...Another centauress trotted over to her, with similar blonde hair and shaggy hooves as herself. Her build was smaller, however, and her clothes were much finer. A pink, velvet garment lined with white fox fur was draped over her equine back. “Oh no, the stonecake! What did you do that for? I didn’t even get to taste it!” she whined.
Elska replied, “So, it was made of stone! Such a thing is unfit to be eaten. I have spared your life by destroying it.”
The smaller centaur rolled her eyes and scoffed, “Did you just tumble down from the Shrieking Mountains or something? You have quite a strong accent.”
“I am Elska of Loreham,” Elska told her, grasping her hand and giving it a crushing squeeze, as Evan had once taught her to do.
The other centauress winced, shaking her hand as she pulled it away. “You, er, have quite a strong grip too…” She cleared her throat and introduced herself, “You can call me Blomi. It’s not every day I meet another shaghoof, especially on a cruise like this! You must be working security, huh?”
“Not today,” answered Elska. “My captain has instructed me to ‘rest’ and do ‘recreation’. Now I hunger, but I know not what these strange foods are. Tell me what this is,” she said, pointing to a square pan filled with a gooey, yellow substance.”
“Oh, the Zareenites call that ronerol,” answered Blomi, using a ladle to scoop some onto her plate. “It’s a pasta casserole with fish and cheese. I find it rather palatable, myself.”
Trusting her judgment, Elska decided to try it. Blomi’s eyes rounded as she watched her grab a fistful of the ronerol right out of the pan and bite into it like an apple.
“Um, there’s a ladle…you know…right here…” Blomi mentioned quietly, wiggling the ladle in her hand.
“Unnecessary,” Elska told her over a full mouth. A few seconds later, she spit out the bite and tossed what remained in her hand onto the deck.
“This cheese tastes of lies!” exclaimed Elska.
“Well, that’s because it’s probably fake cheese,” explained Blomi, wrinkling her face in disgust. “Ugh, did you really have to spit it all over the floor…?”
Elska turned to her, looking horrified. “Explain this ‘fake cheese’! If not cheese, then tell me what I have just put in my mouth!”
Blomi admitted, “Um, I’m not really sure, to be honest. The Zareenites have all these crazy machines that can turn things into other things. Somehow, they have turned not-cheese into cheese, and they put it on just about everything they eat. It’s not so bad once you get used to it.”
“I do not wish to eat this mysterious substance,” decided Elska, eyes searching the table for alternatives.
Blomi pointed the ladle at a massive roast at the center of the table, sitting in a pan with potato wedges and pickle spears. The meat was glistening with some type of glazing. “You could try the sweetpork roast. It’s just buttered pig with syrup glaze. It’s so delicious, and it’ll fill you up fast too!”
Blomi was already cutting a slice for Elska as she spoke, so the mercenary wouldn’t rip into it with her hands. She handed the slice to her on a plate, and Elska picked up the whole slab and shoved it into her mouth.
Blomi watched her chew with anticipation, praying that she would not spit onto the floor again. She could tell by the look on Elska’s face that she didn’t like it, and just as Elska lurched forward to spit, Blomi barked, “Uh-uh-uh! Onto the plate!”
Elska paused, then did as she was told and spit the meat out onto her plate instead. “This meat is too old!” she said. “I sense it has been frozen for months, perhaps even years! I desire a fresh kill. Show me where the hunting grounds are located, and I will slay a beast myself.”
Blomi shot her a strange look. “Hunting grounds? You mean, like, a game reserve? The Majestine doesn’t have anything like that. You really are from someplace very, very deep in the sticks, aren’t you?”
“I was raised upon a great mountain,” Elska answered vaguely.
“Yes, I can certainly tell. Don’t you have a friend with you? You know, someone who can…help you out?” Blomi said delicately. “I’d hate to see you make a scene and get in trouble. Foreigners already have the impression that we Folkvarans are just brutish, uncivilized barbarians. They even think that about me, and I’m royalty! Isn’t it unfair how we always have to work extra hard to prove them wrong?”
Elska tipped her plate, watching the chewed-up meat slide off and hit the floor with a splat. “I do not understand,” she said.
Blomi let out a big sigh as she added more food to her own plate. “How silly of me. Of course you don’t. I guess it was just too much to hope for…”
--Elska unknowingly meets Princess Blomi Folkvar in the upcoming story "Sky Cruise".
It's a funny interaction, but I also find it very interesting from a character perspective. Blomi has this snotty side to her, as most nobles do. But this scene shows that she can be kind too.
Although she's disgusted by Elska's behavior, she also shows a degree of sympathy for her, recognizing that she's really struggling to fit in socially. Blomi does scold her a bit, but also goes out of her way to help her. That's kind of amazing, considering how rotten and selfish a lot of the other LG royals are. Turns out that some of them do have redeeming qualities!
