14 Look Ou (1/2)
It took some time to get used to wake up early in the morning, but as late night entertainment was a rare commodity in this lands, there weren't much to do, at least not while he was with the army and now inside the castle.
That was even more so true for him, as he couldn't even read a simple book to pass time or gain some knowledge. The written language was not translate by the elven necklace, and as the writing of the books still followed its original form, the symbols and their meaning were still a mystery. So reading was completely outside of his grasp for the time being and with that so was his main source of entertainment. Not that he didn't play around with magic now and then, trying things and forcing his limits, within proper restrains of course, but true entertainment, where he could lay back and relaxwas not to be found nowhere near, for a game addict as he was, that was taking its toll on him.
From the common comforts of modern life, like warm showers, snacks and comfortable clothing, the thing he most longed for was electricity and his electronics. Every time he had to go to bed he remembered his previous life with yearning thoughts that prevented him from sleeping. So to calm down his mind and allow himself to sleep, he got used to look at the stars and feel the night breeze, it was strangely soothing.
Such behavior allowed him a nice talk with the princess Eileen, at least he would have something to do on the afternoon to pass time today, he thought to himself while wondering how long would take him and Maximilian to get some information about his situation.
He remembered Maximilian mentioning he would leave soon to his house near Thanes, there he had more documents and old books that could have some explanation. And since Riou wouldn't be much of a help, it made sense to stay back and learn the lands culture. He was not able to research old books, or books at all anyway. ”Perhaps I could learn something from scholars and perhaps mages that studied the world's limits, if there were any” he thought to himself not so confident. The realization that he may never get home again, was present in his mind so it would be wise to at least know the basics of this land.
With those thoughts in mind, he got dressed and was about to once again walk inside the castle, when someone knocked the door.
Riou opened the door, there was a dark haired and dark eyed middle-aged servant woman, dressed in servant dark clothes and white apron, it resembled the maid outfits of his world somehow, he thought, ”Probably a Room maid”, Riou concluded.
-”Good morning, I'm glad that I got you before you left” Said the maid before continuing
-”The king requested your presence at his Studies room by the next hour” She finished bowing courteously.
-”The king wants to see me?” Asked Riou confirming the invitation, as it was unexpected.
-”Yes, you shall attend to his Studies room in an hour, is there anything else you require before I take my leave?” Politely informed and asked the maid.
Riou thought for a moment before having an idea – ”Yes! Where can I wash myself and my clothes?”
-”Once a week a wooden tub is provided to the guest to bath themselves in the room…” Riou didn't even let her finish before interjecting – ”No, no! I mean right now, I can't take another day like this…” He said moving his limbs away from his body displaying his uncomfortable grimy state.
The maid thought for a moment before speaking – ”Well, I could request the tub to be delivered to your room later on the day…”
-”Yes! Please do so” Said eagerly, almost joyous Riou, already anticipating the moment.
-”Very well, food is being served in the mess hall for all the guests as usual if you are hungry” Bowed elegantly once again the maid, preparing to leave.
-”Just a quick question, can I go directly to the kitchen to get something to eat? I'd like to avoid meeting with the other guests, for personal reasons of course” Questioned Riou trying to convey his discomfort in dealing with the nobles.
-”It's certainly not usual… all guests are served in the mess hall, as there are no tables for guests in the kitchen” replied the maid confused by the question.
-”No need for tables, just a quick grab, just enough to fill me in and I will be on my way… or is it prohibited for guest to go to the kitchen?” – Said Riou cornering the maid to an answer that would compel her to allow him have his ways.
-”It's not, but…” before she could finished he promptly interjected, walking toward her and slightly pushing the maid forward accompanying him, as he started to say with a smile in the face – ”It's decided then, show me the way” Without response the maid had to comply.
The kitchen was big with stone walls, it had 4 big metal stoves fueled by wood, in the corner of the kitchen attached to the outmost castle wall, and right outside of it was the gardens that circulated the whole castle inside the walls.
The stoves had thick metallic panes, at least two fingers thick, it was very large in size, a man could easily lay on top of it and be comfortable inside its margins, one of the stoves had six pans of various sizes on top of it, the bigger one would take two persons just to move it around, while the smaller resembled a small frying pan, a palm wide. The metal pane above the fire had six round holes on it, covered by a two layered lid, they were removable, making the fire beneath accessible to the cook and also was able to fit the pans of all sizes, for increased heat one would remove the lid, putting the pan directly on top of the fire, bigger pans would remove both layers for increased area and fire. Only two stoves were in use that moment, probably because the guests quantity in the castle.
There was many cutting and mix tables in the middle of the kitchen, able to hold several people to prepare at once to prepare the food before getting them to the stoves, there were about 20 people working there, but it could easily accommodate twice that number. There were an adjacent room with stairs to a basement, probably used as a warehouse and a wine cellar as the lesser temperature would be beneficial for storing and conserving food. The Biggest knives, spoons and forks were hanged hooks in the walls near the tables and stoves for easy access, near the stoves on top a balcony around 20 big jars, almost 2 palms tall and 1 palm wide, aligned probably filled seasonings of all kinds, there were also other less used utensils were on top a table in the corner.
The serving dishes already filled with food were in a counter near the door for the servants to take to the mess hall, the breakfast consisted on some freshly baked, fist sized breads, stacked in serving dishes. Dried meat neatly displayed in pieces around a big sliced darker bread on others servings, each slice was thick as a thumb and almost a palm wide, a few fruits that resembled apples, pears and peaches were also in the menu.
Everyone in the kitchen stopped whatever they were doing as soon as they noticed Riou, they never seen a guest in the kitchen and a mixture of uncertainty and apprehension could be seen in their faces. Noticing the atmosphere Riou smiled and waved, grabbed what looked like an apple and bit it, right after he signaled it was a good apple with his eyes and nodding his head. The people slowly got back to their work afterwards as seemed the boy didn't want anything with them and was just passing by.
The apple tasted strange, it was rather small, had its characteristic red color, but it was crumbly and had almost no juice, finished it in a couple of bites, he proceeded to grab the pear… same thing and almost the same strange taste. ”The land is probably overused... they probably don't have any rotation system in place” Riou thought to himself opting to forget about the fruits, he went for the black bread and dried meat instead.
He made a sandwich folding a slice of the bread in half and putting the dried meat on it. It was soft, very different from the stone hard he experimented with the army. As he bit it, it tasted a strong flavor of rye, the meat was very salty and tough. The breakfast was very different from the feast, which now seemed to be a boast of luxury compared with the plain breakfast.
Sated, Riou went to the Study Room, it was on a higher level of the castle and on a separated wing. He went up about 3 flight of stairs from the bottom level near the kitchen and walked towards the royal wing, where only the royal family was authorized to enter, guarding its entrance were 2 guards with metal armor and lances, and they promptly open way for Riou as he was expected.
The door to the study room was open, and the king was sat on a writing desk away but facing the door, across the room after the board and chairs. The king gesticulate for him to come in.
Riou approached the king who seemed busy writing with ink and a holed wood straw. Seemed like that the wooden straw was able to hold the ink as it was rubbed in the parchment. Curiously it was a smaller and lighter colored parchment, seemed of a better quality than the ones he had seen so far, probably writing a decree or a requisition to some of the nobles, Riou thought while waited the king to finish…
Didn't take long, once finished the king put aside the strange pen he was using, and wrapped the parchment and sealed it with wax, putting his ring on it giving the shape of the lions with flags.
- ”Young man…” – Said the king while finishing up and putting aside the wrapped document. – ”Fear not, that what brought you here were not the yesterday events, I was informed that all the misunderstandings were already solved” Said the king in an imposing manner, no room for questioning or doubt was left. And so he continued
– ”You are here because Maximilian suggested it. He also implied that I'd like to hear your opinion on several matters… he seems to be confident on your knowledge of the world despite claiming you know nothing of it…” said the king intentionally stopping there and waiting for Riou's comment;
The king was showing his craftiness, he had put Riou in a trap, a position where he had to explain himself to defend the Magus opinion and image, and in doing so he'd be giving out more information than intended. Which was precisely the kings objective, to gather all the intelligence he could with the least effort, as he was used to do.
Riou caught on the trap the king set before him, the open ended assertive that would cause most of people to enter a preoccupied and apologetic state, even more if young as one could assume he was, they would not be able to hold on information and that was the king's plan. Riou smiled and answered
– ”Well, seems like he thinks too highly of me” Said Riou nonchalantly, obviously avoiding a response.