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Jralli
“No, Killa, you missed the cobwebs in the corner there and you completely neglected to look under the bed.” “Frin, those furs are going to fall off the bed and get dirty if you just toss them on there like that. Straighten them and arrange them properly.” “Tomas, you have to clean the whole floor! Not just the part that people walk on! There’s a ring of dust around all the furniture!” Finally though, everything was clean and in order and Jralli hustled the drudges out of the room and back to their usual chores. As she was returning to the hold to see what else her mother had neglected to take care of in her excitement she came upon her mother going the same direction as she. She hurried to catch up to her and fell into step beside her. “I had the drudges clean up one of the rooms for Bodril when he arrives tomorrow,” she said watching for her mother’s reaction. “Oh, wonderful, Jralli, thank you!” was all her mother said and Jralli frowned, then smoothed it away before her mother scolded her for it. “Is there anything else that needs taking care of for his arrival?” she asked. “No, I don’t think so, what could possibly need taking care of?” “Well, are his parents coming to drop him off or will Bodril be coming alone?” “Well, that’s a silly question, isn’t it? Of course his family will be coming. They’ll want to see how he fits in here and will no doubt want to see how beautiful your sister is to judge if she’s worthy,” replied Lady Kiljira with a smile then turned and took her younger daughter’s hand and patted it comfortingly. “Oh but don’t you worry, I’m sure they’ll adore her as much as we do!” Jralli forced a relieved smile then continued with her questions, “Then have you made preparations with the head cook to have lunch prepared for them? If they arrive in the morning they’ll no doubt want to eat before they leave.” “Oh, I’m sure the head cook will realize that and take it into consideration, she’s always very good about things like that,” was her mother’s reply and Jralli had to try very hard to keep from grinding her teeth in frustration. “Of course mother,” she said, then pulled her arm from her mother’s grasp. “Please excuse me, but I just thought of the perfect outfit to wear tomorrow and I need to go lay it out before I forget it entirely.” “Oh! Of course dear!” said Lady Kiljira, smiling happily at seeing her youngest daughter finally coming around to her way of thinking. Jralli smiled tensely and hurried off, heading not for her rooms, but to the kitchens instead. The kitchens were an inferno of activity and she cursed herself for not thinking of coming sooner. The cooks were all running about getting dinner prepared and it took her quite some time to locate the head cook, Marsi. She finally stopped beside the spit where a young drudge was prodding the canine to keep moving so the wherry wouldn’t get overdone on any one side. “Have you seen, Marsi?” she asked, smiling hopefully down at the small boy. He nodded and pointed and she craned her neck until she saw the head cook storming through the kitchens calling out orders, her second in command scurrying after her. Jralli thanked the boy and hurried after the rotund woman. She caught up to her quickly despite all the cooks coming and going but had a harder time getting the loud woman’s attention. “Marsi!” she called as she grew near and though every other cook in the vicinity turned to look at her the large head cook just kept walking, calling out orders in her boisterous voice. “Marsi!” Finally the woman turned around, smiling at Jralli, but still paying her no attention. “Barla! Get that stew off the fire before it burns to the bottom of the pan! Porl, what do you think you’re doing putting carrots in that sauce? Get them out of there, right now!” “Marsi, I really must speak with you!” cried Jralli, unable to yell as loudly as the cook could. Marsi turned as if to walk away and Jralli gritted her teeth and yelled at the top of her lungs, “Marsi!” “What!?” the woman yelled, turning around to face Jralli with a fierce scowl on her face. Then she saw who it was and blanched. “I’m sorry, Miss Jralli, I didn’t realize you needed my attention. I thought you were just here to snitch a few rolls before dinner like you used to do as a child!” Jralli smiled, forgiving the woman instantly. “That’s okay, I just need to talk to you and I’m afraid it’s nothing you’re going to like to hear.” Marsi nodded, a pensive look on her face then smacked her assistant on the arm with a long wooden spoon she never seemed to be without. “Berda, take over for a minute, I’ve got to talk to Miss Jralli here and it’s hard enough to think in here, let alone have a conversation!” She flashed Jralli a grin nodding once to Berda before striding from the room. Marsi pushed people out of the way with her girth as she moved and most of the cooks scurried to the sides of the walkways as they saw her coming. Jralli just stifled a laugh and followed the woman out, careful not to jostle anyone on the way. Once they were out of the kitchens Marsi stopped and turned to face Jralli with a smile that wrinkled up the corners of her eyes and made the strong woman look very sweet and gentle. Jralli always had a hard time keeping a straight face at the irony of such a loud, controlling woman having such a sweet smile and it took her a moment or two before she could stifle her mirth enough to speak. “Have you heard that Bodril of Balden Hold is to be fostered here?” she started when she was back in control of her emotions. “Yeah, I heard that,” said Marsi, her smile fading as she nodded, concentrating on what Jralli had to say. “Didn’t hear when though.” “I figured as much,” said Jralli, wincing. “I hate always being the bearer of bad news, but my mother just informed me this afternoon that he and his family will be arriving tomorrow morning. They will no doubt be expecting lunch before they leave their son with us as well.”” “Well, no doubt!” said Marsi with a proud smile. “My cooking is well known ‘round here.” Jralli smiled, “Do you think you can throw something together?” “Hmm, yes, well, it is rather short notice but I’ll see what I can do,” the large woman said, frowning and biting her lip, tapping the wooden spoon against her round side as she pondered. “Well, come with me into the cellar, we’ll check out what we have and concoct something, shall we?” Jralli smiled and nodded, following the woman down the narrow stairs into the cellar. Marsi grunted as they reached the bottom and shook her head, turning around to look back up the stairs with a disbelieving frown. “I swear those stairs just keep getting narrower,” she said with a shake of her head then turned to look at Jralli in surprise as the young woman was unsuccessful in suppressing her laughter. Marsi just grinned as she realized why Jralli was laughing. “I know what you’re thinking Miss Jralli, you’re thinking it’s me that’s getting wider and not the stairs that are getting narrower! And you’re quite right, makes me feel better to think the steps are shrinking though.” Marsi winked at her and Jralli laughed then passed the older woman up to go through the narrow door to the back of the cellar. She rooted around a bit, finding some interesting jars of spices and brought them back out with her. Marsi was busy checking tubs of vegetables and didn’t even look up when Jralli returned. “I found these jars of spices,” said Jralli, holding them out for Marsi to inspect. The woman didn’t reply right away, muttering almost to herself. “We’ve got potatoes aplenty, but we’ll have to find some new way to fix ‘em. Potatoes get boring if you always fix ‘em the same way. Mm?” she looked up then and squinted at the jars Jralli held. She exclaimed as she took them from the young woman’s grasp. “Ah! Perfect! This one will be perfect for marinating the potatoes in and this one does very nicely in a rich glaze for wherry. I think we’ve got enough wherries out there to spare one for lunch tomorrow. Thank you dearie, you’re a life saver, I’d have never been able to fit my rotund-self back there to find these!” “Not a problem, I’m just glad I could help,” she said with a smile. “I feel bad I couldn’t warn you sooner.” Marsi just shook her head and took one bottle in each hand and began waddling up the narrow stairs. “Don’t worry about it dearie, it’s not your fault. I’m just glad you were born with your father’s sense instead of your mother’s. You realize your mother’s never worried about the Hold as she should have? I thank the powers that be that you came along and took some of the responsibilities from your father’s shoulders. He’s enough to do without having to worry about the cooking and cleaning on top of it all!” Jralli just sighed and forced a smile as she nodded in agreement. She hadn’t known that her father had been the one to take care of the Hold before she took the initiative several years ago. She’d always figured her mother had just stopped doing it in more recent years. The two of them reached the top of the stairs and parted company. Marsi headed back into the kitchens and started yelling before the door had closed behind her. Jralli smiled and shook her head then headed off to make sure any other necessary preparations were being taken care of. Continue... |