"Would milady like her repast now?" one of the servants asked, bowing, as Eddin and Vania walked into the dining room.

Vania blinked, freezing in place. "Um." She glanced up at Eddin; he bit back his laugh and nodded at her. She looked at the servant, still bowed. "Yes. Please. Um. What's your name, again?"

The servant stood back upright. "G'har, milady. But you needn't worry about that. T'venst will have your breakfast ready shortly. While you wait, may I serve you tea? Juice? Something else?" G'har glanced over to Eddin. "Perhaps some tevvin, milord?"

Eddin frowned. "No, thank you, G'har. I'll have the same thing Vania has."

"Very well." He looked to Vania again. "Milady?"

"Um. Juice will be fine. Thank you." As the servant turned, Vania hastily added, "And, please, stop with the "milady." My name is Vania."

G'har disappeared through the back door of the dining room without a word.

She looked up at Eddin. "How long will it be before they realize I'm not a lady at all?"

Eddin chuckled. "Never. You're the lady of the household."

Vania scoffed.

Eddin pulled out a chair at the small table by the fireplace. "Shall we sit here today? I don't think the large table is needed when it's just the two of us."

Vania eyed the long table taking up most of the room, then at the small oval table where Eddin stood. She walked over to him and sat in the offered chair. "I think you're right." As she settled into the chair and Eddin walked around the table to take his own seat, she added, "Thank you."

G'har whisked in, a silver tray bearing three pitchers and two glasses in his hands. As he set the tray down and placed a glass before each of them, he said, "Today, we have pana, apple, and grape juices." He indicated each pitcher in turn. "What can I pour for each of you?"

"I'll take it from here, G'har, thank you," Eddin replied, waving a hand at him. "I will pour for both of us."

"Very well, milord." He bowed to Vania. "Milady." As he turned, he added, "I shall be in the kitchen, assisting T'venst. If you have need of anything, please let me know."

Vania frowned at the servant's back, then turned to regard Eddin. "That will get old fast. If I'm truly the lady of the house, why won't he do as I asked and call me Vania?"

"Improper," Eddin replied easily. He gestured to two of the pitchers, "Apple or grape?" He nudged the third pitcher apart from the others.

"I can pour it myself," Vania replied. "Thank you." She picked up the pitcher of grape juice and poured herself a glass. She glanced at the third pitcher and saw him frown. "What the hell is pana juice? Something from A'mardis?"

Eddin frowned deeply as he poured himself some grape juice. "I don't know if it's originally from A'mardis, but it has become the traditional morning beverage served to newly wed a'marlon women, to encourage fertility and replenish energy."

Vania dropped her head into one hand as she blushed, mumbling, "Oh."

He sighed. "Similar to the tevvin he offered me, though tevvin is served warm and is given to newly wed a'marlon men, to help keep their energy up and increase their libido."

"How long do they plan on trying to serve us that?"

"Oh, only about a week or so. And then whenever you wish, by request."

"Can we tell them not to even offer again?"

"You can try," Eddin replied. He grinned at her. "But it'll probably be just as successful as your attempt to get him to call you Vania."

Vania sighed, staring down at her glass. "Kinda pushy about it, aren't they?"

"Just following tradition," Eddin said as he shrugged. After a moment, he added, "And making plenty of assumptions, yes."

Vania drained her glass in silence, plunking the empty cup down. She turned to look at the fire.

"What's on your mind, Vania?" Eddin asked.

"What do you think they're making?"

"For what? Breakfast?" After she nodded, he said, "Well, considering they didn't ask you what you wanted, I'd say... probably some crazy fancy concoction to try to impress you." After a moment, he added, "That, or a little bit of a lot of things, so you try things and they see what you like."

"They'll eat, too, right? And the others?"

"Yes, of course. Not always the same thing they cook for you, but, yes, the entire staff is fed by the kitchen."

"We have a big enough table. They could eat with us."

"They could," Eddin agreed. "But they won't."

"It would be improper?" Vania asked.

"Yes."

She looked at him. "I don't give a rat's ass about any of that."

"I know. But, they've been trained a certain way. If you want to change how they act, you need to do it a little at a time."

"So... invite everyone to have dinners with us... then maybe they'd get comfortable enough to have breakfasts, too... and eventually, they'd be okay calling me Vania and not feeling like they need to wait on me hand and foot?"

"We can try." He picked up the pitcher. "More juice?"

"No." She looked at him. "Would that make you uncomfortable? You were raised for this type of thing. I wasn't."

"I'm happy if you're happy."

"That's not an answer."

"It's my answer."

Vania softly harrumphed and stared into the fire.

"Where the hell is all the money coming from to pay for all this, anyway?" she asked finally.

"The money Mother bequeathed you for marrying me."

Vania whirled to look at him. "Why would she give me money to marry you?"

"Because she's very traditional. I'm a son. If sons don't marry, they remain in their mother's house. So, when a son does marry, the mother pays the bride—essentially, giving you the money you saved her from having to spend taking care of me."

"That's. That's so. Ugh." She turned to look at the fire again, scowling.

Eddin frowned into his glass, swirling the juice inside. "It's not like you and I have no money. We are fully independent. Even without anything from Mother."

"That's not the point, Eddin."

"I can't do anything about a'marlon traditions, Vania."

Vania sighed. After taking in a deep breath, she said quietly, "I know." She turned back to the table and refilled her cup. "But, at least you're not stuck being duertes, now."

"Nope." He smiled at her. "Thanks to you."

G'har burst through the door, laden with a large tray fill of steaming dishes. The chef, K'venst, followed behind with a pair of plates with cutlery on top.

"Good morning, milady," K'venst greeted, smiling as he bowed. As he placed the plates and silverware in front of Vania and Eddin, he said, "We have an assortment of delicacies for you this morning—quails' eggs, flatcakes, rice pudding, diced fruit, fried and glazed boar flanks, cinnamon cake, and a few pastries, as well." He gestured to the tray G'har held. "May I fill your plate for you?"

"No, thank you," Vania replied. She glanced at the large tray, then at the table she and Eddin shared. She turned back to the waiting chef. "Thank you very much—it looks delicious. If you place it on the end of the table, there," she indicated the closest end of the long table, "we will serve ourselves."

The chef traded flabbergasted looks with the server bearing the tray. "Very well, milady," K'venst managed to say. He turned and helped G'har place the full tray onto the table. They both turned and bowed again. "If you have need of anything, just let us know."

One they were gone, Eddin chuckled. "Well, you threw both of them a curveball this morning."

"Well, they need to get used to it sooner or later, if they're gonna stay here."

Eddin raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh?"

"How long did your mother "loan" them to us?"

"You know, I'm not sure she said." He stood, plate in hand. "Shall we?"

"Yes." She stood and followed him to the platter.

As they sat down to eat, Vania looked at him. "D'merdon."

He looked at her, raising an eyebrow without a word.

Clasping her hands and leaning forward on her elbows, she asked, "How many contracts did you enter into before we married?"

He put down his fork. "Not too many. Most of them have concluded, as well. There was the military academy, Animal Wrangler training, buying this house... and a few others, but they're all completed. For those still open... well, the commissioning of the carpenter for your bed, but Mother technically also signed that one, since she's paying for it, as part of the furnishings for the house in her gift to you... and my five-year military service contract."

"I want to see the military contract immediately; I need to review it, so I can decide if I approve of your decision or not."

He smothered his smile as he nodded. "As you wish, my lady."

She broke a corner off her pastry and threw it at him. "Don't call me that."

He chuckled. "You were being formal, so I figured I'd return the favor."

"Well, don't."

"Very well, Vania. However, I don't actually have a copy of the contract, myself. We will need to go to the military office in the city and have them request a copy from the headquarters in Karn."

"Would you mother have a copy?"

"Possibly," Eddin replied with a shrug. "Perhaps not, though. She tries not to show favoritism to her children in the military, and she doesn't keep copies of every recruit's contract papers, so..."

"But she's the one we'll need to have sign off on abolishing it, right?"

"Yes."

"Then let's ask her; that way, she'll at least know our intentions and maybe will wait while we get a copy. I don't fancy having to chase her all the way to Karn just for a signature."

"Seems you did that once already," he pointed out, smirking at her as he retrieved his utensils and began eating.

"Yeah," Vania replied, looking at her plate. "And, while it was worth it, I don't want to have to take that journey again. I was reduced to puking out my guts on both ends of that strange spell trail."

"Yeah," Eddin agreed with a nod. "The condensed road is not an easy spell for casting nor for travelling. Especially not for those sensitive to magic."

Vania frowned down at her plate, eyes roving the food.

"Something wrong?"

"You didn't put these gancha berries on my plate, did you?"

"Nope." Eddin shook his head as he swallowed a mouthful. "We each filled our own plate. Why?"

"I... must've not realized what I was doing." Vania began pushing the round red-orange berries to the edge of her plate. "I don't even like gancha berries."

"Hm," Eddin replied with a shrug, taking the berries from the edge of her plate. "Maybe you were too distracted by all the choices and trying to take something of everything."

"Maybe." Vania sighed and picked up her fork. "So, Eddin... when you were showing me around this morning, I noticed there's no animal house in the back. Where are you planning on keeping all your pets?"

"Well, at the moment, we only have two horses, so Earl and the others are currently in the stable. T'larin used to work in the menagerie at Mother's house, so he's well-trained in how to care for them all, and not just Tarva and Ama."

"Ah, I see."

"Of course, if it's all the same to you, maybe we'll just let them stay inside." Eddin grinned.

"If having them inside makes you happy, I'm sure it'd be fine."

Eddin chuckled. "Earl got used to being inside while he was guarding Laria. The stairs may be rough on his joints, but he's been grumbling about being stuck outside ever since."

Vania shrugged. "Then bring him inside."

Eddin nodded. "Maybe I will."

"Well, let's finish eating and go see your mother."

"I thought you were going to see Aleira today?"

"You don't intend to ask for your job back, so there's no point; I don't have any updates for her on my pest assignment. Besides, getting this contract cleared up is more important." She cocked her head at him, "So... if you're not going to be an enforcer anymore, what are you planning to do for work? Or are you just going to stay here and run the house?"

"Maybe I'll hire myself out as an animal trainer."

"Well, you'd definitely be good at it." She smiled. After a moment, she returned her attention to her plate, saying, "Let's finish breakfast, so we can get to Buccareth House before your mother decides to leave."