“Steak frites?” I asked.
“Steak frites.”
I picked up one of the fries and popped it into my mouth. Right away I could taste that it had been cooked in duck fat—the outside crispy, the inside soft and silky, the taste rich and just the right sort of greasy. Once I was done with the fry, I tried the steak. The moment it was in my mouth, I closed my eyes and savored it. What could one even say about a perfectly cooked piece of meat?
“Delicious, no?” Alaric asked.
“Delicious. And you know what I think about whenever I have steak frites.”
Alaric chuckled, eating a fry of his own. “I know. It’s no accident that I chose them for dinner tonight.” He took a bite of his steak, shaking his head as he ate as if he couldn’t believe how tasty it was.
“Can you believe it’s been over twenty years since you and I stepped foot into this castle, since I became king?”
“Time flies.”
“Indeed, it does, my friend.” He sighed, his eyes on the meal. “I hated it here at first, being king. For my entire childhood I’d been preparing for a life of wealthy freedom, of traveling the world and living off my family’s fame and fortune. Can you even imagine such a life?”
“All the benefits of being royal, without any of the responsibility. Quite a good gig if you can get it.”
“Exactly what I’d thought when I was a child.” His expression darkened. “Then… well, you know what happened. I became king, and you joined me in the palace.”
“And you ate nothing but steak frites for, what, a whole year?”
He chuckled. “This was my favorite meal back when I was younger. Meat and potatoes, but even better. What’s not to like?”
I’d heard this story before but was more than willing to listen to it again. Something was going on with Alaric, and I was more than eager to know what it was.
“I was expected to eat all manner of fancy meals, to broaden my palate and so on and so forth. But I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to doanythingof what was expected of me as king.”
I laughed. “Don’t I know it. You may not have wanted to be king, but that didn’t mean the kingdom didn’t haveneedof a king.”
Alaric nodded. “You stepped up to the plate, Luc. During that year when I was holed up in my room, eating steak frites and watching old movies and listening to jazz, you kept this palaceandthis kingdom running.”
“Anything for Edoria,” I said. “And anything for a friend.”
The year he’d described played in my mind on fast forward. I’d been the stand-in for Alaric, meeting with diplomats and royalty and nobility, only speaking to Alaric when I needed his royal initials on one document or another.
“I haven’t forgotten. Not at all.”
I popped another fry into my mouth.
“As pleasant as this trip down memory lane is, I have to wonder what brought it on.”
“My daughter,” he said. “Ava. I see myself in her, see that reluctance to take the throne, despite knowing it’s the right thing to do. And it appears that she is finally coming around, without taking a year like I did.”
I was confused. “Ava’s coming around?” As far as I knew, she’d been planning on leaving Edoria the moment the Harvest Ball was over.
“I believe she is. My dinner with her the other night was… enlightening. She appeared to finally be taking her lessons to heart, carrying herself in a much more dignified, royal manner.”
I said nothing, wondering if Alaric had seen something that I hadn’t.
“She is becoming less willful. Her bossy nature will be an asset when she becomes queen, but for now she is far better off learning a thing or two about humbling herself before the throne. And if that gets her to show a little more respect to me in the process, then so be it.”
“I hope you’re right,” I said. He had no idea how much I meant that, what was riding on it.
Alaric chuckled. “You know, as happy as I am that I came around and stepped into my role as king, I can’t help but wonder how different my life would be had I continued in the direction I originally planned to go, if I had done things the way I wanted to, if I had lived an ordinary life.”
I took a sip of my wine, then grinned. “You’d still be a pompous prick.”