(no subject)

[thewidewideworld]

{From here}

Sinric leans Athelstan into their rooms. It's clear he hasn't slept there either. Even the mead cup sits on the table when he left it.

He draws Athelstan towards the bathroom. "Will you bathe with me?" His voice is soft and gentle. "Your clothes smell rather strongly of goat."

Comments

[athelstanthescribe]

He shrugs slightly.

"I'll share in whatever you choose."

[thewidewideworld]

He nods and slips out the door on bare feet, padding silently away to the bar.

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan lies back on the bed and waits.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric returns with a plate of the finest treats of the North - goat's milk cheeses, fresh water fish baked with herbs and bread still warm from the oven.

[athelstanthescribe]

He sits up as the smells reach him.

"You're quite determined to wake my appetite."

[thewidewideworld]

"I asked the bar what she thought you might like best." He smiles softly, pulling out last of all a tart made of summer berries, apple and crushed hazelnuts.

[athelstanthescribe]

"Sinric!" Athelstan stares at it. "She knows what she's doing."

[thewidewideworld]

"She is a wise and wonderful person." He brings everything over to the bed, making a picnic of it.

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan shifts, careful not to overturn any of the dishes.

"I haven't tasted some of those berries in years."

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric laughs softly, but honestly. "I don't think I've ever seen them cooked like this. Shall we try that first?"

[athelstanthescribe]

"Yes, let's", he agrees. "And then the bread while it's still warm."

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric offers him a spoon and steals a berry off the top of the tart between delicate fingertips. He pulls a face and laughs again. "Oh! So sweet, but tart too."

[athelstanthescribe]

"Perhaps it might be better mixed with the filling of the tart", he suggests. "What fruits and berries grow naturally in the East?"

[thewidewideworld]

"Dates, figs, pomegranates." He lists, thinking of his favourites. "Apricots, cherries. And grapes of course but they are better for wines. And olives. They are like the goats of plants; they grow where nothing else will."

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan smiles slightly.

"So that even the most unpromising land can be used to grow something."

[thewidewideworld]

"Even the driest of land will grow olives and eaten by birds, the seeds travel further still. Olive trees can be found in the most unlikely of places."

[athelstanthescribe]

"They grow with no human hand to tend them?"

[thewidewideworld]

"Wild and scraggly. Much like the goats that crop them." Sinric nods. "Wild olives are said to have a stronger flavour too but produce less fruit."

[athelstanthescribe]

"Cultivation does change plants", he agrees. "Have you tasted them for yourself?"

[thewidewideworld]

He nods. "Traders often bring them as part of their retinue, collected on the way. Sometimes olives are sold in the market as wild but only as they fetch a higher price. But a seller who is caught out in such a lie is open to ridicule from his fellows and may be drummed out of the market place."

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan nods back.

"As with any trader caught in fraud."

[thewidewideworld]

"In some cities he might be stoned and his goods given to the local magistrate but my lord prefers that justice be served by the man's peers."

[athelstanthescribe]

"And what do his peers do? Just send him into exile, or harm him?"

[thewidewideworld]

"The first time they might but scald or threaten him. For foolishness more than maliciousness. But a second time, they would beat him. If he did so a third, they would beat him badly before taking him to the magistrate or running him from the city. From what I hear from the cooks and kitchen hands, few are fool enough to try past the first beating and all know if it so they will have no trade with him."

[athelstanthescribe]

"No one should get away with committing the same crime more than once", he agrees. "Unless it be theft caused by starvation, and then they should be helped out of the need."