“No plan should ever be rigid and uncompromising. That is just asking for some sort of failure to take place and throw the entire thing into chaos, and fate being the fickle mistress that she is, she will most likely throw some your way for shits and giggles.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.
“We’re not heading to the Great Emerald Forest, huh? Égørisvænovãēnæl, was it? Shame,” lamented Eilonwy the morning after the elven caravans departed from Alfheim. The way she easily pronounced the elvish name for the Forest was no surprise, as the language used by the elves both in Alcidea and in Ur-Teros had the same roots, and while many words differed, the pronunciation and inflections were mostly the same. “Was kinda hoping to see what that place’s like.”
“Eh, you’ll have your chance if things go as Illydia thinks they will,” consoled Aideen as she dipped a piece of fluffy steamed rice cake into some of the spice-laden, flavorful stews and sauces that accompanied it. “You kids are still young, you can wait a couple centuries before going to visit there when they open up for foreigners later.”
“I know you’re right, Aunt. Still kinda annoying that there’s an easy chance in front of us and we can’t take it, though,” replied Eilonwy as she did the same with the food on her platter. The stews and sauces were mostly made with locally grown vegetables and grains, though a couple also had meat in them. Due to Alfheim’s booming agricultural scene local produce comprised a lot of the local diet, though.
“I’m not going to let you three hop on board on your own, so that was just wishful thinking on your part,” said Aideen with a shake of her head, knowing all too well how her adventurous grand-niece thinks. “Too many potential problems with you being foreigners, even if you are fellow elves, in a place that very obviously don’t want any. If you three were unliving I’d have let you off, but as it is, no. I promised to bring you back safe and sound to your mothers.”
“Aww,” Eilonwy said as she pouted. She shoved some of her food into her mouth in disappointment and didn’t pay attention, resulting in a particularly large piece of chili pepper the locals love to flavor their foods with going into her mouth. The local chili pepper had a deceptively fruity taste at first, but the heat built up until one felt like one’s mouth was on fire if someone eats too much at once.
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Which Eilonwy just did, and sure enough, minutes later she was chugging down a cold, fermented milk drink flavored with fruits straight from the jug to quench the burning feeling in her mouth and throat. Fortunately the locals also knew how to counter the burn effectively for those who were unable to take it, and the elven girl sighed in relief as she placed the nearly empty jug on the table.
“You really ought to pay attention more when eating, Eilo,” said Áine with an amused chuckle from across the table. As the oldest sibling of the three – if not by much – she had the calmest, most calculating personality by far, and loved to use her privilege as the oldest to tease her younger siblings. “These are really good, honestly, even the burn, as long as you don’t overdo it and get too much at once like you just did.”
What Áine said was true. The local meal of steamed rice cakes – fluffy ones that resembled bread in some way instead of dense, chewy ones Aideen saw and ate in other places – with the various stews and sauces was indeed tasty. The fluffy cakes were tender and oh so slightly sweet to the tongue, which made them a delight to enjoy on their own, and they served as perfect canvases to carry the flavors from the stews and sauces with.
“Must have taken a lot of effort to make these taste this good with just vegetables, but I’m definitely not complaining about the result,” noted Kino as she scooped up some of the thick, almost porridge-like stew of heavily spiced lentils enriched with a large amount of clarified butter. Due to her therian heritage she was always partial to meat, so it was rare for her to praise a dish made without any meat whatsoever.
“It’s rather similar to some kinds of cooking in Ptolodecca, though we didn’t exactly have people who abstain from eating meat by choice often there,” noted Aideen in agreement. Some of the elves or half-elves in Alfheim eschewed eating meat, probably as some sort of atonement for their ancestors’ – or their own, in the older people’s cases – past deeds. Tribal elves were known to eat their fallen foes when they went out on raids, and they did not exactly spare other people that treatment either.
Aideen knew that first hand as she would never forget the elven raid on her homeland back when she was young, the same raid that resulted in her older brother’s premature death. She had gotten over the unpleasant memories and prejudices she used to have with time, but she would still never forget the incident for as long as she lived.
“They certainly are making a good effort at it,” said Kino in agreement. “And it’s not like they’re bothering others or forcing them to do the same as they did, so all’s fine, I guess. Some of us might not exactly be able to survive long on just vegetables, and all that,” she added, referring to therians from carnivorous breeds, of which her own therian ancestor was definitely one.
“I think if they try to enforce it on others it might piss people enough to eat them for a change,” replied Aideen with an amused chuckle at the hypothetical situation. “I think there’s nothing any adult out there hates more than being told what to do by others, unless they signed up for it themselves.”