought you'd feel more accustomed if you'd tried our food. But I promise I will not let this food go to waste; it will be given out to anyone that needs it, and if they don't want it, I'll eat it all myself.'

And that made me laugh appreciatively. 'Thank you,' I said, smiling. Fabian's eyes widened at my laugh; perhaps he hadn't thought I was capable of humour. I pushed away the nagging worry that Fabian wasn't really seeing, well, me.

We continued to eat and joke for the remainder of the meal, with Fabian explaining each detail to me, and each cuisine. The Sapphire district was known for its bread because it had an extensive trade and market, whilst there were other dishes and districts of meat, fish, vegetables and deserts, oils and chillies. Even Fabian didn't know where some of them came from, so we invented stories for them and how they came about.

By the end of the meal, we were by no means the old lovers we had once been, but I felt we were no longer strangers. What Fabian thought, I couldn't tell; he was so energetic and excitable, but he was also enigmatic.

What I also didn't realise, as we bade each other good night in the corridor and Fabian provisionally pointed out his room to me, was that we were going to get much more intimately acquainted, fast. And it all started after dinner, as I was changing into one of the ridiculous lace nightgowns, and my shoulder blades began to throb.

A/N: What's the verdict on Fabian and Lumina, and what will happen now?

Let me know your thoughts, guesses, likes, dislikes...I read and cherish them all!

Dedication goes to MayFreighter for her feedback firstly, and secondly her awesome novels HELENA HAWTHORN, a must read for any vampire lover, and a must read for anyone else...

(So, go read...)

Larissa

xxx