*Erik's P.O.V*
"Hey Henri, Erik, wait up," Sir Kile shouts, dashing up to us. "Are you guys ready to ask the Princess out on a quadruple date?"
I quickly translate for Sir Kile and the grin that appears on Henri's face is answer enough. Before Henri can answer him, Fox and Burke walk up to us, Fox looking a little nervous and Burke looking pleased.
"So today is the day we ask the Princess out on a date?" Fox asks, looking around our small group and giving us each a warm smile.
"Yes, today!" Henri grins, not even waiting for my translation.
"Are you going to be there too?" Burke asks, raising an eyebrow at me. "If my opinion counts for anything, I think you shouldn't be allowed on the date. If Henri can't speak with Princess Eadlyn without your help, she should know that now. Maybe he should have learned English before coming here, that would have been the proper thing to -"
"Learning a second language isn't anywhere near as easy as you think, Sir Burke," I immediately interject, not bothering to translate for Henri. I take a moment to gather my thoughts, trying my best to remain neutral. "Perhaps you should try learning Finnish in the span of two months and see how fluent in it you become before you are thrown into a bunch of other men who only speak Finnish. I can assure you, you would need a translator as well. Sir Henri is trying his absolute best to learn the English language and I see him improve every day. He may not be picking it up as fast as you might like, but thankfully your opinion does not matter. Last I checked, he is trying to win the heart of the Princess not the heart of Sir Burke."
"Nicely put," Sir Kile grins, patting me on the back before turning to Burke. "If you have an issue with Henri and Erik, I can go see if Hale would like to join us for the quadruple date instead...I'm sure he-"
"No, no," Burke cuts him off, "no issues here. I'm sorry for my outburst, I'll keep my thoughts to myself next time."
"Good idea," Kile says, his eyes lighting up when the Princess suddenly walks into view. "Wait here Gentleman, I'll be right back with Eadlyn."
As he quickly walks off to greet her, I turn to Henri and give him a short summary of what just happened. I try my best to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal, but I can tell Henri is starting to get upset by what Burke said. Thankfully before he can dwell on it too much, Kile walks up to us with the Princess in tow. Henri quickly takes her hand and kisses it, a big smile taking over his face.
"Hello today," Henri greets, making the Princess laugh.
"Hello Henri. Burke, Fox," she turns to each suitor as she greets them, a steady smile on her face as she turns to me. "Hi, Erik."
"Your Highness," Burke begins before I can speak. "Maybe this is a little out of line, but we were thinking that the Selection is a very challenging time for you."
"You have no idea," she chuckles.
"It has to be crazy," Fox says next. "You have your work to do, and then you need to find time to do your solo dates or at least try to get around to everyone at a party. It seems exhausting."
"So we had an idea," Kile continues. "Could the 4 of us do something with you this week?"
A big grin takes her face as she answers, "Yes! That would be great. Any ideas on what to do?"
"We were thinking about cooking together," Burke says with an extremely pleased look on his face.
"Cooking?" she asks, obviously not thrilled by the idea, but she manages to keep a smile on her face.
"Come on, it'll be fun," Kile urges, trying to get her more onboard.
"All right," she sighs, giving in. "Cooking it is. How about tomorrow night?"
"Perfect!" Fox answers quickly, probably afraid she will change her mind.
"Okay. Thursday, six o'clock," she says, smiling at each of us. "I'll meet you in the foyer and we can walk to the kitchens together. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for dinner."
She quickly heads off up the stairs, leaving us to chat about the date tomorrow. Poor Henri wasn't able to get a word in with the Princess other than a greeting, but the smile on his face says he could care less. He pulls me away from the group and asks me to go back to the room with him before dinner.
"Sir Henri and I need to go freshen up before dinner," I say to our group, giving Kil's outstretched hand a good shake. "We will see you all at dinner. And thank you for including Henri in the date tomorrow night, he appreciates it very much."
"Not a problem," Fox says with a smile, "see you both at dinner."
With that, Henri and I head back up to our room, not speaking until we close the door behind us.
"Oletko kunnossa (are you okay)?" I ask, knowing something is off.
"Eikko, tarvitsen apuasi (I need your help)," he sighs, starting to pace the room. "Sinun täytyy opettaa minulle englantia ennen huomista treffejä (I need you to teach me English before the date tomorrow)."
"Henri, En voi mitenkään opettaa sinulle koko kieltä yhdessä päivässä (I can't possibly teach you the whole language in one day)," I say, trying to reason with him.
"Okei, opeta sitten flirttailemaan (okay, then teach me how to flirt)," he says seriously, coming up to me and resting a hand on my shoulder. "Minun täytyy pystyä kommunikoimaan prinsessan kanssa jollain tavalla tai olen huolissani, että hän päästää minut irti (I need to be able to communicate with the Princess in some way or I'm worried she will let me go)."
"Sinua ei lähetetä kotiin, jos voin auttaa (you won't be getting sent home if I can help it)," I answer, grasping Henri's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "Let's get started then, shall we?"
Switching to English seems to take him by surprise, but after a quick moment a grin spreads across his face as he goes to the desk and grabs his English dictionary. Flipping through the book, he takes a while before responding.
"Can stay here tonight?" he asks choppily. "Umm, dinner here?"
"You want me to see if we can stay and have dinner brought here tonight? So we can work on your English?" I ask slowly, giving him time to absorb what I'm saying.
"Yes yes!" Henri grins after a few minutes. "Dinner here!"
"Okay, I'll call General Leger and see what I can do," I say, deciding to translate after five minutes of Henri staring blankly back at me. "Soitan kenraalille Leger ja katson mitä voin tehdä."
After a quick phone call with General Leger, we are cleared to stay in our room for the night. Once the general learned that Henri wanted to practice his English before the date tomorrow, he was more than happy to arrange dinner to be brought up to our room. Dinner comes and goes quickly and before we know it, it is midnight. It takes a lot of convincing, but I finally manage to get Henri to go to bed by saying that the Princess probably won't find under eye bags very attractive.
We say goodnight to each other and as soon as my head hits the pillow, I'm asleep. My dreams are of the group date, the Princess having a fantastic time with Henri, and they quickly take a turn for the worst when something happens between Burke and Fox. Before my dream self can investigate what is going on, I am awoken by a very excited Henri who would like to continue with our English lessons. Letting out a small sigh, I roll out of bed and get ready for what is bound to be an exciting day.
*Skipping ahead to the date*
"Hey Henri! Erik!" Sir Kile greets as he meet us at the top of the stairs. "You ready to cook with the Princess?"
"Oh yes, so ready," Henri grins, greeting Kile with a handshake. "I practice English night and day to speak with Princess E- Princess Ea-"
"Princess Eadlyn," Kile finishes for him kindly. "That's great Henri! I'm sure Eadlyn is going to appreciate it very much. Oh look, here come Burke and Fox."
"Good evening, gentleman," Fox greets politely, shaking Henri's outstretched hand.
"Are we doing this or what?" Burke asks, ignoring Henri's attempt to shake his hand as well.
"We sure are," Kile says, plastering a smile on his face as Burke comes to rest beside him. "Let's not keep the Princess waiting, shall we?"
Kile starts down the stairs and Burke immediately catches up to him, starting up a conversation. Fox and Henri follow close behind, Fox trying his best to converse with Henri so he will feel included. I let them go down a few steps before following, tucking my hands behind my back and trying my best to blend into the background. If I'm being completely honest, I feel very out of place in this group date, but I know my presence is necessary so I have to get over myself and deal with it. As we round the corner, Princess Eadlyn comes into view and I can't help but notice how beautiful she is...even in 'street' clothes.
"You ready to eat?" Kile asks her, rubbing his hands together.
"Eat, yes. Cook? We'll see how that goes," she chuckles, trying to hide her worry with a smile.
"So is it true you two have known each other your whole lives?" Burke asks abruptly, not even bothering to ease into it.
"Trust me, you've got the better end of the deal," Kile replies smoothly, elbowing him in the ribs.
"It's true," the Princess confirms. "It's like Kile said on the Report: I never considered him boyfriend material until I was forced to. He's like family."
Everyone laughs, including myself, and the mood lightens a little.
"The Kitchen is this way," Princess Eadlyn says, motioning past us to the dining hall. "The staff knows we are coming so let's go cook."
We quickly walk to the back of the dining hall and round a partition. There is a wide dumbwaiter the staff must use to bring up carts of food next to a stairwell that must lead to the main kitchen. Burke quickly rushes to the Princess's side, offering her his arm as we travel down the wide steps.
"What do you want to cook tonight?" Burke asks her as shock registers on her face.
"Oh, I'm kind of up for whatever," she answers, hedging around the question.
"Let's make courses," Kile suggests. "An appetizer, an entree, and a dessert."
"Dessert?!" Henri whispers to me, not really needing my translation for that word.
"Sounds good to me," Fox agrees with Kile.
"Henri and I will do dessert, if that's all right," I pipe up quickly, not wanting it to be stolen from Henri.
"Sure," Kile answers, giving us a smile.
"Thank you," I reply before turning to Henri and telling him we are doing dessert. He pumps his fist in the air as the grin on his face grows even bigger.
Laughing at his enthusiasm, I take this moment to look around the kitchen and take things in. It is easily the largest, most beautiful kitchen I have ever set foot in. There were chefs bustling around the kitchen making dinner for the rest of the palace. All I can smell is garlic, but my mouth still waters and my stomach betrays me with a small growl. Despite the fact that they are still furiously making dinner for everyone else in the palace, they have cleared away half of the space for us. A man in a tall chef's hat approaches us as Henri quickly leans over to me.
"Hänen täytyy olla pääkokki. Mitä korkeampi hattu, sitä korkeampi asema. (He must be the head chef. The taller the hat, the higher the status)" Henri whispers in my ear.
"Your Highness, will this be enough room?" he asks, motioning to the empty space behind him.
"More than enough, thank you," the Princess answers with a smile.
"Missa pidat hiivaa?" Henri asks the head chef politely.
"Pardon me, sir," I say, stepping forward, "but where do you keep your yeast?"
Fox and Burke giggle at the word yeast and I have to force myself not to roll my eyes at their childlike behavior. They must not know that Henri is a chef, but I don't see why I need to tell them that so I decide to ignore them. The chef waves Henri down and we follow him closely, Henri trying to chat with him as best he can. I could tell the chef is excited to have someone with experience in the room because he was more than willing to help us find everything we need. I translate for Henri as needed, but the chef is very patient with him and actually helps him say the ingredients in English.
"What is this?" Burke asks, getting the Chef's attention for a moment.
"Phyllo paper. You can make dozens of things with that," he answers, not leaving our side. "Melt some butter and I'll get you some recipes."
The Chef has me translate for him, explaining to Henri that he has to go help the others. Henri gives him a smile and tells him we will be fine, he has everything he needs anyways. As Henri gets started on dessert, I glance over at the others and notice they are doing rock, paper, scissors. I assume it is to see who will get to cook with the Princess and sure enough, Kile wins so the Princess pairs up with him. Fox doesn't seem to care, but Burke on the other hand looks upset and I can't help but remember my dream from last night.
"Eikko...Eikko!" Henri says sharply, pulling my attention back to him. "Would you...uh...like to...help?"
"Great use of English, Henri!" I praise, making him smile once again. "Yes, I would love to help you out. Tell me what I can do."
With that, Henri rolls up his sleeves and gets to work on dessert. Every once in a while he instructs me to do something in Finnish and I translate it in English so he can repeat it back to me. Henri does the bulk of the work which I don't mind at all because I much prefer watching him work anyways. Glancing around, I notice Burke is ordering Fox around loudly, probably wanting the Princess to notice he can be a good leader. I catch him winking at her a couple times and I can't help but roll my eyes at his forwardness. Suddenly the Princess starts walking towards us and I watch as she stops for a moment to talk with Fox and Burke before she turns back to us.
"Your Highness," I say, greeting her with a smile. "How's our dinner looking?"
"Very bad indeed," she replies, making me chuckle as I turn to translate this to Henri. She looks at our hands which are covered in dough and smiles at us both. "This looks promising though. Do you cook as well, Erik?"
"Oh, not professionally." I reply, a little embarassed that I look so messy. "But I live on my own so I do cook for myself and I love all the traditional Swendish foods. This is a favorite of mine."
Turning to Henri, I translate what was being said and he immediately begins talking all about his favorite foods. Knowing the Princess is still standing beside us, I quickly turn back to her and translate.
"Henri was just saying there is this soup he has when he is sick. It's got potatoes and fish and, oh, I miss my mother just thinking about it."
The Princess smiles at us both before stepping away and heading back to Kile so they can get back to working on dinner. Henri asks me if I think the Princess likes him and of course I tell him yes. Giving me another spectacular grin, Henri turns back to the dough and orders me around once again. We end up being the first ones done which is kind of a shock because dessert normally takes the longest to bake.
We all crowd around the end of one of the long tables with the Princess sandwiched between Burke and Kile. Fox sat at the head of the table while Henri sat across from the Princess and I sit close to him, but still slightly removed from the group. I am really enjoying the company and it seems the Princess is too if the smile on her face has anything to say about it.
"Okay, since they were supposed to be the appetizer, I think we should try the asparagus first," Kile insists.
"Let's do it," Burke says as he spears his asparagus and takes a bite. It seems the results were very inconsistent because Henri nodded in approval while the Princess looked disgusted by hers. Mine wasn't great, but it also wasn't too terrible and from the look on Fox's face, his was just as bad as the Princess's.
"That...that is the worst thing I have ever tasted," Fox says, trying his best to chew and not spit it out.
"Mine's good!" Burke answers defensively. "You're probably just not used to eating such quality food."
Fox quickly ducks his head, embarrassed to be called out like that in front of the Princess. I decide not to translate what is being said, knowing Henri would be upset by it.
The Princess looks up at Henri and whispers, "can I try a bite of yours?" and Henri immediately offers her a piece, not needing a translation.
"Do you mind?" Fox replies quietly, trying not to cause a scene. "Who's to say it's not because of your cooking?"
"Well, maybe if I had a better partner," Burke snaps back.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Kile interrupts. "There's no way yours could be worse than ours."
The Princess giggles at that, obviously trying to break the tension so I quietly chuckle as well. Burke's anger is palpable and I can't help but think that my dream is starting to turn into a living nightmare.
"All right," the Princess sighs "I think the first thing we need to do is cut into each piece of chicken and make sure they are cooked through. I seriously don't want to kill anyone."
"Are you doubting me?" Kile asks, playfully offended.
"Definitely!" she answers with a grin.
I quietly translate for Henri and we all tentatively take a bite of the chicken which is not undercooked. It isn't the best chicken I have ever had, but it isn't going to kill me which is a plus. After ten to twenty more minutes, the Princess speaks up.
"I'm ready for dessert!" she says, making Henri chuckle.
He stands up and goes over to the cooling rack where our pastries are sitting. With careful movements, only using the edges of his fingers, he transfers them all to a plate and brings them over to us. Setting them down in the middle of the table, Henri attempts to explain what they are,
"Is korvapuutsi," he says, telling them the name of the dish. He grabs the Princess's hand and explains them to her in Finnish, knowing he won't have any luck with English. Once he is finished, I turn to the Princess and translate.
"Korvapuutsi is one of Henri's favorite things to prepare as well as eat. He says that if you do not like it, you should probably send him home tonight, for he's sure your relationship could not survive if you aren't as in love with this as he is."
Fox starts laughing at the Princess's shocked face, but Henri just nods his head, assuring her he meant it. She takes a deep breath before picking one up.
"Here goes nothing." she mutters, taking a bite. Immediately her face lights up and I can tell she is enjoying it very much. "It's perfect, Henri!'
The other men quickly pick up some pastries and shove them in their mouths, grunting in approval. I take one as well and eat it slowly, savoring in the beautiful flavors.
"My mom would be dying right now. She has such a sweet tooth!" Princess Eadlyn says enthusiastically.
Kile nods his head in agreement, eyes wide, before speaking. "This is great, Henri! Nice job to you too, Erik."
I quickly shake my head. "I barely helped."
"Was this rigged?" Burke asks suddenly, his mouth still full of pastry. We all look at him, obviously confused. "I mean, I came up with this idea, and then Henri jumped in on it just to show the rest of us up." As he speaks, his face starts turning red and that feeling of unease is back once again.
" Calm down, man," Fox says, putting a hand on Burke's shoulder. "It's just a cinnamon roll."
"I would have done way better if you weren't there screwing me up the whole time!" Burke shouts, shrugging Fox's hand off and throwing the rest of his dessert across the room.
Fox makes a face before replying. "Hey, you were the one standing there talking about how hot she was when you should have been watch-"
Burke suddenly throws a punch that knocks Fox back several steps. Fox immediately comes back at him and the Princess gets pushed to the floor as Burke's arm pulls back for another punch.
"WHOA!" Kile shouts, jumping over the Princess and pulling at Burke while Henri is yelling at Fox in Finnish.
I quickly launch myself over the table and pick the Princess up, knowing I need to get her out of there as soon as possible.
"Come," I say firmly, gently urging her towards the stairs and up into the busy dining hall.
"Eadlyn?" the King calls, trying to get our attention
Noticing the look on her face, I decide to ignore the King and quickly move her through the dining hall. I don't stop until I come across a guard so I can pass along the problem.
"Pardon me, officer," I say politely, "some of the Selected are in a fight in the kitchen. It's very physical and it looked to be escalating."
"Thank you," the officer replies, motioning for two other guards to follow him down to the kitchen.
I gently place a hand on the Princess's back and usher her away, listening to her parents calling after her. I figure she would stop me if she wanted to stay and chat with them, but she doesn't so I keep going until we get to the hall.
"Where do you want to go?" I ask softly.
"My room," she says immediately.
"Lead the way," I nod, motioning for her to take over the navigating.
I try to keep myself from touching her, but I keep my hand positioned behind her back just in case, occasionally brushing it against her back as we move silently through the hall. When we get to her room, she pushes it open and the scent of lemon hits my nose as we walk in.
"My lady?" her maid asks, coming up to us but stopping short when the Princess holds up her hand.
"Maybe go get her some tea," I suggest and her maid nods before rushing away.
She walks over to her bed and sits down, talking a few deep breaths as I stand near the door, silent and calm.
"I've never seen anything like that," she admits as I walk forward and get down on a knee so I'm level with her. "My father has never so much as swatted my hand, and he's always taught us to seek peaceful resolutions. Ahren and I gave up trying to fight each other before we could really talk."
As she opens her heart to me, I remain silent but steady, feeling honored the Princess has decided to confide so much in me.
"When we were down there, all I could think was how I ran from Jack. Burke knocked me to the ground, and this time I was going to fight back, but I just realized I'd have no idea how to do it."
"Henri says, when you're upset, the look in your eyes is as strong as a punch," I chuckle softly. "You're not powerless."
She thinks for a few moments before I continue. "You know, boy or girl, I think aggression is a sign of weakness. I'm always more impressed when people can end something with words." Thinking about my childhood, I continue on. "Maybe that's why language became so important to me. My father, he always used to say 'Eikko, words are weapons. They are all you need.'"
"Ayco?" the Princess asks.
"E-I-K-K-O," I spell out, looking slightly embarassed. "Like I said, Erik is the closest in English."
"I like it," she says sweetly. "Really, I do."
"Are you hurt?" I ask, turning my attention back to her as I feel the sudden urge to check her over for any injuries. I run my hands down her arms to check as she answers.
"Oh...umm, I don't think so," she says honestly. "I just can't believe how fast it happened."
"I feel like I should have seen that coming," I sigh, looking up at her. "I don't want to excuse either of them at all --that was unacceptable--but I hear the guys talking, and they're stressed. They all want to impress you, but they have no idea how to do it, considering who you are. Some talk about trying to undermine others without getting caught. A few are working out at every turn so they can be physically superior. I understand that its a lot of pressure, and that's probably why Burke snapped. But that will never make it okay."
"I'm sorry you have to be around that," she says, grabbing one of my hands and giving it a squeeze.
"It's fine," I say, shrugging it off. "Mostly, I just stick with Henri and Kile, sometimes Hale, and they're good company. Not that I'd ever try to choose for you, but the three of them are a pretty safe place to start."
"I think you're right," she says with a smile. "Will you tell Henri for me how wonderful his food was? I could tell how important it was to him and I admire his passion."
"I will. Happily." I reply, smiling back and as she extends her hand towards me, I gladly give her mine.
"Thank you so much for this," she says softly. "You really went above and beyond tonight, and I'm so thankful you were here."
"It's the least I could do." I say honestly, trying not to blush as I notice her really looking at me for the first time since we met.
"I won't forget this, Eikko. Not ever."
I can't help, but smile at her use of my given name and I give her hand a light squeeze. I could have stayed like this forever, my hand in hers as we look into each others eyes. However, we are interrupted by her maid who comes bustling in with a full tray and we immediately jump apart.
"Are you all right, milady?" her maid asks.
"Yes, Neena," she promises, standing up beside me. "There was a fight, but Erik got me away. I'm sure the guards will come with a report soon. In the meantime I just need to calm down."
"The tea will help," Neena says, messing with the tray. "I got some chamomile, and we'll get you into something comfortable before you need to report anywhere."
The Princess turns to me as I head for the door and I give her a deep bow.
"Goodnight, Your Highness."
"Goodnight." She replies and I quickly walk out of the room.