Luitolf Family/Edelyn/Friendly Dinner

Soon after the ceremonies with Calypso, and several letters between both Lucius and Svair, Edelyn returned to her apartment near the coast. Once the window was opened, she could see the beach, and at the right angle even the harbor down the way. It was small, quaint, with only a large area for entertaining which also contained the cooking and dining area, and a small sectioned off area for sleeping. The woman had never needed an overabundance of personal space here given most of her time was spent in the church, and she found herself wondering how these two might judge the small space.

Edelyn flitted around the small space, dusting, and cleaning the area, while keeping a close eye on the stewing cutlets over near the wood-burning stove located in a small alcove out of the way. The door and the window had been left open to allow the natural day's light filter through, and to air out the long-neglected apartment. In the entertaining area, there was a couch and a couple of chairs, along with a small table meant more for games or small refreshments than true dining. Instead, there was a larger square table with stools near the window for such occasions. The small apartment was not capable of fitting the typical rectangular tables normally seen at court, much to her dismay, so this square one would have to do.

Most of the food already sat to the side in covered warming dishes, and after the meat was done, Edelyn put that aside as well. As her quests were soon to arrive, she quickly started to set the table by placing plates surrounded by a fork and knife upon a napkin on the left side, and a clear, spotless glass opposite. Everything having been set, and all the food ready, all Edelyn had left to do was to dip into her sleeping area and change into the light and plain purple dress she had selected for the evening and tie her hair up with the matching ribbon as was her typical style.

Lucius had attempted to clean up, attempted in that he was clean, had clean clothes, but nothing that screamed nobility besides the quality of the fabric, and that it was mostly new in a nice shade of blue. Most of his formal wear had been military or tied to his Vestarch role. His hair was brushed, but still shaggy. Svari told him not to cut it, and he didn’t care all that much. She had even convinced him not to go armed this time, something he was increasingly cautious of since their trip out to Mech Alb.

Edelyn had invited them both to see her and suggested bringing Svari. Given that they were both expected to march again, despite their better judgement, it seemed best for the three to get together again, at least one more time. Lucius cast a glance to Svari and smiled as he made their way to Ede’s home. 

Alongside him was Svari in person. His arm looped around hers as they walked enjoying a short respite from their relentless duties. It is nice seeing her out of uniform, dressed in simple clothes with her hair tied high with the ribbon he had given her long ago. As usual the silver falcon at her throat glinted brightly, a constant reminder of her heraldry “A nice dinner. You ready, Ri?” He hadn’t attended a nice dinner in Tidemother knew how long.

Lucius’ voice stirred Svari from the thoughts that distracted her during their long walk there. Both she and Lucius were comfortable in a silence, but she still couldn’t help but smile at the sound of him saying her name. “Ready? Of course.” She sounds surprised that he must ask and assures him with confidence “You shouldn’t be nervous, you look dashing…And you’ve both been getting along great lately”

Svari stands at the door of what she hoped was Edelyn’s apartment, as she had never been there before and raises a hand to knock “Hope /you’re/ ready” she taunts while knocking somewhat heavily on the door before them.

A rough heavy knock resounded through the apartment, almost causing Edelyn to jump while she finished tying up her hair. The woman jumped, head twisted around the corner with hair looking half frazzled, but her eyes growing wide at the sight of them. "You come in and sit but give me one moment!" She exclaimed out the door at the couple. Too much time had passed, and Edelyn was overly excited.

Edelyn finished putting her hair up. They were earlier than she had expected. Swiftly after, she rushed over and grabbed three glasses, pouring the famous brandy within, and walked over to the couch where the two now were. "The food is already ready, but first, have a drink with, and I know we have a lot to discuss," She said looking over at Lucius, "But this is the least I can do for the two that have always been there for me even when I was to blind to see."

She placed two of the glasses down on the table before them, the dark liquid swirling within. "Surely you remember this, from Northern Beluaterra, from my private stock that we all drank that night at the feast?"

Lucius looked between the two women and the drink. He grimaces as he thinks back to the feast. “Not one of my better nights, but still a good drink. At least you two still put up with me,” he adds with a laugh, making a mental note to not drink that much again.

He reached for the glass and took a sip, the familiar flavor washing over his tongue, digging up the memories of the feast even further, and several from Beluaterra. His face didn’t show the pain from the memories, but instead, he looked deep in thought. His brother was still speaking to him, and he was on Beluaterra still. It couldn’t be all bad. Plus, the drink is still fantastic. A slow quirk to his lips, and then a genuine smile. It had been a bad night, but he had already said they were still putting up with him. “Ede, you’re going to spoil us.”

Edelyn’s nervous, sweetness melts the stoic look on Svari’s face to an affectionate smile...a long time had passed between their meetings, and still so much was unsaid. Svari thanks her for the drink and sips carefully along with Lucius and Edelyn. Nodding along as he compliments her “I love this stuff...It’s nice to see you outside of the church Ede you look, great” Svari points out. In this relaxed setting, looking flustered and in control at the same time...she had to be careful not to stare for too long.

Edelyn's eyes darts between her two companions, not knowing how to respond to the compliments while blushing slightly. She could not believe that they thought this was spoiling. The embarrassment they would feel if they had grown up in the Lurias with her. This was tame compared to the lavish events their courts threw.

"I... I thank you, Svari," She spoke hesitantly after clearing her throat, "And Luc, this is hardly spoiling, I could do much more to that effect if you wanted." That time far less hesitantly.

Edelyn took a small sip of her drink. She was reluctant to get too inebriated, as there was wine to serve with dinner, and her inhibitions tended to leave once she was drunk. That might not be the best choice with Svari sitting right there, with her lover who was also a trusted friend.

"I just wanted to thank the two of you. The two of you, and the Tidemother, have helped me see a new light. Though I understand if you want to just get to business. You did come here for a reason." She says, looking back over at Lucius.

Lucius shook his head. "We're here to see you, Ede. The other stuff… Let’s not spoil a good mood," he said at last. "Family politics are not my strong point, and while my uncle has been helpful, it brings up more questions. Family, spies, claims… It's a lot."

He took another sip of his drink, and this one was much better than the first. "I also wanted to come by to talk rogue hunting, among other things. It's not fair to only know the priestess in her church. Just something we are overdue to fix."

Svari nods eagerly and downs the rest of her drink without much thought before adding “I fought more rogue than men before coming to Dwilight” to add to the subject of monster hunting. In truth, she had never had any interest in learning about the beasts other than how to kill them the quickest. Covered in scars made by undead and monsters, she had plenty of up-close experience but not much knowledge outside of what their guts look like. Emboldened by just one Beluaterran drink she remarks somewhat braggingly “I killed probably fifty-thousand undead in one season once...Well, not me. My armies of course!”

Edelyn may have been afraid of losing inhibitions but she would have something to learn about Lucius and Svari when it came to drinking. Already Svari was looking for the bottle and a refill.

Edelyn giggled to herself a bit, never being good at talking about herself. Years of being forced to focus on others tend to do that to a person. Edelyn's nervousness was breeding a level of awkwardness thick enough to be used as a training dummy.

"You must forgive me, Luc, old habits die hard, but your family was not the part I was referring to. Still, perhaps you are right." She spoke staking another sip from her drink.

After seeing Svari already looking for more, Edelyn got up and retrieved the bottle from her room, placing it on the table. "Have as much as you wish. Usually, I would be drinking as much as you, but I think it prudent that I take a bit slower."

"As for rogues," She spoke turning her attention back to both, "I am far more interested in monsters than undead. See necromancers raise the dead, neat, whatever. But what the Void Gods did to people to transform them into... those things. That’s utterly fascinating to me. How? Why?"

“Foederati.” The word sounds foreign on Lucy’s tongue, and even he seems surprised to speak it, but it was a word he grew up hearing. ‘Keep them away,’ he was told. ‘Cursed children,’ they were called. Those were the nice things people said, half a keg in and having the tab paid for them.

He took a long swig of his drink, coming close to catching up with Svari, leaving only another sip or two as he set the glass down. Old Gods and Daishi. His grandfather had words about both. “Ah,” he caught himself. “Humans with monster or animal traits. More akin to a separate species than man. I was told never to suffer to let one live. Not that I’ve ever seen any of them. Stories say they try to avoid most people, but they could just be legends.”

He looked between Ede and Svari and finished his drink, wondering if it was wrong to bring up. “The Zuma are daimons, and daimons invade Beluaterra… It could make sense,” he added.

The comment about not wanting to drink much is as confusing as the talk of foreign words and Zuma daimons. As Svari tops up her drink she reaches across to do the same for Lucius and sets the bottle back down between them. They are speaking on subjects she knows nothing about, but it is nice to see them finally getting along.

The scent of dinner is torturously good, but she stays silent listening to the conversation with intent, trying to glean some of this information the two of them seemed brimming with.

Edelyn finally finished her drink, looking to see if she should pour another or not, knowing it could go either very good or very badly. She was grateful as Lucius finished, he short speech as she could now decide that a bit later, if only moments.

"I do not know what those are Luc, but from the sounds of it the story just reinforces what the Tidemother teaches. The void gods, also known as the old gods, transform people into monsters and undead as the Tidemother cast them from their perch." It dawned on Edleyn that she was speaking of the church again, something they were actively trying to avoid. It was tough as it was such a major part of her life.

Eyeing the bottle, a bit more, if only to remove the anxiety, she sat there and continued, "Forgive me, friends. I don't mean to turn this back on the church. I have been interested in monsters since I was a wee girl, my father even had me fight them for practice from the time I was six. It was, in fact, the scriptures teachings on the monsters that lead me to investigate it in the first place. I know lots about their anatomy, and can tell you, some are strikingly similar to humans, and while others are quite different, if one looks enough one will find at least a basic structure there."

Lucius grinned. "The weird structures are so interesting though. The ogres, if you get one around here," he said, gesturing to where his liver lived, you can get the second heart they use to keep pumping blood through those big sacks. Or the weird venom veins in a madragan snow asp." He started chuckling. "My younger brother called them danger noodles," he laughed as he took a sip of his refilled drink and flashed a smile to Svari as a thank you. "When we were little," he added.

A strange thing for young brothers to talk and joke about, but even so it was nice to hear Lucius speak of pleasant memories from his time with his brothers. Listening carefully to the two, she has little to add in terms of information about monsters, but the mention of danger noodles makes her laugh out loud. “You two know so much” she compliments, though looks sheepish “Makes me think I should have been paying more attention while I was killing”

Another drink partly gone, she truly does love this drink only Edelyn provides her “Don’t be afraid to speak of anything you want Ede. I think we both want to know more about you.”

Svari's words emboldened Edelyn, but maybe not in the way she intended. Edelyn grabbed the bottle from the table and poured another drink, this was her home, and she would drink what she wanted inhibitions to be damned.

"Danger noodle," Edelyn giggled a little, "Such an odd thing, even for children, but there is a lot more. Did you know some of them have irritative blood? At least one I ran into while traveling through Swordfell as a child did. If you got any on you, it would burn and irritate your skin to the point of it being unusable for a time. Tidemother help you if you get it over a large portion of you."

Something Svari said did pique her interest, though, she decided it might not be the best time. "Dinner will get cold, perhaps we should eat before it does," Edelyn states while taking a bigger pull from her drink than had seen before. "I may take you up on that, eventually, Svari."

Lucius nodded as the conversation shifted toward dinner. “I could eat now,” he agreed. He smiled and took another sip of his drink. “I’ve never seen one of those snakes, Ede. Might be a bit of luck on my part from the sounds of it.” He looked to the other two waiting for them to start with the food.

The promise of food gets Svari on her feet to help. Like Edelyn she is no stranger to a kitchen and like Lucius she had a good appetite, so she felt right at home working beside Edelyn, helping however she needed to get things set how she liked. All the effort put into the little meeting is so endearing, and it becomes evident quickly that Edelyn can cook. After her second drink of that strong drink, she is already snooping to refill her glass again and reaches around Edelyn to refill hers as well while informing “I was a cook before a marshal” a bit sheepishly. Perhaps Edelyn might see her differently if she knew Svari wasn’t always the woman in charge type. “I took any job I could to get away from home, but nothing teaches you to cook faster than being in charge of feeding an army”

She goes on awhile about the one-hundred pound sacks of potatoes and pauses to be sure Lucius is still happy, and seeing him content she continues “Anyway my stuffed rabbit, apples cabbage, game and rabbit, got so famous someone even wrote a song about it, uhm two glasses of liquor was enough to get her singing a short tune “Rabbit snared that morn and stuffed by lunch, the cook may be young but she's snared a bunch. Cook up juicy, a little and lean, filled Red, orange, yellow and green." Svari breaks out into a laugh here "I was practically a kid I wish I could have seen myself back then, so proud."

As Svari reaches around her, Edelyn can feel a warm sensation start to travel through her body as it tenses slightly, but one not caused by the spirits. Relishing for but a moment, she moves to take another heavy drink in hopes to distract from the situation.

"That's wonderful, that you can cook, my friend." She says while looking back at Lucius, "I mean someone must keep that one fed lest he survive on hardtack and jerky from army rations."

Edelyn grabs hold of Svari's arm and drags her over to the cooking nook after placing her drink on the table and taking up the plates. Upon the plate she places a piece of fish that had been marinated in a vinegar and ale stock, then breaded and fried. Beside it, she places a bead of savory cabbage mixed with onion with asparagus and carrots laid over, and a few potatoballs stuffed with a bread-based stuffing. Over the fish goes a bit of gravy she had made from the original marinade and hands Svari the plate.

"Here, you can take this, make the other two plates and help me place the table. While you do I'll grab both the brandy and some wine." She says to Svari a bit more sheepishly than before and walks off to grab the things she said. Placing the wine and brandy in the middle, she also grabbed a plate of sliced oranges and hunks of bread to go beside them. "The oranges and bread are to share, the former to help break up the acidity and the latter to help soak the gravy once you are done if you wish."

Lucius knew enough to stay back and let Svari and Ede do the work. With Svari helping, and it being Ede’s kitchen, he was just going to get in the way. And Ede wasn’t far off about his survival skills in the kitchen. It was one of the few reasons he had servants around, even if they made a point to be out of the house once dinner cleanup was done.

When everything made it to the table, he got up to join the pair at the table. “Looks better than anything I will ever make.” Not that he would admit it was mostly anything left over a fire and didn’t burn. He was used to eating enough to not die, then whatever the ship served, then tavern food and military rations before getting regular home meals. Comments withheld, Svari joins the two of them at a table and very unceremoniously jabs the bit of fish on her plate, only agreeing after a little taste “Ah, you’ve got me beaten too”. Another sip from her drink, and she tried the potato next “mhm” she agreed with herself again. Her appetite is as large as she is, and she works hard enough to warrant it, there is nothing shy about it as she digs in- forgetting momentarily that she is supposed to be a guest.

“Who taught you to cook Ede?” She asks suddenly, realizing that a talent in cooking this fine is quite rare for a noblewoman. “My father insisted we all know practical and courtly skills…” obviously he missed the mark on one of those, as Svari’s glass was once again empty and her plate nearly demolished in a few short minutes. “Is it the same for you?” she sounds genuinely curious, finally looking to Lucius’ with raised eyebrows, wondering if he was curious too.

Edelyn sits at the table, lowering her head giving a small prayer of thanks to the Tidemother for bringing the rains and allowing the fish to be caught. Before she can finish, she can already hear the loud clanking coming from her left where Svari sat. The young blonde looks up and blinks as she sees half of Svari's plate is already gone before Edelyn could even start.

"Svari... I had forgotten about how voraciously you devour your meals, my amazon." The curious and confusing part of all this causing the last part to come out without thinking. However, Edelyn did like that she felt comfortable enough to be herself.

Slowly picking up her fork in the left hand, knife in the right, she placed the fork tines down while the knife was used to cut into the meat. Then she speared the fish with her fork, placed the knife down, moved the fork into her right hand, bringing the small morsel to her mouth. The process is repeated for the rest of the meal.

"To answer your question, I was taught many things by Korinna, my governess as a child, and Tyra, my foster mother once I was sent with her. Not all my schooling was about hunting, sneaking, and tricking people. Perhaps, if you two of you wish, I could have warm meals ready when you return from the war so that you aren't stuck eating the army rations while on refit?" The offer was genuine, though she was not sure how they might take it. It was clear they had very different dining rituals.

As Edelyn spoke Lucius would cast glances over to Svari, and her back at him. When their eyes finally met, it only confirmed one thing. Edelyn was far more cultured than either of them in a day to day setting. Even Lucius was several bites in before he realized Ede was praying, deftly turning his plate to reduce the evidence for a moment. While she ate delicately and with a practiced grace, Lucius was an ambidextrous eater with little need for the knife to ever touch down except to drink. It was a practiced miracle that he hadn’t choked on anything.

When Edelyn made her offer, Lucius had to pause for a moment. A return home usually meant some level of clean up, drinking, whatever cheese and bread were stocked in the pantry, and then however long it took them to get any other welcome home activities out of the way. In his mind he was weighing the options. “Maybe,” he said. Not committing. “The meal is delicious, don’t get me wrong. I just wouldn’t want to make you go through the effort and find out we were stuck off-boarding for another four hours and still need to return home, so we don’t smell like week old catch-of-the-day.” He cast another glance at Svari to see if she agreed, but she look unsure. “Though I don’t think we’d be opposed to a meal if you’re around once we’ve settled in, especially if I’m not immediately off to hold court in a faraway region,” he added as he finished half of his glass for the third time already, with Svari doing the refilling.

Though the meal was amazing, and the drink as delicious as it was effective, Lucius’ words gave Svari pause. She had spent a lot of time with the man and knew what he meant the instant he said it but a worry nagged at her the moment he finished speaking and she felt the need to interject. “Ede; Neither of us will ever pass up a meal I can assure you.” As she goes on, each of their glasses are topped up once again, finishing the bottle. “Lucius just hates to make promises he can’t keep...But you understand what it’s like when we land in Golden Farrow don’t you.”

With her glass full, Svari is already peeking around wondering about seconds. The fact that Edelyn was far more of a lady and that Lucius had made note of their lack of manners in comparison is lost on her for now.

Edelyn munches on her food while the two speak in defiance of her offer. After Svari's explanation, she concluded that they had the wrong impressions of her offer. Methodically, Edleyn picks at her food reforming how to express herself more clearly. After downing the brandy in her freshly repoured class, Edelyn reached for the wine she had brought from Mozyr, a semi-sweet Riesling white, popped the cork, and poured some into the wine glass sitting at her left.

"My friends, the two of you..." She paused to think through a bit more, the alcohol having a slight effect, "I do not mean to make a permanent arrangement. Svari, you have been the only one to stand from the get-go, without want or need in return. And you Luc have lately as well. Everyone else thinks of me as little more than an autonomous priestess or diplomat. I only wish to give back what I have been given, whenever that is convenient.

Noticing Svari peering about, Edelyn snatches her plate and refills it, and continues, "What I need you to understand is that I cannot fight with you. So, outside of religious services, this is the only thing I know to show I am here for you too."

Lucius couldn’t help it. Maybe it was the alcohol, or possibly how serious Edelyn was, but he started snickering until it broke out into a laugh. “You say it like you owe us something, Ede.” The feeling was contagious as he grinned wider. “We want you as our friend. Bribes of food and alcohol are appreciated, but not necessary.” He took another sip of his drink before shaking his head. “We know you’ve got our backs when we need you the most. That’s all that matters.”

Lucius looked back over to Svari. “Besides, I think you already do too much for both of us,” he added. He took another sip of his drink and found Edelyn’s eyes. “Don’t try too hard. You’ll always be important to us.”

Edelyn lets out a sigh and instinct fully reaches over to place a finger over Svari's mouth, thinking she might overthink this, "Shhh....." She says while downing the glass of wine with the other hand. Spying Lucius's empty plate across the table Edelyn raises from her seat, gaze locked with his, as she moves around the woman between them keeping a glare in his direction the whole way.

"Tell me Lucius, do you think that anytime someone is nice to you that it is bribing?" She speaks in a flat tone, one corner of her mouth curled in a slight grin, "Because you had the same reaction the last time I tried."

Slowly moving to his position, she gets close as if going for the plate but instead places one hand on his shoulder, the other on the table, bringing her face down to meet his ear.

"Just accept that not everything I do is a ploy. Sometimes it is genuine, or do I need to smack you around a bit be for you to believe that? We can spar again if you want." She says in a low tone with a slight giggle, taking the hand from the table to playfully smack him a bit. "Let me do something nice for the two of you and accept it." She continues as she grabs his plate and starts to refill it. Beside Svari is fanning herself with one hand, having enjoyed watching Edelyn get rough with Lucius slightly too much.

Lucius chuckled. “I recall you hitting much harder than that, Ede. I hope all of this wonderful cooking hasn’t dulled your skill at all,” he teased back, playing along with her challenge. “I’ll accept your kindness, just don’t make it sound like you owe us something.”

As she leaned over to set the plate back down, Lucius leaned toward her ear this time. “You give enough of yourself, and I believe you suggested that we were bound to be friends regardless,” he added, copying her previous actions.

For once Svari’s plate went neglected as she watched the exchange with wide-eyed interest. Edelyn being playful, and Lucius’ charming chuckles, she could watch this all night. Leaning back in her seat she just continues looking content as she sips her drink “He is right Ede, stop resisting it” she suggests with a wink, hoping to influence them to show her more of what they had developed over just a few letters.

The subject of she and Edelyn had been set aside for a long time for her eyes but she could see that where she could not see the idea had continued to bloom in a way better than she expected. A drunken daydream of having both is interrupted by remembering she has a second serving of fish and she digs in happily again. “I jest of course...but if there is anything you need from me, both of us, you only need to ask. I trust you know that.” she sounds confident. Edelyn took the bottle of wine and filled everyone's glass. Edelyn took the bottle of wine and filled everyone's glass. The woman had already decided that if she was going to drink more, so would they. No, they were not given a choice.

"We are already friends, Lucius. I do nice things for those I care about, so either adapt or get left behind." Her voice had a light jovial quality to it as if daring him to continue. Her eyes a glimmer of mischievousness that had not been seen since before she donned the vestments of the Tidespeaker. "Or, come over here and stop me..."

Her gaze grew a bit softer as she looked over to Svari once her piece was spoken. "As for you my friend, all I need is more presence and less thinking of me like some damsel in distress!" She teased the Amazonian woman beside her.

“She’s right. Ede has never been a damsel. More like a panther,” Lucius piped into the conversation. “Scary from the shadows. Looks like an innocent enough creature in the light, but has claws, sure enough. Nowhere near so innocent,” he laughed. “That’s why I’m not trying to stop her, and merely tell her she doesn’t have to.”

He started into his second helping, his drink in one hand, letting the conversation flow between the three of them. Taking in his surroundings, something amusing flashed in his eyes and vanished almost as quickly, and he left it buried for the moment.

“I’ve told you before Ede” Svari begins to argue “It is not that I do not find you to be capable, it is just my nature to take on the more challenging roles. Remember the letter I sent, my brothers.” She trails off, sipping her new cup of wine. “Besides, you’re a very important person whether you like it or not. Where would we be without you? The most valued friend of the Navarch, the most candid advisor the Autarch, the most beautiful maiden in the realm, the list stretches on and on, but the result is always the same. “ She places her glass back down on the table looking pleased with herself as she recalls Edelyn’s previous statement and prepares to spit it back “I will never stop protecting you because you are worth protecting so ...either adapt or get left behind…

Or come over here, though I can’t assure you even that will change things.”

Several moments pass as the woman's inebriation reaches higher levels. Edelyn sits there listening to Svari's scolding, in her head wondering why she is being so serious. Her mouth starts to slide into a wide smile eventually erupting into a burst of loud laughter.

"By the depths," she speaks through intermittent giggles, "You thought that was serious?! You need more drink." She continues as she grabs the bottle of wine and brings it over to Svari's wine glass, pouring generously as some sloshes out.

After the giggles stop, and her voice more stoic, Edelyn explains more as she returns, "My friend I would never actually ask you to stop protecting me just like I would never stop standing in your corner. We all have different skills, and while I can fight, I am sure you can fight much better than I. That is what we do, we help each other."

Edelyn ponders a few moments more while continuing to sip at her wine, "Though don't tempt me to come over there because I will."

“Ede, Svari’s poking fun at you too. Though, I will give her the most beautiful in the realm now. Scars and all,” he added with a smile to his future wife.

Raising a half empty glass, Lucius cleared his throat. “Instead of arguing over who the most graced friend is, let us just have a toast to a strong continuing one. Then we can laugh and drink some more, talk, and maybe we won’t have to roll home from eating so much when we’re done.”