Dinner with a friend

Mary felt like she was floating on clouds the next day. She and Bettina was working in the garden and Kopa was sitting in a sunny spot reading.

After they had lunch, Bettina and Mary started cooking for the dinner. Mary was making dill stewed mutton, a recipe from Domne. The meat had been cooking since early in the morning and it was now time to make the stew and cut the meat into smaller pieces to add to it.

Working in the kitchen always made time go by and soon Mary was getting her cloak and heading out to meet up with Firlea.

“I’m going now, we will be back soon” she shouted as she headed for the door.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Kopa asked.

“No, we will manage” Mary smiled at him.

She walked in a hurry towards the river field. She was both excited and a bit nervous. She had decided that she needed to talk to Firlea about somethings as they were walking home. Firlea hadn’t arrived at the river field yet. Mary stood in the spot where they usually met and waited, looking at the other people that was out.

Firlea soon came walking and waved at Mary. They greeted each other and Mary started showing Firlea the way.

“There are somethings I think you need to know before we get home” Mary said to her friend.

“Okay, such as?”

“First of, I’m adopted. My parents are both from here, but I’m from Domne as you know” Mary started, looking at her friend.

“That is so cool” Firlea said, looking at Mary. “How did you meet?”

“My dad travelled to Dermes, that’s the capital in Domne, and he found me”

“Oh, that’s so sweet. So he brought you back with him?” Firlea asked.

“Yes” Mary smiled.

“What are the odds?” Firlea stated. “Well, I’m happy he did”

“So am I” Mary agreed. “Do you know who sir Terran is?” she then asked. Firlea giggled.

“Of course, everyone knows who he is. I figured you were related somehow. Is your father his cousin or something? Wait is he coming to dinner as well?” Firlea asked, sounded excited at the prospect.

“That was quite a lot of questions, let me see. Yes, we are related, no they are not cousins and yes he will be there for dinner. He is my dad” Mary told her.

Firlea stopped and stared at Mary.

“What?” Mary asked.

“Your dad is sir Terran, the sir Terran, the Lady’s bodyguard, the head of the Lady’s own guard?” Firlea asked.

“Yes, that’s the one” Mary smiled.

“You are kidding me” Firlea almost shouted, then she seemed to realise something. “Have you met the Lady?” she asked.

“Yes, I know her” Mary nodded.

“Of course you do, I mean like, you say it as it’s the most natural thing in the world” Firlea said.

Mary grabbed her by the hand to make her move forward. When they were walking again Mary turned towards her.

“It’s not that strange to me. She is an amazing person and I’m grateful she is in my life.”

“Why haven’t you told anyone? I mean the way Limia has been going on I would have said something just to knock her down a couple of pegs” Firlea asked, and Mary shrugged.

“At first, I didn’t want anyone to know in case I did really badly. Then I didn’t want anyone to know because the things Limia was saying. I don’t want anyone to think I’m given an easy route” Mary told her.

“I guess I can understand that. But like, I’m going to meet sir Terran? Like today?”

“Like in two minutes” Mary laughed and pointed to her home.

“Oh goddess! It’s adorable” Firlea squealed.

“Do you need a minute to collect yourself?” Mary laughed as she looked at her friend.

Her friend shook her head and Mary could hear her mumble ‘breathe, breath’ as they walked through the gate and up the path. Mary opened the door and showed Firlea inside.

“We’re back” Mary announced, and Kopa and Bettina came walking into the living room.

“Firlea, this is my father, Kopa Teeran, and my mother Bettina. Mother, father, this is my friend Firlea” Mary introduced them.

“Sir Teeran, Mrs Teeran, nice to meet you. Thank you for inviting me” Firlea said and curtsied to Mary’s parents. Mary was stunned, it reminded her of her own first-time meeting Zerden’s parents.

“It is a pleasure to have you here Firlea, Mary has told us so many things about you. There is no need to be so formal. Please call us by our first names” Bettina said, sending Firlea one of her warm smiles. Kopa nodded in agreement and Mary smiled at his typical response.

“Let’s go into the kitchen, the dinner is ready” Bettina said, and they all went into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

At first Mary saw that Firlea had a hard time relaxing, and she was self-conscious, but as they continued to eat and talk, she relaxed and became her usual happy, talkative self. Mary was happy as she wanted her friend to feel at home.

Bettina was, as usual, a big help. In her warm and kind way, she asked Firlea about her family and her home, how the week had been and about her stay in the city. Kopa was quieter than he usually was at dinner, but then he always was around people he didn’t consider his friends. Mary didn’t mind, it was who he was.

After eating, Firlea offered to help wash up, but Bettina and Kopa sent the friends out into the living room as they took care of the dishes.

Mary took out the kai board and started teaching Firlea to play. Firlea understood the game quickly but had a hard time finding good strategies. But the two talked and laughed as they were playing, and Mary had fun. She never had a friend like this since she was a child and it felt nice.

Eventually Bettina came walking in, she pointed out that it was already dark outside and Firlea got startled, the time had gone by so fast she didn’t consider how late it was.

“Kopa and Mary will walk you home” Bettina smiled.

“Oh I couldn’t ask them to do that” Firlea said.

“It’s no problem Firlea, we are happy to do it” Mary said, fetching bot hers and her friend’s cloak.

Kopa joined them and together they started walking. Firlea told Kopa where her relatives lived, and he guided their way as the two friends kept talking and laughing. As they got to where Firlea lived, she turned toward Mary.

“Thank you for inviting me. I have had so much fun” she said.

“Me too, thank you for coming. I’ll se you on Monday?” Mary smiled.

“Same spot as usual” Firlea nodded. “Good night, sir Teeran” she said to Kopa.

“Good night, Firlea, it was nice meeting you” Kopa said.

Kopa and Mary watched as Firlea walked the last couple of steps to the front door and then turned around and start walking home. Mary realised that she hadn’t been out in a city after dark for a very long time. She had forgotten how different it was from walking in daylight.

“She seemed nice” Kopa said.

“She is, I’m happy I met her” Mary nodded.

“You looked happy tonight little one, that makes me happy” he said, giving her a smile.

“I have never brought a friend home like this before, well when I was little my friends from the neighbourhood would come to my house. But we more or less ran in and out of each other’s houses constantly. It wasn’t the same thing” Mary said.

“You can always invite your friends over, you don’t have to ask first. Just let Bettina know so she can plan dinner accordingly ” Kopa said.

“Thanks dad, I will. It felt nice having her over”

Kopa smiled down at her, placing his hand on her shoulder as he did sometimes when they were out walking.

“I like having you call me your father, I didn’t expect it to mean so much to me” he confessed.

“I know what you mean” she nodded. They silently walked the rest of the way home. Like always, the silence between the two of them felt like a warm blanket to Mary. It was filled with love and acceptance.