Forgive me that this chapter might be a bit long, but I needed this one to be in one piece. I enjoyed writing this, I hope everyone else will enjoy it as well.
Chapter 3: Varian at Lunch
The King and Queen had their lunch in the delicate pavilion, where they often had their meals if the weather allowed it. The table were set for three, the King and the Queen, and a spot for a third person at the other side of the table, which were set with lots of delicate small dishes of several sourts; scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, rolls of ham with mayonnaise on a plate of salad, slices of ox tail on a plate with honey dipped carrots and a large plate with some cheese. A plate of sliced loaf was there as well, with a bowl of butter. A cheese cake were placed at one side, decorated with fresh berries, and beside that was a bowl of fresh fruit. A mug of sausage placed in the middle of the dishes, along with a salt and pepper pot and a bowl of sugar cubes, all made of delicate ornamented silver. On a table beside them were a pot of tea and a mug of lemonade, and Friedborg were standing near them, ready to poor into the Majesties' cups and glasses at command. More simple dishes were put up as well; ham sandwiches with cheese and turkey sandwiches with salad and cucumber. The King puzzled a little at these dishes, but the Queen smiled at them.
"I thought to give him some simpler choices. He's grown up with peasant food and is probably not used to such complicated dishes."
"My dear, what do you mean with complicated? I thought it would be tempting with something extravagant rather than something plain."
"So much fuzz over a traitor..."Nigel said at the King's side.
"That was thoughtful of you, dear, but do you recall how I responded to it the first time you introduced me to such fine dishes?" she asked with a smile. When the King didn't respond with more than a raised eyebrow, she answered herself.
"I had no idea of how to eat it, and ended up feeling foolish. At that time I didn't know up and down on a fork, far from how to use one in such settings." She demonstrated by picking up a smoked salmon with the fork laying beside the plate, putting it on the plate in front of her. "And if this plan of yours is to work, then we must make it as easy for him as possible, not making him feel more uncomfortable than he might most likely be." she kept on, giving him a raised eyebrow in return.
"Well I've got to try at least. I hear he's bare eating down there. I am certain that a proper meal will make him feel better." The King sighed. "And maybe we can get a step ahead of what to do with him."
"Sire, if I may..."Nigel said beside him. "This is only a waste of time. It's been over a month since this... vagabond committed his crimes. And the law... "
"Nigel!" the King interrupted with calm voice. "If you do not like this idea, I will not force you to stay."
Nigel were whipped of the branch by the King's words, but quickly gathered himself. "I will most certainly NOT leave the Majesties alone with this..."
"Good, but please do not interfere. We want this to go delicate." Fredric replied determinant, not even bothering to look at him.
"Besides, we will not be alone." Arianna said, obviously beginning to find Nigel's comments annoying. "The Captain and his guards will be here as well."
"Speaking of which..."Fredric said as they heard the marching footsteps of the guards approach the garden, closing in towards the pavilion. The Captain were walking ahead on the side of the path, revealing Pete and Stan walking with Varian, or practically dragging him along, as he was barely walking on his own, but were lifted up by his upper arms. The King and Queen exchanged looks as they saw this.
As they approached the pavilion, they had to lift him up the steps, and the guards stopped in front of the table, with the boy almost dangling between them. As it had been a while since they both saw him, they were stunned by the appearance of the young alchemist. His hair was filthy and more messy than ever, locks sticking out from both back and front of the goggles, long bangs half covering his face. His shirt was half torn up as a result of many wasted battles with the guards, and his apron were barely hanging by the straps, not to mention the fact that the boy had long time grown out of his pants, as his knees were showing from above the strapped boots, who were by the way rather loosely tied as well, as if they had been just dragged up before he left the cell.
His face were also a dreadful sight. Lack of sunlight had made him terribly pale, his freckles almost gone as well, and lack of sleep had given him dark gray circles around his hollow blue eyes. He had become terribly skinny, even more than before, with thin arms and visible cheekbones. But the most awkward sight was the small apple he had stuck in his mouth, which would give the most ridiculous look hadn't it been for the frowning eyebrows. Despite the strict grip he was held in, his face were rather calm and nonchalant, but his eyes were shooting daggers in the silence and running over with suspiciousness.
They were all stunned by the sight of the young prisoner, and Nigel were barely able to hold back a comment and opened his mouth to say something when the King raised his hand, a gesture the chancellor knew as a sign to remain silent, before King Fredric himself rose from his seat and cleared his throat, breaking the embarrassing silence.
"I'm glad you could join us, son. Eh... We hear you've had some... trouble eating lately, we thought you would feel better if you had some proper food." He chuckled shortly and kept going. "So there's no need for that apple. You may have whatever you'll like."
"Owgh..." was the sound that came from Varian's stuffed mouth, turning his head to the side and spit it out, before looking at them again, glaring sarcastically. "I thought I was gonna be an appetizer!" The apple rolled at the grass beside the pavilion, and Ruddiger immediately became aware of it and ran after it.
The King blinked at the boy's reply, but quickly regained himself. "Now what made you think that, my boy?"
"Oh that was logical, your Majesty." he young teen answered sarcastically. "I'm hardly enough for a main course, and most likely not delicate enough for dessert." He glared sat them by the last sentence.
The King gave a short, insecure laugh before walking around the table to face him, looking friendly at him as he spoke again. "Now lad, even if we've had our... disputes, we're not going to go that far with you. I can assure you that much. You may not believe it, but we want what is best for you."
"The best would be a bath!" Nigel mumbled into his handkerchief that he used to cover his large nose for the reeking smell from the prisoner.
Arianna quietly hushed him, and then became aware of a rather familiar crooning sound from her right. There, a familiar little animal approached. Ruddiger had obviously become aware the smell of food and were now eyeing the fruit basket placed the table near the Queen as far better than the half eaten apple. Arianna, and smiled at the sight of him. "There you are, Ruddiger." she replied gently and lifted the bowl down to his level. "Help yourself." indicating that he was welcome to eat. The shy but greedy raccoon approached and slowly stretched his paws against the bowl, but as soon as he had grabbed the reddest apple he was quick to run off. Arianna chuckled and let the bowl remain on the floor so he could help himself and sat up again, observing the her husband and the teen. Nigel observed the scene from his spot with horror, and then rolled his eyes.
Varian's eyes followed the King, glaring suspiciously at him as he had been speaking.
"Now, at some point we are going to put this all behind, but we still have a long way to go. But even with other Kingdoms that we might be in disputes with, it is normal with a peace offering meal, and that's what this is."
As the King spoke, Varian shifted his head slowly from one side to another, his eyes at times locked on him glaring while others he squinted and hiding them under his overgrown black mess of hair. It wasn't possible to read him when he was like that, but it looked like he was observing he set table, eyeing the options. Arianna noticed he got a rather odd look on his face when he spotted some of the dishes, like she suspected he would.
"Now please, take a seat!" Fredric said. But when Varian did not reply, he coughed at the guards, who placed him on the chair put for him. The Captain found his keys again and removed he cuffs from his wrists, chaining him to the chair by his right foot instead. It looked like Varian got a little confused, as if he had just woken up and wondered if they really were serious about this.
"There. Now, help yourself, son. Have what you'll like." he King said, walking back to his own seat beside Arianna. As the Majesties started to fill their own plates and Friedborg pored them tea, Arianna gesticulated for her to pour Varian some lemonade when the King started to speak.
"I thought you would be glad to know that I have taken action to actually help you with the matter with... your father. I have sent for some very schooled scientists from abroad to help us solve the mystery of the amber keeping him incased. I am confident that they will somehow manage to find a solution." The King waited for a reply, but Varian got more uptaken with Friedborg, who was about to fill his glass with lemonade while staring rather empty out in the air. So he kept speaking. "My plan was that maybe you would appreciate working und-eh... with them to try to free him. Now, what do you think, Varian?"
"I think this one here is ALLOT prettier than Cassandra! Or what?" he smirked devilishly and turned with half closed eyes towards the Captain, who got bright red in his face, barely able to hold back his anger at the sassy boy. Friedborg on the other hand got rather flattered by the unintentional compliment and smiled widely, showing all her teeth. When Varian noticed this, he surprised everyone by actually smiling back, if not so friendly at least widely. "At least she knows how to smile; unlike somebody else..."
As the Captain's frown became more and more tense, Pete and Stan got worried that he wouldn't be able to hold himself, as it was his own daughter the prisoner was insulting. Fredric and Arianna saw this as well, and the Queen broke the awkward and soon to get out of hand situation by speaking. "Friedborg dear... I think we will be fine now. Thank you very much. You may have the rest of the day off."
Friedborg smiled even wider as she put the mug beside Varian before she turned around and walked away, putting her hands behind her back as she slowly walked away.
"Yes thank you, Friedborg! You're such a peach!" Varian said sarcastically, and the odd looking lady in waiting gave him a wide creepy smile before she disappeared. "I hope the Queen finds a Prince for you! You deserve that much!" Varian cried after her before he turned back to his company, who stared awkwardly both at him and eachother. Arianna looked after her dear lady in waiting, wondering how she would handle her later; Fredric feeling like he was slapped in the face by the sudden turn the conversation had taken; Nigel was luckily to much in shock of the teens words to utter a word himself; the Captain stood stiff like a statue, but his white gloved hand resting on his sword; and Pete and Stan silently preparing themselves for anything.
At last, Fredric couched and begun speaking again. "As I was saying..."
"Is that ham?"
The unexpected question from the alchemist caused the King to loose his word, but Arianna quickly interfered, feeling reveled that he boy at last gave focus towards the food. "Yes yes, it is. Salted ham."
The boy was staring at the rolled ham slices, staying silent, as if he tried to figure out if his eyes were lying to him or not.
"Have whatever you like!" Arianna said carefully, lowering her gaze as she kept her eyes on him, hoping he would react.
The King and the Queen stared at him as the alchemist took his time to exanimate the ham rolls, before at long last, after what actually wasn't more than a minute but felt like a hour, Varian stretched out a gloved hand and grabbed a ham roll and held it in front of him, examinating it all over, like the scientist he was. They all found this behavior rather odd, but they did nothing to disturb him as they hoped he would consume it sooner or later. Even Pete and Stan watch with curiosity, like they expected him to perform some magic trick with it. The King almost bit his bottom lip from the waiting as he watched the boy put the roll on the plate in front of him and begun to, almost in an elegant manner, unroll it with one finger, exposing the yellow substance inside.
"It's just mayonnaise. It's rather good. I'm sure you'll like it." the King hurried to sey, rather gently, hoping not to spoil the progress. "There... There's some ham sandwiches if you prefer that."
"More ham?" Varian asked instantly and turned around to find the ham and turkey sandwiches on his left side, with two slices of bread cut in a triangle on top of eachother, with ham and cheese in between.
"Ham!" Arianna whispered behind a hand to her husband. "We're on the right way!"
"Progress at last!" he whispered back.
He were quick to open them and grabbed the ham, leaving the rest of the sandwich open on the plate. Then he did the same thing with all the other sandwiches till he had all the ham on his own plate, leaving trails of cheese and bred crumbles at the table around himself.
Fredric was about to say something when he felt his wife's hand on his arm, silently telling him to wait. But when he reached for the butter knife and dragged on a huge clout of butter and started to spread it all over the first ham, the Queen too got a little curious and couldn't help herself.
"Wouldn't it be a little better with some bread, Varian?"
"Ham!" Varian replied rather dryly as he put two of the triangle shaped ham slices on top of the first one.
"Eh... Sure sure..." she replied gently.
Then he reached for both the salt and the pepper and started to sprinkle both over them before he put two more on top of that, and quickly unrolled another ham roll while he reached out for the sugar cubes, grabbing a handful right from the bowl and started to smash them rather violently at the table cloth, grouching at each hit.
Now even the Captain, who had decided the best was to currently ignore his prisoner's presence to gather himself, looked at him performing the act with the food, and gave the King a look. all he got a back was a shrug from His Majesty. Nigel rolled his eyes and let a short moan escape in disgust, still with the handkerchief covering his nose, along with his mouth now due to the disgusting scene. The King and Queen looked at eachother!
"Varian, what in the world..." he queen begun, but lost her tongue, not knowing how to grip the situation as the boy seemed completely focused on his task.
Then Pete wasn't able to hold back his curiosity. "That's not gonna taste very good, it it?"
"Oh, I'm not gonna eat it!" Varian said rather seriously as he grabbed the crushed sugar with two fingers and sprinkled it over the ham before he suddenly decided his project needed another ingredience, and rose to grab some of the laced carrots to have over the sugar letting them drip over it. "That should do it!"
At last, the King couldn't hold himself and spoke up, not so patient as before. "Varian, would you please explain what you're planning with that?"
"Ham, your Majesty..." Varian said, without looking up from his project, "...means pig, right?"
"Of course it is pig. Everyone knows..."
"WAS a pig!" Varian said, raising his voice at the first word. "But no more. Because..." he looked up, staring directly at the King. "It's DEAD! You've killed it!" He practically shouted the last word out, startling them all after his long time clam behavior.
Fredric sighed and spoke again. "Varian, I bet even you know that to be able to eat meat, you're gonna have to..."
"You've killed it, you murderer! Pig murderer!... but I'm gonna fix it!" Varian kept going, grabbing the flake of salad that the ham rolls had been resting on, and jerked it out, causing the rest of the rolls to spread all around the table. "Oh yeah, I'm gonna fix you, little piggy! After all; I am an alchemist, and I can perform anything! And I'll put it back together..." He mumbled between his teeth as he took the salad and the other mayonnaise laced ham slice and wrapped them both around the sandwich of ham he had made in front of him, and started petting it like it actually was a pig there.
Arianna let out something that was meant to be a sigh but ended up as a moan as she leaned back in her chair while resting her forehead on her hand and covered her eyes at the same time. Fredric finally decided it was enough and rose from his chair as he spoke up. "Varian, end this nonsense right away! I was planning to go easy on you, but you are making this far more difficult than it has to be. In case you haven't noticed..."
Varian remained silent and ignorant of his person and kept on with his rather odd project. The King drew his breath once more and was about to speak when he realized that the teen wasn't going to listen and just sighed and watch him grab his next ingredience from the table. "That's turkey." it slipped out of him rather dryly.
"No it ain't!"
"Oh really?" Fredric replied, turning sarcastic himself out from stress.
"Nope!" Varian replied loud. "The only turkey around here..." he said and looked up at sudden. "IS YOU!" To everyone's shock, Varian threw the turkey slice towards the King. He didn't managed to hit him directly, as the King managed to block it with his hands rising up in reflex, but the slice got pushed to his left and went off to Nigel, who cried out in horror, loud and squeaky like a girl.
"That's enough! Take him away!" Fredric said, losing his patience at last.
The Captain bent down and unlocked the shackle on the chair and had a hard time unlocking the one on his foot, as he moved too much, and had to grab him in order to finish his job. Pete and Stan on the other hand tried to grab him by his arms, but he became rather hotheaded when they tried to grab him by his arms, which would cause him to lose the grip on the ham project. "My pig! MY PIG!" Varian cried as the Captain was about to put the chains on him again.
"Let him keep the pig-eh... the food." Fredric shook his head as he corrected himself, and rubbed the brim of his nose. "Maybe he'll eat it..."
At long last, they managed to get the handcuffs back on his wrists, and had to almost lift him off the chair. This time he actually walked on his feet when they took him away, and Pete and Stan held a grip on his arms, but with the ham project in his hands, he actually didn't put up much resistance. Most likely he was glad to get away from them, cause he remained silent when he was led away.
Arianna sighed and leaned back in the chair. "So much for a proper meal." she said to Ruddiger beside her on the floor, who were a little disturbed by his master's outburst, but as he saw him disappear in the castle, he decided to follow.