Getting Acquainted

“Didn’t you hear me yelling?” demanded the angry voice of the person Ivy said was her stepsister. “I was calling and calling,” he heard, but could not see. Her voice was loud, but she sounded young. He presumed she was gigantic like Ivy.

“Sorry, I was up here, sweeping,” Ivy replied defensively, reaching for the broom.

Looking at the broom lying on the floor, “Up here lollygagging mores the likely,” Alexa snapped back acidly, the tone of her voice filled with derision.

In the concealment of Ivy’s cleavage, face pressed into the smooth warm flesh, he tried to reorient himself to try and get a glimpse of the other woman, but found he was essentially held fast and trapped.

“Well, don’t just stand there with that foolish expression on your face, get down to the kitchen and get to work. Mother will be returning soon and she’ll be expecting to find supper readied for her arrival,” instructed the other girl.

Nestled as he was against her skin, he could feel her flesh bounce as she hastily scurried down the stairs toward the kitchen to comply with the direction.

Once in the kitchen, Ivy glanced about to make sure it was safe before fishing him out of her bodice and setting him on the wooden countertop. “I’m sorry I had to put you there, I didn’t know of any other place, and Alexa was coming up the stairs so fast,” she explained.

Raising a hand, he staggered a bit and nodded, “In no way were you immodest,” he assured, before straightening rumpled clothes, “Your stepsister seems to be a very demanding person,” he commented.

Ivy nodded. “You should be okay now, she seldom comes into the kitchen,” she explained, as she set about grabbing some vegetables and getting things ready to make supper.

“What’s it like where you’re from Daffyd?” she asked as she started peeling some carrots.

“I have only seen the inside of your house, but I would have to say it all seems very similar to this, though on my size,” he explained, then he chuckled, “In fact, where I’m from, I am considered tall,” he said.

Ivy scrunched up her face, “I find that hard to believe,” she said, making a face, thinking perhaps he was jesting with her.

“No, it’s true,” he said.

Walking over to near where he stood, she set the carrots down, “You are no taller than my thumb,” she stated, holding the digit down to prove the veracity of her claim.

Straightening up, he tried to stand tall next to the finger she was measuring him against. “I’m just saying where I’m from, I am taller than most,” he clarified.

Ivy shook her head, “And none are as tall as me?” she asked, collecting a potato from the basket beneath the counter.

Daffyd laughed, “No one is even close to being as tall as you, but there are some folk tales of giant people,” he replied.

She giggled, “Here we have stories of the wee folk who come and make mischief in your home,” she supplied.

“We have stories like that too,” he stated, “But we call the little people Fey.”

“You don’t look very old, won’t your mother miss you?” Ivy said, placing the skinned potato down and grabbing another. He looked at the massive tuber which, lying flat was still as tall as him.

“I was an orphan before my adoptive mother sold me to the blacksmith and before Sir George agreed to squire me,” he replied. “And like I said before, your Ella killed him defending herself I guess, so there are none to mourn my disappearance,” he added with a shoulder shrug.

She favored him with a sympathetic smile. “Certainly there must be some maidens?” she inquired, a mischievous grin playing at the corners of her wide mouth.

Daffyd laughed, “No,” he replied shaking his head, a touch of color in his cheeks. “Sir George was one for the ladies, not me, but what of you? Why do you reside with a stepsister?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Plague took my mother when I was young, so long ago now, sometimes it’s hard to remember her face when I close my eyes, and it wasn’t long after my father was assigned to wed Alexa’s mother. We all lived here together since then until he was away to war two full summers back,” she replied, eyes down, pausing in her peeling.

“War?” he asked.

“Against the forces of Queen Emerlith,” she lamented. “She is the monarch of Azellan to the east of us, and though the conflict ended some months ago only a small handful of men have found their way back,” she said, voice low and laced with emotion, leaving the rest unsaid.

“Perhaps yet there is hope for his return,” he offered, recognizing her sorrow and thinking of no other means to try and console her.

“Mayhaps, but the likelihood of such a return fades with the close of each day,” she lamented, smiling half-heartedly.

Nodding slowly, he could think of no other words to lessen the unease in her heart.

Resuming her work on the second potato, she finished peeling it placed it next to the first before gathering more ingredients and getting them ready.

“I used to have to prepare meals for Sir George, and without boast, I am a fairly competent cook in my own right, so is there ought that I can do to help?” he asked

Looking over, a smile touched the corner of her full lipped mouth, “Competent you may be, I know not in what manner you might provide aid other than as a seasoning should you accidently fall into the cookpot,” she said with a chuckle.

He looked down and squeezed his arm, before smiling back at her, “I’m afraid I’d make poor stock for soup,” he said.

“Daffyd the Dumpling perhaps?” she laughed, grinning at him

“Sounds so heroic, I can imagine it now. Minstrels everywhere crooning the legendary exploits of Daffyd the Dumpling throughout the ages,” he quipped, placing his left hand to his chest and extending his right arm.

Ivy’s grin broadened into a wide smile as shook her head. “You should be a jester,” she said with a giggle.

“But only good for little laughs,” he remarked cheekily.

Ivy laughed out loud, waggling a paring knife bigger than any sword he had ever seen in his direction, “Stop, you’re making my side hurt,” she said, shaking with mirth.

He smiled up at her, glad to have been able to buoy her spirits after the conversation about her missing father.