Chapter 16

In the morning, I woke, showered, and dressed. I came out to the sitting room wearing slacks with a buttoned blouse tucked in. I liked the look of my blouse tucked in partially because I had a smallish waist and a tucked-in blouse showed that nicely. On my feet were sandals with low heels.

I had looked in my room and the bathroom and found no coffee maker or makings. In the sitting room, I found nothing either and was quietly looking in drawers and cabinets. I found nothing for my desire. Suddenly, there was a very quiet knock. I opened the door to let Jam inside. He was carrying a platter with a coffee pot and four cups along with sugar and cream. I was happily amazed and pointed at a sideboard. He placed the tray on it and poured coffee into a cup. I took the cup and had a big sip.

“Ahh! That’s so good and good of you.”

He poured a cup for himself now but, before he could take it, I kissed his lips. Then, I stepped back. We carried our coffee to the love seat and sat down together.

“How did you know that I love my coffee in the morning?”

“I asked Mason. He told me that you came in each morning with a carry cup and drank coffee until noon even in summer. I noticed your pot was low when I was there to pick you up. It wasn’t hard to figure out.” He smiled.

He then said, “I understand that breakfast is served starting at eight so we have almost an hour. Should we wake anyone?”

“No. I like just sitting here with you. They’ll figure things out soon enough. I want some alone time with you.”

We sat together closely but quietly until just before eight. Jam said quietly, “Let’s fill our cups again and search out breakfast.” I nodded. We stood together. At the sideboard, he poured more coffee in our cups and we left for a dining room or kitchen.

On the way, we met King Marcus with two guards walking toward us. They stopped at a door and waited for us. The King said, “Breakfast is in here.”

Jam nodded and I said, “Thank you, Sire.” The guards bowed all three of us in. Inside was a great breakfast buffet including American items except grits.

The King noticed my look over the buffet and smiled. “Sorry, Jar. No grits. That’s a southern art that my cooking staff may never be able to master.”

I chuckled. “Sire, even many southerners don’t master that particular art.”

We piled our plates high with good looking food and sat down together. The King and one of his guards sat across from us. We held hands and blessed the meal quietly.

We raised our heads and took for forks and dug in. The King said, “With me is Berthold Maes. He is the Captain of my Guard. He wants to say something to you.”

He straightened. “Miss Roberts, Mister Madison, thank you for what you did. Those fanatics would have gone out of the kitchen door and killed more including the King and the Princess. On behalf of my men, we appreciate what you did.” He rose in his seat and bowed. He then kissed my hand! He shook Jam’s hand.

The Captain asked to be excused and the King nodded. After bowing to the King, he surprised me by bowing to Jam and to me.

The King said, “There will be a formal luncheon today. I want both of you to be there.”

I said as deadpan as possible, “I guess we have to eat some time.” Jam grinned.

The King smiled. “As long as you’re both there.” We nodded.

A second later, Angela and Roger and Anna and Mason entered. Mason said, “Jam, thanks for the coffee. I needed that.”

Jam smiled and nodded. I said, “How did he know you brought the coffee and not me?”

“Because there were four cups. You would know that Angela doesn’t drink coffee.”

We had a good breakfast. I noticed that people had been busy. The place had been cleaned up. Roger had seated Angela next to his father. He sat down next to her. He reached in his pocket and pulled a folded paper. He passed it to me. “Jar, Jam, that’s the casualty list from last night.”

I nodded in acknowledgment. “Thank you, Roger.”

Jam and I had cleaned our plates and eaten well. I said, “May we be excused?” The King nodded as did a few others. Jam and I left holding hands.

He looked at me. “Outside in the garden?” I nodded. We made our way out and went into the garden a little way. There was a bench and we sat down. I had the paper in my hand. Jam took that hand also to hold both of mine together. He said, “Let’s pray.” Even without yet reading the list. I began to pray silently. Jam spoke aloud as he prayed over the list that we hadn’t read yet. We spent that time close together. At a pause, I opened the paper and began to read the names. Someone had typed the list and even listed their positions in English. Tears came to my eyes. Jam moved one hand to pull me close while continuing to hold my hands in his hand and let us go over the list. We spent most of an hour praying for all those people as a whole and individually.

People who haven’t done it wonder how you can pray for an hour straight with a partner. I’ve even done that solo but it’s better and seems more meaningful with a good partner. Jam is a great partner. I read the last name off the list and prayed for her. Jam then prayed for everyone again. We said, “Amen,” together. We had been continuing to hold hands.

Jam hugged me and whispered, “You’re a good person to pray with, Jar. I look forward to doing this many times over the years though, hopefully, for happier situations.”

I looked at him smiling. “That sounds like a plan. We’ll keep talking.”

He smirked. “I hope we’ll kiss some, too.”

I grinned. “Perhaps.”

Roger and Angela walked up right then. “Perhaps, what?” She asked.

Jam grinned. “Perhaps, we’ll kiss once in a while.”

Jam stood and pulled me up. We walked the garden continuing to hold hands. It was nearing noon when Anna and Mason came up. Anna said, “It’s getting close to noon. You two need to change clothes. My father said that it was a formal lunch. No coat and tie for Jam and you don’t have to wear a dress but shorts aren’t right.” We nodded and walked quickly toward our rooms.