I shrug. "Same as I do with you here. I'll wait until things are ready. Or I'll eat something like these." I lift the bowl with the apricot halves and offer it to him.
He picks up one and bites into it, his eyes widening. "It's good."
I pick up the other half and bite into it. "Oh, it is," I respond. "Which I should know, I ate the ones from this batch. I even had one fresh off the tree when the gardener was telling me about them. She said that..." I trail off, realising that he probably doesn't want to hear about this. Veronica says that not everyone wants to hear everything I think.
"I know you want to tell me," he teases.
"Do you really want to know about the history of apricots, or are you humouring me?" I ask.
"I'm really interested." He leans back against the table. "So?"
"Well, the gardener didn't know everything, and the history books are strangely quiet about the history of apricots specifically," I say.
"Maybe you need some new history books. Are they better on other stone fruits?"
"Hardly. No one seems to want to document much about the history of ingredients, which I feel is a failing of the scholars."
Nate laughs. "I suspect you're right. So what did the gardener say?"
"She thought that they were first cultivated in Shengda, but I haven't asked anyone about that. We're supposed to be getting a new Shengdanese ambassador soon, and Veronica says that his daughter likes cooking, she might know."
"Maybe you can ask her when she arrives," he responds.
"We shall see. You know as well as I do that I'm not particularly good at making friends."
"We're friends," he points out. "You did a pretty good job there."
"Mmhmm." The words lance through me, despite the fact he's telling the truth and I know it's not a bad thing. "They first came to our continent through Karvellos, and it took over a thousand years for them to arrive in Falhaven. They were brought here by a gardener to Arthur II."
"And how many great-grandfathers is that?" Nate asks.
I frown. "None. I'm not related to the gardener."
"I meant to Arthur II."
"Oh." I think back through all of the times I've been expected to memorise my family tree. "I think he's something like a great-great-great-great-great uncle on my father's side." I count the greats as I say it, but I'm not sure if I manage.
"Ah, so not a direct ancestor."
"No, the throne passed to his sister when he died," I respond. "So there you have it, that's why we have apricots in Falhaven. I'm sorry, that wasn't a very interesting story."
"It was," he assures me. "When I was studying in Gaullesse, one of the chefs responsible for teaching me always emphasised the need to understand where our ingredients came from. I tried to find out more about apricots while I was in Wafeland, especially because they're used in the slagroomtaart, but I couldn't find much."
"What was it like?" I ask hesitantly. I don't want him to think about his time in other kingdoms and think that it's better than here. "Going for your apprenticeship, I mean."
"Complicated," he admits. He leans against the table. "I liked being able to learn all of the techniques I'd only been able to read about before, even with your influence."
"There are a lot of things we've never tried," I agree. "So why was it complicated?"
"There were a few things. I missed this, for a start."
"Baking with me?"
He meets my gaze, an intensity there that I don't expect. "Being with you."
I reach out and touch his arm. "I missed you too."
His smile lights up his whole face, but then it grows serious again. "I also didn't like that I didn't get a chance to experiment very much."
