He’s still growing used to such things. Animals are not farmed in Lostariel as they are in Nunia. Their milks and creams are all plant-based back home.
It doesn’t taste the same.
King Gerault lifts his mug to his lips without adding anything. Perhaps Cerian should try it like that.
He reaches for his own coffee and takes a small sip as Arisanna watches.
It tastes as bitter as it smells.
Without speaking, he returns it to the table and looks down at it.
“Here. Try it like this.” Arisanna offers him her cup, and he only hesitates for a moment. Other than the flaming sweet bread, they’ve never shared food or drink, though Viala often shoves her fork toward Tharios with things for him to try, and he usually humors her.
There’s no reason Cerian can’t do the same.
He takes the offered cup and sips from it. Whistling wind, that’s sweet. How much sugar did she add?
“Elowyn would like your version of coffee,” Cerian says as he hands it back.
Arisanna laughs. “Too sweet?”
“A bit.”
“Arisanna always adds excessive lumps of sugar to her coffee,” Queen Yalisa says with an affectionate laugh.
King Gerault smiles as he takes another sip of his bitter liquid. “I’m not convinced she likes the coffee part at all.”
“I do. I just prefer it drowned in cream with plenty of sugar.”
“I didn’t realize you were so fond of sweets.” Cerian finds her hand under the table again. She let go to fix her coffee earlier.
She shrugs. “It depends on the sweets.”
“Perhaps try it with one lump of sugar,” Queen Yalisa suggests, and Cerian takes a slow breath before nodding.
It wouldn’t hurt to try. He adds a small spoonful of the white granules to his mug and stirs it well, attempting not to dwell on the fact that everyone is watching him.
“Better?” Arisanna asks after Cerian takes a sip and then another.
“It’s drinkable now. Thank you.”
Their food is soon delivered, and Cerian does his best to eat, though his stomach is still knotted.
Arisanna eats her meal without complaint. It seems unlikely that she would have chosen that for herself, and his heart warms as he watches her from the corner of his eye. She looks happy, even as she converses with her mother.
They all look happy.
Images of sharing this meal with Rominy and Elowyn flit through his head. It’s a pleasant thought in a surprising way.
Suddenly, the idea of visiting Nunia with Arisanna in the future feels a little less overwhelming. A little more bearable. Especially if being with her family makes hersmile the way she does now as her father teases her about her sugary coffee again.
Cerian downs a bite of a biscuit and follows it with a sip of his coffee.
He’ll bring her to Nunia as often as she wants, even if it terrifies him.
And as soon as he can, he’ll learn to read Nunian.
“DoesthatmeanI’vewon?” Elowyn asks as she looks at the game board in front of them.
