Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 4)

"What would you say is one of the strangest meals you've eaten in your travels?" Gaius had one of his own in mind, but he'd hear hers first. Anneliese's eyes lit up; it seemed she had something to say, too.

“Oh, uh…” she was taken off guard by that question and finally let go of her abdomen to rub the back of her neck as she thought. “There was this one place, over in the East, that served us lamb tongue.” She hesitated, glancing at Anneliese, not sure if she should add that it’d been served by placing the entire head on the plate in front of her. “That whole meal was just odd.”

"I think that was served to me once." Gaius hadn't particularly enjoyed that meal, though he never enjoyed meals. That one had involved the glassy stare of a dead animal, though. "The strangest meal I've ever had was across the sea. We were served a bundle of caramalized cow nerves soaked in strong liquor. It was a religious delicacy, as I recall. Very tough to eat."

Ky wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Were there any redeemable qualities of that dish?”

"You're asking the wrong man. I suppose the caramelization made it slightly more bearable? But it was like eating an unraveled ball of yarn."

“Oof.” Ky tried to force her expression back to neutral, but her mind was imagining taking the nerves out of a cow. Imagined having them taken out of her. And she squirmed as a chill ran down her spine at the thought.

"The strangest meal I ever ate was in the South," Anneliese piped up. "When I was eight years old. They charred three songbirds for each person until they were mostly ashes held together by fat, then they drizzled honey and spice over them. It was actually delicious, but I've never seen anything like that done in the North."
"Ah, I've had that dish." He'd eaten all of it; political tensions deemed it necessary. Not the worst thing he'd eaten.

“That sounds interesting,” Ky said with a nod. “We never charred them, but my papa liked it when we let birds soak in honey and mashed wild berries then roasted them over the fire and serve them with melons.”

"That sounds delicious," Anneliese exclaimed, grinning. "Do you think you could replicate it?"

“I mean… I don’t know what kind of fruit grows up here,” Ky said thoughtfully. “But I’m sure I could figure something out. It was one of the few meals I could make all on my own without help.”

"There are berries and very small fruits," Gaius replied. "Size isn't a virtue in a place this cold, especially not for plants."
"Predators and herd animals get big, though," Anneliese added. "Really, really big."

“That makes sense,” Ky said with a nod. “Funny how the climate controls everything.”

"Indeed." Gaius gestured to the hearth. "I expect most of us would be dead without fire. Or we'd all have migrated to the East and South.
"And be stuck in a war zone or a desert as hot as the North is cold," Anneliese snorted.

Ky laughed at that. “Ah but you can go swimming in the South.”

"You can here, too," Gaius pointed out. "But very, very briefly."
"I wish I was a seal, sometimes," Anneliese mused. "Then I could swim all the time."