The next day at the morning training, Rex pulled Commander Landon aside, and talked to him.

I was still running and finishing my last lap, Lionel next to me giving me encouraging words.

"Just a few more steps and you'll make it!"

"Shut up," I barely managed to say, collapsing next to a tree and regretting it instantly when I accidentally kneeled into wet grass and mud that caked itself onto my pants.

I groaned in annoyance as Lionel laughed at me, nearly falling over as he clutched his stomach.

He pulled my arm, bringing me out of the mud, and I rolled up my sleeves attempting to clean off the mud.

"Now my hands are dirty," I complained.

Rex jogged over at this moment, beaming with happiness.

"Commander Landon has a really good idea!" He said. "We can use a large metal cauldron over a fire to make the apple cider. I know we have a large copper cauldron around somewhere, and we can build a campfire near the knight's barracks. The best time for that is probably before the knights' dinnertime."

"When do they eat?" I asked. "We'll have to time it so that we start the boil about 2 hours before the mealtime."

"Their mealtime is around 6:30 or 7 at night," Rex said. "Commander Landon gave us permission to make it any day we wanted, as long as we told him the morning of. When do you think is the best time?"

I shrugged. "Any time that works for you, works for me. You can decide."

"Wait, what are you guys planning?" Lionel asked, curiously. "I wanna join too!"

"We want to make a drink for the knights," I explained. "We've come up with the recipe already. It's a hot drink, since winter is here."

"I wanna try it. What's it made out of?"

"Apples, oranges, and some other things," Rex listed. "And you'll get to try some tonight since we made extra, but there is something else you could try for now."

Rex looked at me with an evil glint in his eyes and I remembered.

"Oh right! We had some spare time so I made something extra. We can all try it at dinner tonight."

"What is it though? Another dessert?" Lionel asked.

"No it's more like a sauce you can put on your food," Rex explained. "It's very good, you'll like it."

"Well I can't wait!" Lionel grinned, as Rex and I looked at each other, hiding our smiles.



A/N: How much spice do you all think you can handle? I'd say I'm pretty great with spice. I can handle spice higher than cayenne peppers.