Essence Of The Heart (The Royal Tutor) (14 page)

 

          Alexander never seemed to hold animosity toward anyone. He
wished them all good luck, but she thought to herself that it was well for
them to feel awkward. When she told Alexander she had brought honey
candy for his friends, he had it spread equally through the camp from
General Lavison to the lowest private. The general even allowed the men to
all wave them on their way, saying, "Discipline, be hanged!"

 

          When they reached the contingency of Royal Guard and men from
Bernodia, a loud cheer erupted. Alexander seemed embarrassed by the
attention, and Louise decided to add to it. Now that she felt no need to hide
her feelings, she grabbed him and kissed him. Alexander blushed bright
red, and the men all cheered louder than ever. Alexander lowered his eyes
and grinned, and she could tell he liked it, even though he was shy about
this public display of affection.

 

          It took them until evening on the sixth day to arrive back at Denville.
The lookouts were watching for them, and they had no sooner come over
the ridge where they could see the castle than they could hear the heralding
trumpets and church bells announcing their approach.

 

          The castle was still far in the distance, and it seemed to Louise like
the last few miles took forever. When they arrived, the queen and Lady
Margaret were waiting. Louise jumped from Rusty's back and ran to her
mother and hugged her; then she hugged Lady Margaret. She ran back and
took Alexander by the hand to stand before her mother. He smiled and
bowed, and the queen threw her arms around him and hugged him.
"Welcome home, Alexander."

 

          There was much to plan for the wedding. They decided it would be
in just over three months - at Christmas time. The king and queen had
originally planned to stay only a few days, but with the six added days to get
Alexander, and another week to work out the wedding details, their stay was
quite extended.

 

          Louise wanted to have their wedding at Denville. The king was a
little disappointed in that, but consented, as long as they had another
celebration a month later at Winslow. With that, they made plans for
Alexander to spend the first month and a half with Louise at Winslow, and
then they would make the winter trek back to Denville a month and a half
before the wedding to finish up the details. Louise chose Denville for her
wedding, thinking that fewer highbrow people would come north in the
winter, and Alexander would enjoy a smaller, more informal wedding. She
talked her parents into inviting only closest family and friends and leaving
the rest for the celebration at the palace.

 

          Louise watched with pleasure as the friendship grew between her
father and Alexander. It started out slowly at first. Alexander was not sure
of himself or where he fit in. But once her father had made up his mind that
she could marry Alexander, he acted as though he had planned it all along.
Since the women spent lots of time planning the wedding, Alexander and
her father had time to get acquainted. One day, as the king, Duke Reginald,
and Alexander sat down to tea together, the women being too busy to join
them, she overheard the king joke to Alexander. "Doesn't it make you feel
like you are just an afterthought as far as the wedding goes?"

 

          It warmed her heart to see her father proudly introduce Alexander as
his future son-in-law. Alexander was always the gracious, kind person he
had always been, but he was not much for titles. As people tried to address
him as "Lord Alexander" he would kindly ask them to just call him
"Alexander." Louise was worried about her father's reaction to this, but it
didn't seem to bother him. Her father seemed to accept Alexander for what
he was. In fact he seemed to appreciate the man Alexander was. She was
grateful, because she was sure Alexander would never go for the title of
"Prince", which is what he would be forever once he married her.

 

          There were a few who still felt it was inappropriate for her to marry
him. Her Aunt Eldna and her cousin Tobias were among them. But most of
the kingdom loved Alexander and celebrated the marriage of their princess.
The people of Bernodia were more than ecstatic to see a native son marry
into the royal family, especially Alexander. They talked of how it might
raise the image of the north in the eyes of the rest of the kingdom.

 

          Very quickly, Christmas was arriving. She and Alexander had been
at Denville for more than a month by then. The king and queen were to
arrive just a few days before Christmas. They had all long ago dispensed
with bringing lots of items with them. The large supply wagons more than
doubled the time it took to get between Winslow and Denville.

 

          Louise thought the snow in the north was beautiful, but she told
Alexander she could do without the cold. He laughed, but agreed that they
would spend most of their winters at Winslow and most of the summers at
Denville.

 

          Alexander had other tricks up his sleeve for creating new food in
winter, too. He would make the honey candy, but instead of boiling it until
it thickened, he added almost twice the cream, along with some egg whites,
then he would beat it until it fluffed up, and, finally, he poured it on fresh
new snow.

 

          This made a candy dessert that was lighter and not quite as
overwhelmingly sweet. The first time he gave one to her, she bit into it, and
its coolness crumbled in her mouth like mist. He said as a little boy he liked
to eat snow, and that was how he ended up putting the two together. He
said the important part was finding good, clean snow. She could hardly
believe anything was better than honey candy, but she liked this even more.
He called it "snow candy." Sometimes he took a big cup of snow, mixing
honey with different kinds of things and pouring it on top, just to eat it that
way. She tried some, but her favorite topping was still just honey candy.

 

          One other thing he made that she really liked was what he called
"snow cream." He took lots of cream and put it in a tall wooden container.
He took dried fruits and boiled them. Then he mixed in some honey and
poured that in with the cream. He then stuck this in a tub of melting snow
and ice. Young servant boys would take turns stirring the creamy mixture.
When it got thick, he gave a bowl full to Louise. The creamy, sweet, cold
mixture just glided down her throat. She couldn't get enough of it and ate it
quickly until her head started to pound. Alexander laughed and told her a
person had to eat it slowly.

 

          Louise wanted her parents to try snow candy and snow cream and
she wanted some for her wedding, but she knew the supply of honey was
running low. She felt partially responsible for that, having given so much to
the army when she went to get Alexander. Alexander told her not to worry
about it. There would be plenty. He told her the biggest fear would be
whether the cream would hold out. Cream was saved for weeks ahead of
Christmas and stored in the freezing temperatures of the ice house.

 

          The cook made up the last of the honey in the castle into snow candy
the week before Christmas and stored them on trays in the ice house too.
Louise was sure it wouldn't last until December thirtieth, the wedding day,
let alone until her parents could try some.

 

          But then came a tradition that was unique to the Bernodians. People
from all over the country started bringing gifts of honey, hams, vegetables,
and many other things to Denville. Mostly, though, they brought honey,
because it was so plentiful in the mountains of Bernodia. Each giver was
then the recipient of snow candy for each member of their family. Louise
saw the honey barrels starting to fill, even as the cook busily made more
snow candy.

 

          Louise could see what Alexander meant as she saw the cream supply
dwindling fast. He sent servants to buy any cream that was available at the
villages near and far. They barely made it through the week, with very little
snow candy to spare, and immediately started saving all of the cream to
make more for the wedding.

 

          Her parents came that week, and Louise was as happy as she had
ever been in her life. Her parents were there, and she loved them more than
ever. Alexander was there and, in less than a week, he would be her
husband. Lady Margaret and Duke Reginald were there, and they already
seemed like a mother and a father to her.

 

          Louise decided to hold off giving her parents any snow candy until
Christmas Eve. She decided it could be Alexander's Christmas gift to them.
On Christmas Eve, as was tradition at Denville, they had a big feast that
included every servant of the castle. They had it in the great hall, and lots of
tables and chairs were brought in. It was a grand feast, with every
imaginable kind of meat, cheese, bread, cake, vegetables, and dried fruit.

 

          This was unusual for Louise. She couldn't ever remember sitting
down to a feast at the same table as the servants. Of course, as she thought
about it, only about nine or ten months earlier she hadn't ever sat at the
same table as people who were not of nobility.

 

          She watched her father carefully to see how he would react. He
didn't seem bothered by it in the least. She could remember his first
reaction to shaking hands with the people in the mountain village, and she
knew her father had changed a lot, too.

 

          The hall went quiet as the king and queen each had snow candy and
a bowl of snow cream set in front of them. Louise thought about how in the
palace there were delicacies reserved only for nobility. But Alexander and
his parents had no such things. If Alexander liked it, he wanted everyone to
try it. There wasn't a servant at the palace that hadn't tried both snow candy
and snow cream.

 

          Everyone watched carefully as the king and queen took their first
bite of snow candy. The king smiled and licked his lips. "My, that is good.
That is better than honey candy. What is it?"

 

          Louise grinned. "It's snow candy."

 

          The king laughed. "Don't tell me. Let me guess. Alexander made
it."

 

          Louise nodded. The king grinned at Alexander. "I think sometimes
you missed your calling in life, my boy." As the whole hall burst into
laughter, the king smiled. "Of course, Alexander, I don't think being born
of nobility has stopped you from branching out and doing whatever you
want."

 

          Alexander and Louise both knew the king meant only good in what
he said. The king was enjoying the attention, even if it was by the servants
of Denville. Louise was seeing a side of her father she didn't even know
existed. For that matter, she wasn't even sure her father knew. As the king
joked and everyone laughed some more, the excitement was building in
Louise until she was about to burst. "Father, try the other one. Alexander
calls it 'snow cream'."

 

          Both the king and queen took a bite of the snow cream at the same
time. They looked at each other and the wonderment in their faces told the
whole story. The king smacked his lips. "My heavens, that is good. What
did you say it was called?"

 

          Louise beamed. "It is called 'snow cream', Father. But don't eat it
too fast or it makes your head hurt."

 

          Many in the hall laughed at this, and Louise, who hadn't meant to
make a joke, realized that there must have been many others that had eaten
theirs fast, too. The king turned to Alexander. "You will have to teach the
cooks at Winslow to make it."

 

          Alexander smiled. "There is one big problem, Your Majesty. It
requires snow."

 

          The king grinned. "I'll just make a decree that it snows at least once
a week in Winslow." Everyone laughed again. The king reveled in being at
the center of attention, and Louise marveled at how funny he truly could be.

 

          The wedding day finally came. She kissed Alexander good luck at
breakfast. He smiled at her. "I've got a surprise for you later." She wanted
to know what it was, but he said that if he told her, it wouldn't be a surprise.

 

          She hurried to her quarters to get ready. The queen came to help
direct Elizabeth and Marina. Everything had to be just right. Her hair was
done up, and her dress was beautiful. The royal tailors and seamstresses
had been sewing for months. When she was finally ready, she gazed in the
mirror. She had never felt so pretty.

 

          Elizabeth and Marina helped her carry her train to the great hall.
There stood her father. He looked at her and smiled. "You are beautiful,
Louise."

 

          "Thank you, Father."

 

          "By the way," he said, "Alexander asked me to tell you to notice the
girls in the procession."

 

          That really piqued Louise's curiosity. What was this surprise
Alexander had up his sleeve? Finally, Lady Margaret led in the flower girls
and the girls that would hold Louise's train. There in the lead was Nell.
She was so beautiful with her blonde hair curled around her face. She was
dressed in white, wearing a wreath of dried flowers in her hair. All of the
little girls were from the mountain village. Louise knew the trail to the
mountain village would be difficult to traverse this time of year, and she
wondered what Alexander had to do to get them there.

 

          Louise knelt down by Nell. "Nell, you are so beautiful. I am so glad
you could be here."

 

          Nell smiled at her. "Thank you, Your Highness."

 

          Louise was shocked. She looked at her father, but he just shrugged.
"Alexander said, according to her grandmother, when he sent word that he
wanted Nell and the other little girls to be part of the wedding, she got so
excited that she started talking again."