EG Book 7 Chapter 5

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

And I'm back from Vegas! Lots of things learned, hopefully a bit better stories afterwards. I'm a bit behind now in words, supposed to be at 33.3k, but I'm only at 30.5k, so I've got a bit of effort ahead of me to catch up. Still, I'm working on chapter 11 of the first draft now, and they haven't left the Ashkhas island yet, so either this book will be much longer than anticipated, or I'll have to reformulate how it goes. Might change the name to "The Journey Home" and add a bunch more to the Naga in the ruins and have the staff trigger the portal to the other world. That'll mean we'll have to wait another book for the town building and betrayal aspects to come. Eh, we'll see.  Either way, have another chapter!

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

I got into my room to find a set of black slacks laid on my bed. Next to them was a bright green long sleeved shirt, a brown vest, and a dark green jacket with a tight neck and bone clasps. I could see Inscriptions laced into all of them, though I wasn’t sure what they were. A note sat on top of the shirt. “Aiden, please wear these tonight,” I read the note, then shrugged, “Better than the keikogi. That would have felt too much like a business meeting, not a date.”

I quickly took a shower and then got dressed. I nearly tripped on the black shoes that were next to my bed, and laughed. “If you were a snake, I’d’a been bit,” I said with an exaggerated accent, then pulled on the black socks draped over the shoes. “Wow, whatever tailor she went to did a great job … Wait a minute, how did she get my measurements?” I looked constertantly at the shoes before shrugging. “She’s a princess, probably just asked one of the staff here, and superpowered vision got a good approximation. Alright, let’s go. Totally not nervous at all, no way. That’s not why I’m talking to myself instead of walking out the door.”

I laughed, the ridiculousness of what I was saying finally driving me to motion. I strode down the hallway, then leapt down the stairs two at a time before stopping right in front of the door into the lobby. I nervously smoothed my hair down, even though it didn’t need it, then calmly opened the door. At least on the outside.

Aleks wasn’t waiting. Lindsay was sitting at the desk quietly gathering, but she jumped to her feet when I stepped through the doorway. “Knight Kupiec,” she said formally, a twinkle in her eye showing me how much she was enjoying the story unfolding in front of her, “Princess Aleksandra has asked me to inform you that she shall be present shortly. Please, come over and allow me to assist you until she arrives.”

I walked over. “Thank you, Lindsay?” I asked.

She grinned, then flicked an imaginary piece of lint off my shoulder and tugged at my jacket to center it a bit. “You can undo the top three buttons,” she whispered, her tone losing the excess formality of her earlier speech, “it’s more comfortable and considered the fashion right now.”

At my nod she undid them for me. “Yup, much more comfortable,” I said. “Do you know how long she’s going to be?”

“I signaled to her as soon as I saw you,” Lindsay whispered conspiratorially. “She wanted to make an entrance.”

The door to the stairs opened again, and Princess Aleksandra, my Aleks, walked regally through the open doorway. My jaw dropped as I took in the sleek, dark green dress, matching my jacket. It hugged her frame, showcasing her lithe body in a way that made me gulp. Her black hair was curled, with bouncing ringlets highlighting her heart-shaped face. She had a light dusting of makeup that highlighted her green eyes. The best part, though, was her smile when she saw my face, and the way her cheeks flushed.

I stepped towards her, then swept into a bow. “My lady,” I said, mimicking the formal tones that Lindsay used earlier, “I am delighted to accompany you this evening.”

Aleks giggled, and my grin grew wider at the absolute adorableness of the sound. She reached out and put her arm in mine, and gently guided me towards the door. “You look very handsome,” she said.

“You are absolutely stunning,” I told her back.

“I could tell,” she said, then giggled again. “Thank you.”

Lindsay had rushed over to the door outside, and held it open for us. I could see she had a silly grin on her face, and then she gave me a wink. “Your carriage awaits,” Lindsay told us.

“Thank you, Lindsay,” Aleks told her. She reached out with her right hand and patted Lindsay’s shoulder. “I owe you a favor for this.”

“All part of my job,” Lindsay said, losing the formal veneer to her speech.

“Still,” Aleks said.

Lindsay just waved us goodbye, and we exited the building to find a fancy carriage of a dark mahogany wood with silver and green trimming and the Craesti symbol embossed on the door. A middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair opened the door as we approached. I could feel that he was in the middle of Foundation Core. An Ashkhas driver held the reins, and my newly expanded Aether sense pegged her at the same level of power.

I helped Aleks step up into the carriage, then joined her. The inside was fairly tight, so we ended up sitting with our legs touching. Aleks just pushed into me a bit more, leaning against my shoulder and sighing. When the door shut, the outside noise vanished, and the carriage started to move forward.

“Wow, the Inscriptions on this are amazing,” I said, not feeling any bumps or hearing the clip-clop of the horses hooves.

“Yup,” Aleks said.

“I wonder if there’s anything in the Legacy like it? I haven’t had a chance to look through most of it,” I told her, then shifted my arm slightly to put it around her shoulders. “So, where are we going?”

“Ash-khana Ifsanos, the Chef of the Sea,” she said. “They make an amazing dish called poke which I have never gotten anywhere else. I have only been to there twice, but I remember every bit of each meal. They create the dish right in front of you, making a big production of it each time. Dad took me there three years ago on a diplomatic trip, and the chef threw a piece of fish into his mouth from halfway across the room.”

She’d leaned forward slightly and turned to look me in the eye. Her face lit up as she described the meal and how she really enjoyed the trip because she got to spend more time with her dad during it than she had over the year before. “It is hard sometimes,” she said softly, “having my dad so busy. We only see each other for dinner most days, and often mom or dad miss that meal as well. Twice mom went into closed-door gathering and did not come out for six months.”

“That’s gotta be hard on a little Aleks,” I said.

“It was,” she admitted, “but I still grew up in a palace. My life is infinitely easier than other people’s …”

“It is okay to be sad about your problems,” I told her, pulling her in close again. “Just because others might have worse ones, does not make your own invalid. I know you want to help everyone, and you will be able to, but making sure that you are taken care of as well is important. If you cannot support yourself, you will be unable to support anyone else.”

She was silent for a beat, then said, “That is a good point. Something you had to learn yourself?”

“Yeah,” I said with a laugh. “I got in a lot of trouble my first year at the Air Force Academy back on Earth because I was spending all of my time helping my classmates out, and didn’t take care of my own stuff too. My sergeant took me aside and gave me that advice.”

“I will try to follow it,” she said.

“Good. So, have you had a chance to see the Core Runes in the Legacy Knowledge Stone?”

“Not yet,” she said. She looked shy for a second, “Can we not talk about the Legacy, or the war, or anything that Princess Aleksandra has to decide on? I, um, would really like to just be Aleks tonight.”

“As you wish,” I said with a grin.

“Vaya told me about that story,” she said. “Though she only gave me a quick summary.”

“I will have to tell everyone about Wesley and Buttercup on the trip back,” I said. “What is your favorite color?”

“Uh, green,” she said. “Even though Wood is my worst Affinity, I have always liked green.”

“Well, your eyes are green, and really give me a better appreciation for the color,” I said.

She blushed prettily, then laughed, “Well, my mom’s eyes are green too, so that is where I started liking them from. Mom was always able to give me more time, and would often spend an hour reading books to me when I was little. At first they were stories of princesses finding friends and solving mysteries, but as I became older she would read to me romances where the princess would be married for political reasons, and then fall in love after the marriage. She wanted me to be ready for when my time came. Thankfully, that should not happen now.” She gripped my arm tighter.

“I hope not, at least,” I said.

“You know dad is going to want to make us officially betrothed as soon as we get back, right?” Aleks asked, going tense against my arm. She looked away when she asked.

I smiled at her, “Yes, I’m fairly certain of that too. So we should spend the time to get to know each other now, you know, just in case you end up disliking me by the time we get back.”

“I would never,” she said indignantly. I laughed, and she smacked my shoulder, “Are you sure you are okay with it? I know Vaya, Jamila, and I had a few long conversations about your world and multiple partners.”

“It is sooner than I would have preferred,” I said, “But that’s because on Earth, usually courtships would take years before proposals and marriage.”

“How long were you and Jasmine together?”

“We dated for a bit over two years before I asked her to marry me,” I told her, “and we still had another four months before the wedding.”

“Well, even if we are betrothed immediately, we still will not actually marry for at least a year,” Aleks told me.

“Okay,” I said, and she shook her head at the relief in my voice. “Gives you a chance to really get to know me, and not have an idealized version of me in your head. Same for me to get to know you.”

“True, but ending a betrothal is difficult, and generally looked down upon,” she said.

“Well, then we’ll just have to resolve to be worthy of each other’s love and trust,” I said.

“Yup,” she smiled happily at me, and then the coachman knocked on the door.

“Princess Aleksandra, Knight Aiden, we have arrived,” he said, his voice the only sound from outside we’d been able to hear the entire time.

“Thank you,” I said, then the door opened. I exited in front of Aleks, and held her hand as she stepped down. I knew she didn’t need any help, as she was physically stronger than anyone on Earth could have possibly become, but it made her happy.

The restaurant towered over its neighbors, half of which looked like warehouses. I could hear the waves in the harbor, but it wasn’t visible. Two guards stood on either side of the door, wearing silvery chain mail and wielding tridents. One of the guards held the door open, revealing a boisterous crowd. The maitre-d was waiting for us, most likely signaled by the coachmen and door guards. “Princess Aleksandra, (Hero) Aiden, you honor us with your patronage,” she said, her mane, something only about a third of the Ashkhas peoples had, flopping over her head before she flung it back like a girl in a conditioner commercial. “Please, follow me. You will of course have our best dining room.”

She turned and moved to the right through the doorway, revealing a set of stairs. The walls were tastefully decorated with paintings of the sea, ships sailing on the harbor, and one that depicted the Kraken swallowing a boat whole. That one caused me to stop, as I tried to calculate how big the Primordial was, but my brain was breaking at the number. Its beak is the same size as the boat, I thought, stunned, so roughly fifty meters long. Its beak! That tentacle is ten, twenty times longer! A kilometer long tentacle at least! What, how!? Every time I learn more about the Primordials, I end up with more questions than answers.

I felt a tug on my arm, and looked over at Aleks. She gestured up the stairs where the maitre-d was calmly waiting. “Your reaction is not uncommon,” she said, “the Kraken is truly awe-inspiring. Thankfully, it has been a long time since a ship has been taken by him.”

“Him?” I asked, following Aleks up the stairs.

“Yes, we have an agreement with him. Every year, we provide one hundred Beasts from the island, and he avoids the ships marked with our Inscriptions. He allows it because it lets him taste Beasts he would have no access to, and attacking the ships takes up too much of his energy,” she said grimly.

“How do you know this?” Aleks asked, intrigued.

“I used to be the logistics officer on a merchant ship,” she said, “but I wanted to raise a family, and Chef (Name) prefers to hire those who have left the sea.”

“Do you ever miss it?” Aleks asked.

“Many days, but my (Persian for little cub) is worth it,” she sighed. Aleks grinned at her, then hugged my arm happily. We went up three more floors to the end of the stairway. An ornately decorated hallway greeted us once we turned right off of the stairs. Every door out of the hallway was to my left. Three doors passed before the hostess opened it, and inside we found what looked like a hibachi grill with another table set halfway out on a balcony. The view in front of us looked out over the harbor, high enough that the warehouse directly behind the restaurant didn’t impede our vision at all. Dozens of boats and ships dotted the waterscape, visible only by the lanterns and Inscripted lights on them due to the nearly moonless night.

We were led to the table on the balcony, and I stepped to the seat on the right and pulled it out. Aleks let out a little “Oh” and sat. I carefully pushed her in, then went around the table and sat as well. She reached out and caught my hand, and we ended up holding hands across the table.

The maitre-d gave us a big grin, always slightly disconcerting on a feline face, and then placed a menu in front of us. It was a small rectangle of engraved metal, written in Craesti, with a dozen different meals available. “Up to you,” I told Aleks.

“Uh, we want poke, poi, lau lau, and then haupia for dessert,” Aleks said confidently.

“I will inform Chef (Name), who shall be up shortly,” the maitre-d said, then bowed and left.

“I’ve never had any of these dishes,” I told Aleks.

“Well, I told you about poke,” she answered, “poi is a dipping sauce that I reallllly like, they serve it with these flat pieces of soft bread. Lau lau is a leaf wrapped around veggies and Jungle Boar meat braised with some type of red sauce. Haupia are these white squares that are just the right amount of sweetness to finish off a meal. Uh, those will not be cooked in front of us.”

“I didn't realize you were so into food,” I told her.

Aleks blushed, “Um, is that okay?”

“Of course,” I told her. “That just means I’ll have to find some good places to take you in Azyl City.”

“I really want to go to Jamila’s parents bakery,” Aleks said.

“Your visit will probably triple their business from then on,” I laughed, then shook my head. “Make sure to talk to her first, and her parents. It would be bad for them to not be able to handle the surge of business.”

Aleks nodded. We talked about food, about her life growing up, and mine. The chef was amazing, deftly cooking a dozen different dishes at once all while flipping knives and food items from one location to another. Aleks clapped and cheered when the chef flipped me a piece of One-Fin Tuna and I caught it in my mouth.

After finishing the cooking, Chef (Name) grinned his big, toothy smile, and gave us both a bow. “Enjoy your evening, young (Persian for lovers),” he said, then left.

I lifted Aleks’s hand, which hadn’t left mine once over the last half hour, and kissed it. “Thank you for this evening,” I told her.

“It is not over yet,” she laughed, “and I feel I should thank you.” She stood, then walked over next to me and pulled me into a kiss. “I feel like I am in a story, living my own happy ending.”

I laughed and squeezed her hand, “I’m the one with a princess.”

She giggled, and then sat back down to eat.