Resolving to have a conversation with the boy about his unhealthy habit of nicking whatever caught his eye, Alistar put aside such thoughts and did his best to explain what he knew about the paintings to the girls. At one point Emely pointed out the painting that his mother had made just before she had been sent off to marry his father, the dual image of a healthy, daytime field and its barren, midnight counterpart.
“I like this one the best!” she said, though only Alistar was close enough to hear her.
Chest swelling with pride, he was about to tell her that the artist was his mother when Patricia rounded a nearby corner and came into view.
“Alistar, it’s time for breakfast. Come along and bring your friends.”
Today was the first time that he had seen her out of uniform, the young woman drabbed by a simple white dress that brought out all of her dark-haired beauty.
“Okay,” he said, before running off to round everyone up. Surprisingly, he wasn’t nearly as nervous as he had been earlier in the morning.
“What’s all that you’ve got there?” asked the house servant, indicating at the abundance of things that filled his arms.
“They’re gifts,” he said, smiling wide as the two of them headed the group on their way to the dining hall. “From my friends.”
Patricia’s smile was warm and sincere as she stared down at him with a gentle, sable gaze. “Isn’t that nice?” She patted him on the head in an affectionate manner. “Why don’t you let me take those to your room for you?”
He handed everything over to her, save for the crystal in his pocket. “Thank you, Patricia. Will you be eating with us?”
“Yes, I’ll be right there after I drop these off.”
He thanked her, appreciating the picture of beauty that she currently portrayed. “You look so pretty today.”
She responded with a happy smile. “You and your compliments. What a good boy you are.”
Patricia took her leave as they approached the doors to the dining hall, which opened up to a room that was full with people that were usually busy at this time with chores and other odd jobs that Caedmon had hired them to do.
Two additional tables had been brought into the room, one on either side of the main one, where his uncle sat at the head with Alder and Stason at his sides. Also at this table were all of the gardeners, field hands and other servants, each dressed in casual clothes.
“And here he is now,” smiled Caedmon, who rushed to his feet and came over to greet Alistar’s friends. “Hello there, children. I’m grateful to you all for coming to celebrate Alistar’s Name Day with us, and want to implore you to act as if you were in your own homes for the duration of the day.”
“Imp-what?”
“Encourage,” whispered Corrie, without looking at a confused Jaden.
“This table here is just for you lot, so go ahead and take a seat. The food will be out in a minute.”
With the exception of Lessa—who was technically a Silverkin albeit from a distant branch of the family that went by the name of Silvus—all of Alistar’s friends became rigid and uncomfortable in Caedmon’s presence. Seeing that they were acutely aware of his uncle’s status, Alistar took the lead by thanking him and motioning for them to sit down at the table that Anice, Lessa and Woods were quick to occupy. As they did so, he took some time to go around the room and individually thank everyone in attendance for coming. It was during this time that his attention was directed to a long table that had been set against a wall to the side of the room, atop which rested all sorts of newly-knit clothes and sturdy, unused tools. These were gifts from the adults, among which was a leather saddle that Stason had commissioned one of the craftsmen on South Street to make for him, as well as a silver ring adorned with a tiny crystal that had been bought by Alder, an additional limiter according to the handsome chamberlain.
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By the time he found his seat, the tables had been set and the food brought out. The servers settled down to eat after making sure that everyone else had been taken care of, a pleasant mood pervading the hall.
Today’s breakfast was quite impressive. Each table had multiple platters of carved pork belly, along with large, metallic bowls that were filled with scrambled eggs and countless loaves of freshly-baked bread. Baked beans in brown, sugary sauce, hefty cuts of braised ham, cold chalices of thick milk, steaming jugs of hot tea, and impressive amounts of both mashed and fried potatoes made up the rest of the selection. The food was so aromatic that Woods seemed as if his soul was about to slip away from his body, the boy glancing up and down the table with indecisive eyes as he contemplated what to try first. His friends were very similar, none of them skipping a beat as they hurriedly heaped all sorts of food onto their increasingly heavy plates.
Once the food was finished and an idle chatter had seized the room, Caedmon stood up and called for everyone’s attention, going on to thank all those in attendance for coming together to celebrate Alistar’s big day, and then inviting Alistar to say a few words of thanks.
Just as his mother had taught him, he was polite and to the point with his thanks while making sure to give an honest expression of the happiness he felt at having so many people show up just for his sake. Once he finished speaking, the room wished him a happy Name Day in unison, at which point he returned to his seat to sit next to the rest of the Dozen, many of which had raised eyebrows or had otherwise donned surprised looks.
“Why’re you always so shy around us?” asked Zech, who couldn’t help himself and leaned in to make an inquiry as soon as Alistar sat down. “I’ve never seen you talk so much without looking at your feet, at least to other people.”
“I…”
“Yeah,” agreed Jaden. “How can you talk to the adults like it’s no problem? I wouldn’t even be able to get a word out if I was you.”
“Were,” muttered Corrie, eyes fixed on his plate. “If I were you.” He slid his chair away from Jaden as the other boy snapped at him for making the correction.
“Alistar’s nervous around other kids,” Anice shamelessly revealed. “Especially girls. That’s why he blushes whenever you guys touch him.” She struck a confident pose, almost stabbing herself with her cutlery as she placed her hands on her hips. “I was the first of all of us to be his friend, so he likes talking with me the most. It’s not your fault that he’s always so quiet, he’s just super embarrassed.”
“So that’s what it was,” said Emely, prompting the triplets to laugh.
The girls began to giggle and whisper amongst themselves, which made Alistar want to bury his head in his hands. Why did Anice always have to open her big mouth at the worst of times? It was as if she took pleasure in putting him in awkward situations.
“Just ignore them,” said Jaden. “They’re just a bunch of girls. Who cares what they think?”
The heat of Lily’s gaze seemed as if it could melt ice as she and her sisters glared at Jaden, who quickly ducked his head and began shovelling potatoes into his mouth in a flustered manner.
“And now they’re focused on Jaden,” laughed Zech, who patted the bigger boy on the back in a proud manner. “See what a good friend he is?”
Alistar couldn’t help but laugh along as well, putting aside his discomfort as he enjoyed everyone’s company.
Do you see this, Mama? Look at how many friends I have now.
He wished more than anything that his mother could be there for such an important day, and would have given up all of the gifts in the world for the chance to see her just one more time. But he also knew that she wouldn’t want him in poor spirits on such an occasion, so he set aside any forlorn thoughts and decided to enjoy each moment as it came.
Breakfast concluded about an hour later, at which point all of the adults set about cleaning up and relocating the two smaller tables to the gardens out front of the manor house. Lunch and dinner were to be had outside, where the kids would play around in the meantime as the adults enjoyed light snacks and wine.
For the next several hours, Alistar played all sorts of games with his friends, including tag and hide-and-seek, which were infinitely more fun now that it wasn’t just him and Anice that were playing. They also held a racing competition of sorts, though only he, Helen, Zech, Corrie, and Anice took part. Zech was the only one that wasn’t surprised when Alistar won by a significant margin, since he was well aware of his athleticism. Helen, however, was the fastest of the girls, and she couldn’t believe that he had beaten her by almost fifteen paces in the short sprint.
The boys also wrestled around for a while, with Jaden trying particularly hard to topple Woods as soon as the triplets came over to watch. While this was going on, Alistar couldn’t help but overhear a comment that Helen made toward Lessa that confirmed something that he had been suspecting over the past several hours.