25. The Meal Of The Century

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"Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, breakfast is ready in an hour!" Yelled Butler whatever, pounding on the door.

I buried my face deeper into my pillow and groaned. I tried to fall back asleep, but a loud, obnoxious yawn prevented me from doing just that.

"Morning, sunshine," a sleepy Christopher said, getting up. From the corner of my eye, I watched him stretch.

I groaned a 'leave me alone,' but of course, that didn't work. The pirate laughed.

"No can do, darling. You heard him. Breakfast is in an hour. We need to get dressed."

I rolled over to my side, where I could see him. "Well, you go, I'll stay here, alright? Problem solved," and I rolled right back on my stomach.

He sighed. "I need a wife to accompany downstairs. It's not proper to leave you here." I groaned.

Bloody hell.

"Fine, but when Katherine comes around, I'm leaving your ass to fend for itself," I said. I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

"I count on that," he said between another loud yawn. "Now, why don't we get dressed, eh?"

"But we have no-"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Your chest of clothes, sir," called a butler.

Christopher looked at the door. "Well, does that answer your question, darling?"

I got up and walked to the door, opening it up to see a big chest sitting right outside the door.

"Yes," I said, staring at it, "yes, it does.

"Great, now pull it inside, would ye?"

As I was grabbing the handle to the chest, I looked back at him with a smile. "Careful, Captain, your image is slipping."

He chuckled. "So is your perfect lady image. You do know that it's me who pulls it in and not my fragile wife, correct?"

Instantly, I dropped the chest, making it hit the floor with a loud bang. Whoops.

"And keep quiet, will you? Ladies don't make this much noise. Well, not when in the morning anyway. I can't say the same for nighttime," he smirked.

I rolled my eyes and walked backed back into the room. "So, are you going to make a dirty joke or get the chest, pirate?"

He happily walked out into the corridor and reached down, picking up the chest. "Oh, and your form was wrong, by the way. I just thought I should let you know," he winked.

I sighed, knowing that this day was going to be a long one.

***

It took us the whole hour to get ready, and half of it was putting on the dress. Luckily, some ladies came in to help me with it. That was, after the forty-fourth time, I tried to tie the corset up myself. But it was my impatient fake husband that called them to help after watching me struggle.

I was going to call him out for it, but I let it go. My arms hurt too much to argue.

The ladies helped me do some other things too, like helping with my hair, although there wasn't much they could do, seeing as my hair was in an awkward bird's nest and all they could do was brush it out and put it in an updo.

Then, after everything was right and dandy, we hit the road to breakfast, where I hoped I would have another of the best meals of my life.

"What are you smiling about?" Christopher asked, looking at me sideways. Realizing my lips were curving, I tried to hide it. I didn't want the madman to know I was happy, but Christopher being Christopher, that didn't work so well.

"Come on," he encouraged.

"It's nothing," I said. "Nothing at all."

"Don't tell me," he said playfully. "Could it be because in a few seconds you get to play my dear loving wife again? If that's the case, you should be smiling; I am very lovable, aren't I? I mean, you of all people should know, you did say yes to become my wife."

"Proposing in my bedroom isn't exactly what I had in mind, especially when I know this marriage is strictly for your dirty work."

He smiled, his white teeth shining. "Funny, I could have sworn that I saw you smile."

I blocked him out for a moment, thinking of all the delicious food I was about to eat. All the incredible, rich flavors going to enter my mouth soon made my mouth water. I almost wanted to run ahead, but upon entering the dining room, I felt Christopher's hot breath on my ear,

"You have been ignoring me," he whispered, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, but I kept my composer and turned to him with a brave face.

"That I have. What's your point?"

He chuckled. "Well, it's just that I said something that could have come to great use for you, but since you didn't listen, I guess it doesn't matter."

I grabbed his sleeve, but right at that moment, we stumbled into the dining room.

"Christopher, Anne, come sit!" Lord Wheat called from the end of the table across the room.

To my luck, there were only a few guests seated and not the whole parade from last night. But to me and Christopher's disappointment, Katherine was of those who were sitting.

She waved Christopher over with an excited hand in the air. Her mother glanced in her direction and shook her head back and forth, signaling that it wasn't ladylike. But as you guessed, the young, determined girl didn't care.

"Good morning," Christopher said, dragging me along toward the table. He pulled out a chair for me next to Katherine. Then he went around the table for his seat next to the Lady. I had a feeling that Katherine planned the seating, but that was alright. I wasn't afraid of a girl with a crush.

"Sir, would you like us to serve?" A butler asked, coming up to Lord Wheat.

"Yes, that would be lovely. Serve away," the Lord said, then turned to me.

"This is one of my favorite dishes. I always serve it the first morning of a grand event."

I got excited. A meal to enjoy! Dinner could have been great if I knew it wouldn't end with a story, so I was praying that breakfast would be better.

I pictured sizzling bacon that dripped gold or scrambled eggs that came from some mystical bird, but when a butler came around and put a bowl of porridge in front of me, I nearly cried.

This slop couldn't be my meal. It all had to be a joke, right? This man couldn't possibly like this, the meal that I grew up eating every morning. No, no, no.

"When I was a lad, Mother made me eat this every morning," the Lord told me. "She said that I should get everything a growing boy needs from this."

Funny, that was what my mother said to me. I guess our parents aren't all that different. Either that or our mothers were lying about our finances.

I looked down at my so-called breakfast and frowned. I didn't want this. How could I when I woke up to this every day of my life for over nineteen years? And I mean every single day - every one of them.

But Christopher had no problem, and neither did Katherine, nor her mother. It was just me. It was always me. But I tasted it anyway, ignoring the bland flavor that I've gotten used too.

I swallowed while everyone watched to see if I enjoyed it. I gave a weak smile and nodded.

"Do you enjoy it, darling?" He said, reading past my smile. He knew. He knew because this was what he fed me every morning, he kept me trapped in my room.

No, you bloody pirate. I didn't. I would rather die than eat the very thing you forced me to eat every morning.

"Yes, very much," I said with a smile.

The Lord let out a loud chuckle. "Very good, very good her said and then cleared his throat. "So, I hear that you'll be showing Anne the park today, Captain."

"Yes, my Lord. Anne and I enjoy our long walks, and I thought Anne would like to see how beautiful it is around here at this time of year, isn't that right, darling?" Christopher asked me.

I smiled. "Yes, I've been looking forward to it for a long time now since my husband has been telling me how enchanting the environment is. I just had to see for myself."

Lady Wheat smiled and gently reached for my hand. "You'll enjoy it, my dear. When Katherine was a girl, I used to take her every day. But now she has lost interest, and I am just left with my husband to take me, but it's not proper to leave our guests. I do apologize."

"Of course," Christopher said with a heartwarming grin. "Maybe next time we come?"

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