Chapter 183 - 181:Whispers Of The Night Before.

Chapter 183: Chapter 181:Whispers Of The Night Before.

With the tournament now over, there’s a lot that needs doing –what with all their guests from far off kingdoms starting to depart for their respective lands –so he decides to make the most of some rare free time while he can. There will be much food to prepare as the king hosts the most important of them in farewell, not to mention countless rooms to clean and freshen, and horses and carriages to pack and make ready.

​It is going to be quite exhausting, so Binny decides to treat himself to an early breakfast.

​When he arrives, the kitchens are already quite lively. The stoves and hearths are already warm, and there are many hands hard at work. They’re not meant to, but they make breakfasts for themselves and their peers before they start on breakfast for the rest of the castle. At this hour, who’s to know? They’re servants, too; they know what work there is to do and how much, and that it’s much easier to stomach with a full belly. All Binny’s life, it’s never anything fancy or even particularly tasty, for that matter, because the fanciest and tastiest of the ingredients are reserved for those in stations higher than themselves, but it’s usually hot –especially at this time of year –and fresh, and perfectly, adequately fine. Typically on the bland side, but not inedible by any means. Just...generally pretty uninspiring.

​Out of necessity, the kitchens are always busy, but this morning they work with a level of vigor that’s not typical of this time of day, or this time of year. Or at all, really.

​(The kitchens often become quite a dreary part of the castle at this time of year –the hearths don’t always burn through the night, and the constant dark, miserably cold mornings are enough to dim the spirits of even the most dedicated of servants.)

​More recently, though, breakfast has taken a definite turn for the better. It’s probably why there are so many of them up so early and why there are so many eager hands pitching in to make sure everyone gets their share. Khobi’s shown them some secrets, see –fancy spices were hard to come by in the mountains of Scargga, he said, so the cooks there had gotten good at making simple foods taste good without any expensive foreign luxuries.

​To say his food tasted ’good’ was massively underselling it, and in his late night visits to the kitchen, the servants make sure to gather around to take notes. No matter how busy they are, there’s always a cluster watching him work. The boldest even offer to help, quizzing him over his methods and his choice of ingredients. For a soldier, he’s got quite the palate, and always seems to know what will make something taste better. It helps that most of the ingredients he uses are common and inexpensive, so when those servants take their lessons and incorporate them into the food they prepare for one another, they’re not breaking any rules. As long as it’s all gone before the castle wakes, lest servants be caught enjoying themselves more than those more important than them.

...

This morning breakfast is hearty and hot and rich with winter vegetables and cheap sausage and gravy.

It’s a crowd favourite; the crotchety old cook whose invention it was had spent several nights secretly perfecting it and is exceptionally proud of it.

He claims Khobi had nothing to do with it, but the old geezer’s been cooking the same, boring three dishes all Binny’s life, so even if Khobi had no hand in the recipe, there’s no doubt that his dedication in the kitchen has played some part.

It’s especially welcome with the heavy rain striking up outside, and Binny takes up a bowl and joins a table to share them in a moment of respite before they all plunge into the storm.

​The kitchens have always been a hub of information.

Here, before the castle stirs, is where they exchange most of their tidbits of information in whispers, drowned out by the beating of knives and the clattering of pans.

What private letters had been sent where, which nobles had spent gold they didn’t have, and who stole away into the night with who.

But where it used to be a subdued part of the day, now they relish it. To take pleasure in something a little special for themselves.

​Lunch, and dinner, (where they have time for them), are still that same perfectly adequate fine.

​But breakfast is theirs to enjoy.

​This morning they commiserate the weather, and all the tribulations it will bring. The mud. The cold.

Carting luggage to and from carriages and getting scolded if anything gets wet. Nobles don’t always seem to understand that that sometimes happens when it rains.

​They catch up on which nobles are in the foulest moods, and which ladies are secretly with child, and trade general slivers of gossip from the night.

​(The young lord Gandy didn’t come home last night.)

​(The handsome young lord Ynoro did, and alone, again.)

​Some of it’s not that interesting. Then again, some of it is.

A number of servants had been down on the plains the night before, in amongst the stalls and the tents and the fires.

They’d seen what men and women hoped they wouldn’t, and they would remember, as much as the men themselves tried to forget.

​They’d seen who got too drunk, who got too angry, who made fools of themselves and who couldn’t hold their liquor.

They’d seen who propositioned who, and who’d wanted to, and what challenges had been thrown down.

​The rumour pertaining to one challenge in particular piques Binny’s interest, as if it’s true, explains the largest mystery of his morning.

There’s also a second, different rumour that tells of some kind of commotion down at the training grounds.

​Binny has the distinct feeling that the two are directly correlated.

​It’s a good thing he was looking at heading that way anyways.

But until then, while he can, he makes the most of a hot meal and some time off his feet, and joins them all in their little whispers.