Page 36 of Princesses & Pastries
"It is always a gift to host any of my sister's children," Mama says.
"May I present my wife, the Gravin Van Bergdal," he Graaf says, gesturing to the woman on his left. "And my sister, Gravin Johanna."
The two women curtsy in response to their introductions.
"Welcome to Falhven," my father responds. "It is wonderful to have you visit again, Gravin Johanna."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," she responds.
I study the woman, trying to remember when she came last and what I remember of her, but I draw a blank.
"She insulted dessert on the first night she was here last time, and you refused to talk to her after that," Veronica whispers to me.
"Oh. I don't remember that."
"I'm surprised, I'd have thought you'd remember every insult to pastry."
"I'm not infallible."
She lets out an amused laugh, getting an annoyed look from Mama in response. There are a few facial expressions I can easily recognise, but Mama's annoyance is definitely one of them.
"These are my children," Father says. "The Princess of Westmillard." He gestures to Kathryn, who dips into a curtsy.
"My Lord, My Ladies, welcome to Falhaven," she says in her perfect princess voice. I could never hold the position she does. I would mess it up the first time someone talked to me.
Father introduces the rest of us, and we greet the guests in turn. It takes up so much time that it's truly a wonder we get anything done. Everyone has to be introduced by the proper title and in the proper order. Me after Kathryn, then Veronica, then Arthur and his wife, Solana, and finally Ernest. My youngest brother is only eleven, and seems to hate these things even more than I do. I know he'd rather be playing with his toy soldiers.
And to make matters worse, now that the pleasantries are over, there's still more to do with the exchange of gifts. Delicacies from Wafeland, both food and other items. I wish I knew if any of them could be used for baking, but I don't know the exact items in the large chests they've brought, and even if I did, I wouldn't necessarily know what to do with any of it.
Luckily, Nate will. He's been a chef in Wafeland for half a year, so he'll be familiar with many of their ingredients and what to do with them.
It's a good thing he's here, even if the arrival of my cousins and the impending banquet in a few days means that our time together is going to come to an end. He'll leave to return to Wafeland with the rest of the Graaf's retinue.
A horrible feeling squeezes my heart in response to the thought, and it's all I can do to keep my face as neutral as possible and not let my emotions show, which is harder than it should be. I just don't understand why I suddenly feel like this. The way I feel about Nate hasn't changed, even if things have been a little different since he got back.
"Evie? Are you all right?" Veronica asks, a concerned expression on her face.
"I'm fine," I mumble.
"You look a little pale."
"I don't go outside much, I'm always pale."
"Don't be pedantic, you know what I meant," she responds.
"I'm fine," I mutter. But it's not true. I'm not fine. Because in a few days, Nate's going to leave. The worst part is that I've known it was going to happen since the moment I found out he was returning to Falhaven Castle, and yet it's going to break my heart even harder than the last time he left.
Chapter 16
The kitchen is busier than I expect it to be, though when I think about it, it makes sense. The chefs from Wafeland will be making food for the Graaf and Gravinen now that they've arrived, as well as all of the general banquet prep. I have to hope that doesn't mean that Nate isn't going to have the time to bake with me tonight.
I'm sure he'd have already sent me a message if that was the case. It's happened a few times over our friendship, it's not like he doesn't know where I live. But maybe I should also have made an effort to check myself. I'll make sure to do better in the future.
Ember is impatient to get to the oven, and is lifting her head off my shoulder so that she can look around at everything going on. If Nate thinks I'm impatient, then my dragon must be on another level.
"You're going to have to be careful," I tell my dragon as her claws dig into my shoulder a little harder than is strictly necessary.
She lets out a small screech, which hurts my ears.
