Dark clouds filled the sky early in the morning during training. The fields were covered in dew, making the dirt all muddy and slippery. I had already fallen twice while running and jumping around, trying to warm myself up in the freezing weather.

How is it this cold in fall? California doesn't get like this until its 2 months into winter at least.

During my breaks, I would stand near a window and fog it up with my breath, drawing random shapes and figures with Lionel, who was teaching me how to shoot today.

When Commander Landon announced training was over, I immediately ran inside to take a bath first before my lessons, running barefoot down the halls so I wouldn't track mud all over the floors.

After sitting in the warm water and getting the dirt out from underneath my fingernails, I attended my lessons with Sir Leonard. It has started raining, and the ambiance of the fire cracking in the library and rain hitting the windows nearly lulled me to sleep twice.

Instead of doing more studying after lunch, I decided to go to my room and take a nap, and I knocked out for nearly three hours before waking up in the afternoon, all sweaty and groggy. I would have slept for longer, but I was woken up by Rex's knock at the door.

"Are you alright?" he asked with a worried look on his face. "You aren't sick, are you?"

I yawned, then answered, "No, I'm just tired. Did you need something?"

"If you want to keep sleeping, you can," Rex said. "I was just wondering if I could help you make the recipe for apple cider."

"Oh, sure!" I had completely forgotten his request until now. "Come on in, I'll write down the ideas."

As we got settled on my furry carpet that looked suspiciously similar to a lion, I started thinking of ideas.

"Well, of course we need to have apples, but which type of apple is the real question. We can use tart apples or sweet apples, or a mixture of both, but I think it will take some testing first before we figure out the right ratio. What do you think the knights will like more?"

Rex thought for a moment. "I think they would prefer sugary foods. They don't often get a chance to eat those kinds of things, so it would be a nice treat. And since it's just fruits, it will be healthier than bread or pastries."

I nodded in agreement. "We'll also need oranges for extra flavor. We can either peel the oranges or leave the skin on, it just depends on the level of tartness we want. That will also take some experimenting."



A/N: Here's the recipe for apple cider that I used. Since fall is here and winter is approaching, I think it would be the perfect recipe to try out.

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/homemade-apple-cider/