Alex watched as the new soldiers followed one of the Captains, and he then returned to the top of the stairs that led to the front door with the Viscount that spoke in a low voice when they were again near the girls:
“I really don’t know how he was able to infiltrate! I got a detailed file of the new soldiers, and they all seemed trustworthy! Maybe it’s like Shinatobe said, I am getting lazy with old age. In your father’s time, Shinatobe was in charge of following a new recruit for one entire week, before he was allowed to set foot in this Castle. She was right, I need to change a few things, and maybe tell one of our Mage Summoners to send his Spirit to follow every recruit to check if everything on his file ads up. She… will come after me to smack my head, I bet…”
Anika noticed the worried look on her father’s face and tried to change the subject:
“Alex, the last time we saw her, she was so little! Why she appeared like that and all of the older soldiers called her Commander with so much respect? They knew her?”
“I told you that many of my older soldiers were veterans from the war, and they were all trained and ordered around by Shinatobe, many years ago. She prefers to appear in that cute little girl form of hers, and every time she appears in full battle gear it’s because of something dangerous. I don’t like to see her like that, she frightens me! What about if we go for another walk in the garden at the back? I don’t want to wander off too far away and fail to receive the King when he arrives. Not that he would get angry, but his entourage could consider my delay as me failing the protocol and annoy the King about that.”
They all followed the Viscount that still had his arm under Anika’s grip, and went to the back garden. A gazebo was on the left side of the lines of aromatic herbs, and the Viscount asked one of the maids that were following them to bring some tea, cookies and cheese.
While they were enjoying the afternoon breeze and talking, Pearl glanced at her new Magical Orb from time to time, lost in deep thought. When the maids arrived with the tea, she was completely distracted, and Alex woke her up:
“Pearl, the tea is here. Try the biscuit with a piece of this cheese, I bet you never tasted something like this.”
She looked at him with her eyes reflecting the light of the Magical Orb on her lap and spoke:
“Sorry, I was thinking that some days ago, I would be ecstatic to have an Orb this size on my hands, and now that I know the story behind it, I can’t appreciate it… It’s messing with me, maybe you shouldn’t have told me how you see the Magical Orbs, you totally ruined for me the beauty and the possibilities of their Magic. And I keep on remembering things that I thought it didn’t hurt so much, by now…”
Alex stared at her and noticed that she looked sad. Pearl grabbed the teacup the maid was giving her and looked at the cubes of cheese on the plate over the small round table in the middle of the gazebo where they were. She noticed that it looked like cheese, but with hard and thick skin of different colours. Pearl saw Alex grabbing a yellowish cub and putting it on his mouth, munching with delight. She grabbed one cube and asked:
“I never saw cheese like this. I am used to soft cheese, but this one is only soft inside, and it has a strange hard skin.”
Alex nodded while grabbing a cube with a white tone, and he then used a small knife to rub the soft inner part of the cheese over a biscuit:
“This is cured cheese. You can eat the hard skin or only the soft part. The cure of cheese consists of ageing them in a process where they are dried and then they are salted or smoked, to preserve them. We can even put some aromatic herbs or spices in the mix of the cheese, to make some with different colours and tastes. Try that red one, for instance, it has sweet chilli.”
Pearl Pearson grabbed one cube with a dark orange colour with tiny dots of red and asked:
“You mean like the mix that is normally used to season meat? Does this cheese have that? That’s so weird!”
She then munched the cube with a slight frown. The hotness of the sweet chilli started to tickle her tongue, and she felt that the flavour of the cheese was emphasized by that light spice. She took another one and pointed to a yellow cube while happily munching the spicy cube:
“And this yellow one that has small green dots?”
“That’s basil. And the white cubes have an extremely soft inner part, that seems like butter but tastes like cheese. Good to rub on biscuits, or to eat the cube alone, skin and all.”
Wenammy asked while looking to the yellow cube that had basil:
“How did you think about this? I never saw cheese like this, and I bet that with this hardcover, it can even last longer than normal cheese.”
“Well, it lasts longer indeed, and together with some jars of sausages and a bag of dried meat, travels are way easier than having to hunt every day, or spend money in an Inn every now and then. A traveller can take with him from his home, cheese, sausages and dried meat, and save a lot of money.”
Pearl said while munching another spicy cube:
“Except for the fact that you are the one selling this, and they might not be cheap.”
“Actually, the sausages and this cheese, I sell them just a bit pricier than dried meat and normal cheese because of the work put on them, with the advantage that sausages and cured cheese last longer. The people that live in my lands already know how to do this type of cheese and the sausages, but they do it by hand. It takes longer, but they can easily fill their pantries with the cheese and meat they take from the animals they raise on their farms.”
Pearl made a slight frown:
“On their farms? You mean on your farms, right?”
“Oh, you didn’t saw those! Most of my workers and farmers have a small garden or a small farm at the back of their houses, where they plant vegetables or raise cattle or chickens. Normally their children are responsible for taking care of the gardens and farms, and the parents use what they produce in there, to store in their pantries.”
Pearl shrugged:
“I suppose you can give your people a piece of land for them to take care of, considering the size of the lands you have. You give them houses as well?”
“No, that’s taken care of by the ones that live around them, and a group of Earth Mages. When a new family arrives or a couple marries and decides to live together, there’s always a celebration and a bunch of people and Earth Mages join forces to make a new home for them. I don’t need to worry about that, everyone knows the size of the land they can occupy, and they comply with my rules.”
Pearl stopped with another cube of spicy cheese near her lips and asked:
“I don’t think most Nobles do that. Now I understand why in the Chamber of Lords that guy told you that you were putting strange ideas in the minds of the commoners.”
“The Lords never understood why I try to make the life of my people as comfortable as I can. If my workers don’t need to worry if they are going to eat at night or if they will have a roof above their heads, they work hard because they don’t have any worries whatsoever, making me gain a ton of money and enormous harvests.”
As the tea inside the teapot was disappearing and the cubes of cheese were almost finishing, a maid arrived with her face all red because she was running to get there as fast as she could. She made a deep bow and said:
“E-Earl Alex, the King is arriving! A soldier stationed near the main road sent a message! The King will arrive in a matter of minutes!”
Alex got up and smiled at the nervous maid:
“Is everything ready to receive him?”
“Y-yes, Sir, everyone finished their tasks hours ago! The beds are ready, the stable boys are waiting to take care of the carriages, the kitchen is finishing the preparations for dinner, and a group of maids and servants is in the hot spring’s building, ready for the King! For sure the King wants to go there as soon as he arrives, as he always does!”
“If everything is ready, why are you so nervous?”
“I-I am sorry, Sir, don’t mind me, I am always worried about visitors! Miss Olive is returning as well, she went to visit the facilities in the mountain but she is already travelling to come here with her guests!”
“Very well, better if we all go wait for the King. It’s better if you clean things here, you nervous maid. I don’t want to see you fainting in front of the King!”
“N-never, Sir! That would be shameful! I-I would never faint in front of visitors and make you look bad!”
“Either way, take care of things here and try to relax, you are too nervous for my taste.”
The maid made another deep bow and helped the other maid to clean the table while Alex followed Viscount Finley with Wenammy on one arm and Pearl on the other, still carrying her enormous Magical Orb with her free hand. Alex glanced at the Orb and asked:
“You got really attached to it. Why don’t you give it to a maid and tell her to put that Orb in your room?”
Pearl stared at the Orb in her hand:
“It would be better, but I am too fascinated with this to let it go. I can’t stop thinking about the Magic I will be able to use to honour the ones that lost their lives to kill the Wyvern that had it. Unless you think the King or his group will get curious or greedy.”
“The King won’t mind, he already saw the other Orbs that I have. As for the Nobles that are coming with him, I am not so sure, but I don’t care about them. As long as you don’t mind carrying such a heavy Orb, that is.”
Pearl Pearson easily lifted the Orb and the glow reflected on her eyes, changing their colour:
“I don’t think it’s heavy. Maybe because Elfians are stronger than most Humans, or because I am always surrounded by Magic.”
Along the main corridor, Alex saw a few maids and servants rushing through the several doors that led to the rooms and halls after making a quick bow to him, certainly to make sure that everything was ready for the visitors.
When they finally arrived at the stairs that led to the patio, a contingent of more than twenty soldiers were making a line at both sides of the main gate, all the way to the centre of the patio. A group of ten stable boys were waiting in a line near the stairs, with their shining uniforms and with a serious expression. Anika made a slight frown, surprised by the seriousness of everyone. Viscount Finley noticed and whispered:
“You thought we looked too relaxed when you arrived here, right? Alex lets everyone be at ease near him, and I do the same, but they are all well-trained and used to receive the King that often comes for a visit. Even when the King comes unannounced, trying to catch us off guard, he never succeeds. It’s impossible to enter our lands without someone warning that a visit is coming.”