#f!inquisitor

Faren burst through the kitchen door, her flaming red curls a wild halo about her head with a panicked look on her face. For a moment, Cullen thought his eight-year-old came with bad news. An accident perhaps. He was always fearing the worst even when the situation didn't warrant it.

"Mama is on her way back! This very moment! I saw her at the edge of the field!"

Cullen looked down at his youngest, Maëlys, who was taking her duties very seriously. With a fork, she made designs in the top of each lemon cake (a favorite of his wife's). They were meant to be a surprise when she returned later that evening. However, now he needed to think quickly. His training hadn't exactly prepared him for this situation.

"Try to distract her," he told Faren.

Nodding, she ran back out the door to her mother. Calenhad (or "Cally" as the girls called him), their Mabari followed behind, ever the watchful nanny dog. Cullen had enough time to get the cakes into the oven. Maëlys looked up once she had finished, beaming proudly.

"Papa, look!"

"Those are perfect. I'll put them in the oven to bake and then we shall wash up."

"I want to," she insisted.

"The oven is quite hot. I wouldn't want you to burn yourself, love."

She shook her head. "It isn't hot. It's cold."

Cullen sighed, knowing to pick his battles with a contrarian four-year-old. "Why don't you keep watch for mama and Faren for me? We wouldn't want to ruin mama's surprise, right?"

Her attitude switched up in a flash, and she dashed outside, hands and work apron still covered with flour. It gave him enough time to tuck the four little treats into the stone oven just outside the kitchen door and to clean up. Looking out the window, he could see the tiny girl and large dog racing toward his wife and other daughter.

Despite having a cart and horses, Aliénor still preferred to walk into town when the weather was fine. He watched her for a few moments as she talked and laughed with Faren. She was still as beautiful as the first time he'd seen her - fair skin dotted with freckles, long chestnut waves kept in a braid most days, and dark eyes that turned to amber honey in the sunlight. Her face and body had softened over the years, as age and childbearing did to a person. The girls mostly favored her, though she disagreed saying they had more of his hair color than her own. After everything that they had been through together, he still caught himself wondering if this was all a lovely dream.

Thank the Maker, it wasn't.

With Maëlys cleaned up, the two walked out to meet them. "You're back early," he said, dropping a kiss to his wife's rosy mouth.

"Disappointed?" she teased.

"To see you? Never."

He kissed her once more, wrapping his arms about her waist. In their usual dramatic fashion, the girls hollered and carried on at the sight of their parents being affectionate. He rolled his eyes, and then gave Aliénor a little squeeze.

As she only had use of one hand, she kept her market purchases in satchels that she wore across her body. He removed the heavy bags and carried them over his shoulder. As they walked up the well-trod path to the house, she paused and sniffed the air.

"Lemon cakes?" she asked excitedly.