A Holiday by Decree
~~Day 11~~
Their group soon filled the set of small baskets. Keeping Sansa and Tyrion's fruits separate, Adil bagged the fruit the others had picked and stowed them all in the space under the driver's bench of the wheelhouse.
Once they were all settled, the wheelhouse and riders made the rest of the way up the lane to the ranch. Sansa and Tyrion marveled at thick rows of more fruit trees, including the exotic red fruits, the juicy pips of which they had eaten before.
Attempting to make a casual count of the trees, Tyrion noted that he would have to look deeper into the accounts. Now, getting a sense of all this royal property had to offer, he wondered what the compound did with all its produce, and if the local people, not only the Crown, were seeing the full benefits of potential trade.
When they reached the ranch, they found a large sprawling building clearly of humble, local design, both walls and flat roofs made of the prevalent red clay they saw everywhere. Sections were connected by open areas constructed of wood and brick supports and breezy thatching of long, woven plant leaves, under which were lush sitting areas furnished for lounging. Other, separate areas looked more utilitarian, with long rows of tables and benches, where some of the staff appeared to be gathering with empty water buckets, apparently returning from morning watering routines or cleaning.
Sansa and Tyrion were brought to an area off the corner of the ranch building where a table had been set under shady thatching in view of a smoking fire pit where more staff began to put on generous skewers of meat over cooking grates lapped by the flames. The savory smell of charcoaled meat filled the air.
Meanwhile, Adil prepared the fruits that they had picked on the table in front of them. First, he peeled the skins away and then cut the flesh away in half-rounds from the center of the fruit, which he described as inedible. After seasoning the fruit pieces with citrus juice and spices, the fruits were placed on the grill too to Sansa and Tyrion's surprise.
The aroma of cooked meat, which they learned was pork, and caramelized fruit sugar made their mouths water. While the meal that was served was basic, just meat and fruit on wooden boards, nothing like the meals that Westerosi nobles regularly ate, Sansa and Tyrion enjoyed their fill directly from the cooking skewers. They particularly relished the tangy, juicy scorched fruits, the ones they had picked with their own hands, which paired well with the savory spices Adil had added to them.
After the meal, Hirat and Adil showed them around the ranch building, pointing out sights like the various livestock kept, where men and women took care of weaving and hand crafting items for use at the manor, and of course, the massive, packed clay shelters and pits where the royal dragons stayed when the King and Queen were in residence.