"AH! Your grace!" An excited voice sounded the second Lysandra and the duke walked into the pub.
"The usual?" The man behind the bar didn't even wait for the duke to respond. A pint of beer was slid over the bar towards where the duke was standing. He caught the glass with ease and downed the drink in one go before pulling out a seat for Lysandra. "Sit here." He instructed before sliding the empty glass back to the barman with a thank you. The man didn't even wait for Lysandra to sit first and instead placed himself on a bar chair.
A beer?
The man drinks beer. What kind of barbaric statement is this? Not to mention it was only noon!
Taking a look around the bar seeing several people all with beers in front of them, was drinking beer considered normal? Lysandra was so confused. She even missed the fact that he pulled out a seat for her. When the duke sat down, she awkwardly sat down beside him. She had never even entered a pub, let alone sat down at a bar. "You come here often?" She questioned the duke softly. Wondering if her future husband was a drunkard. It wouldn't be that much of a surprise if he was. Men in the capital might not drink beer, however, they drank wine as if it was just normal grape juice. Drunk husbands weren't anything new. The question was, whether he was a violent drunk. Lysandra already knew the answer to that question. She remembered how he tossed Malik into a crowd of soldiers.
The duke merely nodded on whether he came here often. "When not at war." He mentioned. "What do you drink?" His voice was just loud enough for Lysandra to hear as the people around them didn't seem to take notice of the two at all besides the greeting of the barman. The duke was being treated like a commoner.
"Uhm– " Lysandra hesitatingly looked over at the bar. Was she supposed to join him for a drink? If this was needed for the duke to actually speak to her, she might as well. "Wine. I don't drink– that." She nodded to the beer tab. The duke turned his head, the corners of his mouth curling upwards slightly. Was that a grin? The man raised his hand and ordered another beer and a glass of wine.
"I know little of the capital, but lunch is usually served about now. You should order some." The grin on his face might have been just an illusion. Looking around away from the bar Lysandra noticed that a lot of people had plates of food, delicious looking food. The meal was accompanied by either some wine or a beer. The barman came up to them. "A beer and a wine, only the finest of course. Coming right up!" The barman smiled. "Anything to eat, milady?"
In the corner of her eye Lysandra spotted a man grabbing a piece of toast from his plate, strings of melted gold attached to the other toast that was still on the platter. "That, what's that?" Lysandra questioned the barman with great interest.
"That? Oh, grilled cheese, milady." The barman stated and raised an eyebrow "You've never had a grilled cheese before, milady?" he questioned as Lysandra shook her head in response. The barman let out a small laugh "Honey! One grilled cheese, make sure it's the best one you've ever made." The barman called to the back. "Aren't all my grilled cheeses the best?!" A woman's voice called back as she looked around the corner. The barman smirked and gave a wink to his wife. "Five minutes, milady."
Waiting for her food was probably one of the hardest things to do. There were more people entering the pub and more and more whispers seemed to fill the room. A lot were talking about Lysandra and some about the duke. They didn't even try to hide it. A woman slipped into the seat next to Lysandra and greeted her kindly. "So?" The woman started. "How was it? Are the rumours true? They say the duke is a passionate lover." Meanwhile the duke seemed deep in conversation with the barkeep, leaving only Lysandra to hear this conversation. "Well, are they?" The woman insisted.
Lysandra felt her cheeks heat up from the woman's question. "W–W–What?" She whispered softly and quickly glanced at the duke before turning to the woman. "What— Do you mean, rumours?" Her eyeballs basically popped. Did the man have that many lovers that there were rumours about his bedchamber experience?
"Oh you know—when returning from the battlefield the soldiers always gush over how the duke is so kind. The women always have positive things to say about him." The woman seemed to see no harm in her statement. Barbaric! How dare this woman say such a thing out in public!
"I do not see how that has anything to do with you." Lysandra tried to be firm but there was a soft tremble in her voice. Turning away from the woman back towards the duke. She noticed the man hadn't heard a thing as he was talking about wine with the barkeep. Mentioning how much he disliked drinking it.
The woman flushed. "I- I'm so sorry, milady. I thought you knew." She seemed to leave as quickly as she had appeared. It was moments later that the barkeep's wife put a plate with the grilled cheese in front of Lysandra. Two slices of bread with the melted cheese inside. "Here you go, milady. Eat up, there's more if you like." The woman smiled but didn't linger, returning to serve other customers.
The barkeep noticed that the grilled cheese had been served and followed up quickly with a glass of wine. It smelled fruity, yet tart enough to balance out the fattiness of cheese. As Lysandra picked up the first half of her grilled cheese, she pulled ribbons of cheese as if the two pieces didn't want to let each other go.
Not wanting to think about the vile things the woman just told her about. Lysandra took a small bite of her food. Delicious, it tasted like nothing she had ever had before. Cheese could taste like this?! It was hot! Luckily her bite wasn't too big. The people in the capital would serve nothing else but grilled cheese if they knew this was a dish. She played with the strings of cheese as she took another bite. She enjoyed every bit of it. Grabbing the cup of wine, taking a sip, perfect. Maybe– just maybe, the North wasn't that bad.
Lysandra then realised she had been so focused on her food she had forgotten about the duke. She turned her head to face him. Seeing the man sipping his beer whilst he looked at her with great interest.
"So? Do you like it?" The man actually dared to ask her something, but all she remembered was the woman's words about the duke. An amazing lover, woman only had positive things to say after he–
Quickly turning her head away from him, Lysandra finished her plate and downed her drink "Let's go back." She jumped off her chair grabbing her coat.
The barkeep whistled. "You're in trouble, your grace." The man remarked followed by a loud laugh. The duke got up as well and nodded his head slightly. He put on his coat and walked up to the front door first. He held it open for Lysandra but not questioning her why she'd wanted to leave.
The carriage was already waiting for them at the edge of town. "Ah, milady." The coachman greeted kindly, holding open the door to the carriage. "Heading home?" He held out his arm for Lysandra to take. Lysandra took the coachmans arm and got into the couch sitting down on her side. She could see how the duke was about to step closer. Quickly she reached over to the door handle and slammed the door closed in his face. Pulling the curtain before crossing her arms. The duke could ride with one of the ladies he had slept with. There were probably plenty of them in the village— village who was she kidding this was a whole town and beyond. She had only seen several streets but no-one would call this a village.
Lysandra could hear footsteps going around the carriage, then two people seemed to get on. One in the front and one on the back. The ride back to the estate was uneventful. Lysandra saw no need to open the curtains. When the carriage came to a stop it was then that the duke opened the door, holding out his hand.
"Milady?"
He?! Flustered Lysandra grabbed onto the edge of the carriage door and jumped instead. She was still cross with him. Completely skipping his hand, she turned to face him.
"Don't expect me for dinner. Why don't you go ask someone else?! I'm sure there are plenty!" Lysandra glared at him, grabbed the hem of her skirt and walked up to the front door as the guards quickly opened it. She stormed off towards her room. That fucking asshole! How many? How many women is he sleeping with? The whole town probably knew about it. Did he take her to town to show her off to his other bitches!
"ARGH!" Lysandra kicked in her own door and fell down onto her bed screaming into the sheets. "I HATE HIM!" She shouted and turned around on her back.