by Daris Howard
One of the men who spoke more of their language smiled. "We say, 'You woman friend much pretty. How she get with ugly man like you?'"
The man then burst out laughing, and all of the others laughed again. It was her turn to blush.
Though many Bernodians intermingled there, Alexander stood out simply because he was the only one of nobility that ever came. The men were all shocked when Alexander told them she was the princess.
"She is really not my woman. She wants to get to know the people as I have," he told them.
The men all nodded their approval. The one that spoke the best said, "You much welcome, Princess. We not think royal family think Bernodia and Esconodia good or worth much."
She had to bite her lip as thoughts of her own past prejudices came back to her. She smiled at them and told the man that she hoped their people could be better friends. Many of them wanted to gather around and visit with her. She found she did cause a stir wherever she went. Alexander didn't because he had become just one of them. But she was the princess and from the south.
As everyone finally returned to their market stalls, she continued to admire the beautiful craftsmanship of the items. There was one particular necklace that she loved. The man said the words, "pearl, jade, and gold." She didn't want to act too impressed with it, for she carried no money, and she knew Alexander's supply was quite limited. But he had noticed her longing, and when she was not looking, he purchased it for her. He told her he had wanted to give her a birthday present, but on her birthday he figured she wouldn't accept one from him.
When he put the necklace around her neck, the whole market erupted into applause. The Esconodian man said, "It good your woman have much pretty necklace."
Alexander was again very quick to assure the people that she was the princess and did not belong to him - too quick, Louise thought. She could sense, however, that it was not because of his lack of feelings for her, but, instead, because of them. She knew that what her father had said about her finding someone more worthy was always on his mind.
She had long since decided that Alexander was who she wanted, but he never seemed to be able to put far from his thoughts that there were those who felt he was not worthy of her. She tried in every way to hint that her heart was his, but she felt his fear of an inevitable separation always hung over him and their friendship.
They never talked about it directly, because anytime she tried to move the topic of conversation toward anything of that nature, he just as quickly changed the subject.
Wherever they went she took his arm. He seemed to really enjoy that. But every time she did she would hear him take a deep breath as if steeling himself against the emotions he was feeling - emotions he felt he must not allow himself to have.
The people of Bernodia loved to see them together. That is, they loved to see Alexander with the princess. To them there was no doubt he was worthy of her. She thought to herself that she could somehow deal with her own father in this matter, but she wondered if Alexander's wounded spirit would ever heal to the point that he would feel secure in her love.
As they continued to walk through the market, arm in arm, she noticed that he didn't seem to be interested at all in the pretty, handcrafted items. He was taking her down to where they sold food. He seemed to be looking for someone. Still, he did stop here and there. They tried some different foods that made Louise's mouth water with excitement. Alexander would buy some, but he always insisted on knowing how to make them for himself. They would describe how they were made, and Louise wondered if Alexander would truly remember, since he never wrote any of it down.
As they neared the end of the market Alexander smiled excitedly, and Louise knew he had finally spotted who he was looking for. Alexander introduced the vendor as Gareg, the trader from whom he had purchased the many new plants he grew, including the strawberries and the corn.
The man smiled when he saw Alexander, and his eyebrows raised slightly as he glanced at Louise holding onto Alexander's arm. "I see you have woman friend." She could tell Alexander was just about to explain to Gareg about her as he had to the others, but Gareg continued before he could. "And how grows corn, strawberries, potatoes, and beans?"
Louise couldn't remember if Alexander had shown her potatoes and beans because of his excitement for the corn. She didn't have time to ask about it, since Alexander was happily talking about the new things he was trying. Gareg said, "Good. Good," as Alexander described how the corn looked. He shook his finger at Alexander. "If starts look yellow, give more manure and less water. If looks too green, give more water and less manure."
Alexander promised he would. Finally came the moment both men knew the other was dying to get to. Alexander asked if there was anything new. Gareg got a sly look on his face. "I have most wonderful plant from New World. It called pumpkin."
He pulled out a large, round, orange thing that Louise thought looked like a strange luggage carrier. Gareg continued. "This what look like. When grown, boil, scrape, and eat inside." He then pulled out a small pouch of seeds. "Here seeds."
Alexander looked at him narrowly, though Louise could feel his arm tighten next to hers in excitement. "I don't know. What would I use it for?"
Gareg laughed. "It taste most grand with butter on it. And never know until try."
Alexander acted as if he was only slightly interested. "How much?"
Louise knew he was just fooling, trying to get a better price. The problem was, she could see by the look on Gareg's face that he knew the same thing.
Gareg looked up at the sky as if pondering. "Very expensive. Cost much from New World. But for friend Alexander, only two gold coin."
Louise gasped. Two gold coins for a small bag of seeds? Her beautiful necklace only cost three. Alexander paused, but because of how tight his arm was squeezing against hers, she knew he was going to get them somehow.
"I don't know, Gareg. Two gold coins is a lot."
"But friend Alexander be only one have such delicacy."
He had Alexander now. Alexander sighed. "All right."
He pulled out two gold coins and handed them to Gareg. Louise almost laughed. So, her white knight had a chink in his shining armor after all. If he had to have one, she was glad it was a weakness for new foods and plants.
After Alexander had the seeds safely in his hand, he turned back to Gareg. "Now tell me how to plant them and prepare them."
Gareg spoke slowly. "Put them in little hill with lots of manure mixed in dirt. Then, when grown, cut pumpkin open, scrape out seeds, boil rest, and scrape orange inside to eat."
Alexander had dropped his arm and grabbed Louise's hand in his excitement, unknowingly cutting off the feeling in her fingers, but it only made her smile.
"Would they yet grow this summer?" Alexander asked.
Gareg shrugged his shoulders. "That I not know. Would like buy another bag so try, and have also for next year?"
Alexander sighed, but handed over two more gold coins. Gareg sold Alexander two more kinds of seeds called 'tomatoes' and 'peppers'. They were not for growing this year and one had to be careful to not let those plants freeze. Alexander only bought one pouch of each of them.
Finishing his purchases, Alexander wanted to head for home. He wanted to get back and plant his pumpkin seeds. They had barely walked back to their horses, not even out of sight of the market, when Louise could contain herself no longer.
She exploded into laughter, drawing an embarrassed smile from Alexander as she said, "That Gareg sure is clever."
Alexander blushed. "I don't know about that. He says we are to boil every food he sells me. Boiled strawberries are terrible."
She laughed again. "Maybe. But he sure knows how to get you to spend your money."
"Well, I.." Alexander stuttered, even more embarrassed. His face glowed. "I... I only buy them so I can get new things for the people of Bernodia to grow."
Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. Suddenly she rea
lized what she had done, and she, too, blushed. She spoke quietly. "I think it's cute."
There was a moment of awkward silence as they stood and looked at each other. Then, to ease the clumsiness of how she felt, she tried to change the subject slightly. "Besides, you are going to have to let me taste the results."
Alexander smiled and nodded vigorously. As they mounted and headed back to the castle, he could hardly contain his excitement about planting his pumpkin seeds. He would click Lady to a trot, only to remember to slow down for Louise. She was sure if it were just him he would have galloped all the way back, not stopping anywhere for the night. Instead, they stopped in a small village and stayed with a family.
The next morning he hid his last coins in the family's flour sack, gave them the last strawberry plants, and then they headed for Denville Castle - for home. As they rode along, there was only one other thing she could have wished for. She wished she could have had the time back she had lost by not being his friend sooner.
Chapter 8
How To Convince Father
The day finally arrived when Alexander declared some corn was ready. Louise marveled at the plants. The long rows stood higher than her head. Alexander had saved almost all of his seed the year before and planted it. He declared that this year there was enough to eat. He planned to save half of what they harvested for seed, and, of that, he would dispense half to the people he visited around the countryside.
He showed her how Gareg had told him to check to see if it was ready. He peeled back a bit of covering to check if it was yellow. Alexander could not remember what Gareg called the part that held the food. He said he thought he had called them something on the body, like "finger", or something. She thought they did indeed look like big fat fingers. Since Alexander couldn't remember, he just called them 'corn pods'. He said they kind of looked like the pods the peas grew in, only bigger.
When Alexander triumphantly carried some corn pods to the kitchen, the cook, though used to his new foods, was suspicious, as always. Alexander said that the year before, they waited until it was really dry, and then they boiled and ate it. He said it was edible, but not that good. Gareg told him he needed to pick it just after it got yellow and eat right off the thing Alexander called the 'corn stick'.
Alexander took all of the peeling off of a few corn pods, leaving just the corn sticks, and put them in a boiling pot of water. He said Gareg had told him not to wait too long. Shortly, he used a rod to pull one from the boiling water. He stuck some butter and salt on it, like Gareg had instructed.
Many of the servants, and even Duke Reginald and Lady Margaret, gathered around for the event. Alexander would not let anyone else try it, in case it was bad. Lady Margaret was always sure he would poison himself, and kept wanting him to try it on some animal first. But when Alexander was ready, he took the corn stick and bit into it. He tried to bite clear through it, but then remembered Gareg said you only ate the seeds off the outside. He bit an edge off. Everyone watched him as he carefully chewed. Pretty soon a big smile spread across his face. "Oh! That is good!"
Everyone clamored to try it, but he insisted that his parents and Louise were next. He assured everyone there would eventually be enough for all to try some. Alexander prepared three more corn sticks. When he handed the one to Louise, she took it carefully. She held it like she had seen him do, and she, Lady Margaret, and Duke Reginald all bit some off at the same time.
As she chewed, Louise tasted the warmest, most wonderful thing she could ever remember. She could only describe it as if she were chewing on sunshine. She looked over at Lady Margaret and Duke Reginald, and saw rapturous expressions spread across their faces as well. Everyone else, seeing the looks on their faces, clamored even louder for the last ones. The next corn stick was for the cook to try, so she would know what it was like and how to prepare it. He did promise that everyone in the castle, down to the last servant, would get to try it once more had ripened. The cook took a bite from her corn stick and grinned. "My boy, you've done it again."
Alexander was true to his word and made sure everyone had a chance to try some. He had planted most of a field with corn, thinking that would be more than enough for everyone to have all they wanted. But he could have used many times that to satisfy their appetites. He was cautious to save half for seed, and he wanted to make sure there was plenty for Louise's parents to try when they came back.
Before the summer was out, Louise had tried potatoes and beans as well. It took Alexander quite a while to get the hang of cooking potatoes, but he found they tasted good boiled like Gareg said, with butter and salt, just like the corn. At first he tried to boil them and put the butter on the outside. The butter just rolled off, so he took to cutting them and laying the butter inside them.
Louise found she liked potatoes, but she wasn't sure the beans were all that good. They soon were eating corn every evening as the cool nights of fall were starting to hang in the air. Alexander was afraid it would all ripen before Louise's parents came.
Over in one small corner of the gardens, Alexander had had the servants mix a lot of manure. There he planted a few of his precious pumpkin seeds. He didn't let anyone touch his seeds, and at two gold coins for a small bag, Louise couldn't blame him.
The pumpkins did very well and put out long vines like a grape plant. Alexander wondered if he should tie them up like they did grapes, but thinking about the big orange pumpkin Gareg had shown them, he thought it might break the vines. Soon they spread all over, even into his potato plants. He said he had to remember to give the pumpkins more room the next year.
Louise could still remember the day Alexander grabbed her hand and pulled her out to see the little green balls on the plant. It was almost impossible for her to imagine they could ever get as big as the orange one Gareg had shown them. But big they did get. Alexander was so proud of them. He always checked them first thing when they would get home from one of their trips.
Alexander's got even bigger than the one Gareg showed them. Alexander said he could hardly wait to see how big it would get with a full season. As the cool fall was arriving and the pumpkins turned orange, Alexander announced he could stand it no longer and had to try to eat one. It was almost all he could do to haul it to the kitchen. He cut it open and scooped out the seeds as Gareg had said. He carefully set them to dry for the next year. He then cut a piece of the pumpkin and boiled it. When he thought it had boiled long enough, he scraped off some and tried it.
By this time the usual crowd had gathered. Louise watched his face. He chewed slowly. His face had a bland expression. "Let's try a little butter and salt." He liked it better, but he said it sure wasn't as good as he expected. He tried all sorts of different things, but didn't find any that he thought improved it much. His last taste test was with a little honey candy.
He said that was quite good, and, soon, others had to try. No one felt it was as good as had been expected, since the pumpkin was so big and pretty. Alexander was sure there would be something good found for them and said he would still keep growing them.
The leaves were turning brown and gold, and Louise knew her parents would be coming to take her home soon. She was excited, but, at the same time, she was very frightened. She knew how her father viewed Alexander, but she also knew her mother's feelings. She hoped, somehow, she and her mother could influence her father to approve of Alexander.
She had often written letters to her parents. She tried to tell all she dared about Alexander without upsetting her father. She shared good things he did for her and the people, and how much the people loved him. She wrote of his interest in new plants and how he would share them with his people. She was concerned that her father would think Alexander was strange, for, in a way, he was. He was different from any man she knew, but in a good way. She could see he was much like his parents, yet he exhibited his own interests.
As the day approached for her parents to arrive, a big fall feast was planned. Alexander seemed nervous. She tried more than
once to visit with him about her feelings, but it was as if he was sure of what would happen and didn't want to talk about it. She was afraid his trepidation would cause things to go wrong. One thing she knew, she had made up her mind, and nothing could change it. Somehow it had to work out.
The day finally arrived. She hurried to meet her parents. She hugged and kissed them. Alexander stood with his parents, and they all bowed. The king spoke coolly, but politely to Alexander. "I see you have taken good care of my daughter."
Alexander's voice quivered. "I've tried, Your Majesty."
Louise walked with her parents to their quarters. She looked back at Alexander. The quiver in his voice was not fear; it seemed more like sadness. She had spent so much time with him that she could sense his every emotion.
Louise visited with her father as they walked, and Lady Margaret visited with the queen. Louise had so much she wanted to tell them - so much she wanted them to know.
Her father smiled. He seemed pleased at her pleasantness. "Louise," he said, "I think this little vacation has done wonders for you. You look healthy and happy."
"Oh, I am, Father. More than you could ever imagine."
She had no sooner said it than her father turned back and looked at Alexander, who was directing the care of the horses and the luggage.
"I see," he said. "I'm glad you enjoyed it here."
The banquet that night was wonderful. The corn sticks were the last of the season and, though not as good as some earlier, the king and queen seemed impressed. As Louise expressed Alexander's desire to bring in new things, she was careful not to mention the Esconodians, for fear of stirring up her father's distrust in them. She mentioned the corn, potatoes, and strawberries.
The king finished his fifth corn stick, turned to Alexander, and spoke stiffly. "My compliments, young man."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Alexander replied. They were the only words Alexander spoke during the whole meal.
When the banquet was coming to a close, Louise turned to her father. "Father, would you be willing to go for a special ride with Alexander and me tomorrow?"
