Forbidden Lavender by Raiyana

Chapter 1

Read Chapter 1

”It’s… you can’t put lavender in the brewing vats, Nerdanel!” Anairë said, her voice rising in pitch with each word but her feet not quite swift enough to let her grasp Nerdanel’s wrist before she had already dropped the vibrantly purple flower buds she held into the large vat of what was once destined to become Anairë’s best Golden Sunset Ale.

“But maybe we’ll get purple beer, Ana!” Nerdanel grinned, putting the lid onto the vat and giving her that grin that Anairë never could stay angry at for long.

She sighed.

“You and your colours.”

Nerdanel’s grin widened, the riotous curls escaping her headscarf framing her face perfectly.

“You love my colours,” she teased, tapping Anairë’s hip, the skirt she wore made from a fabric of multitudinous hues of interchanging purples and blues that Nerdanel had dyed especially for her begetting day gift last year. Anairë felt her cheeks heat slightly.

“On clothes, Nena,” she chided, swatting Nerdanel’s tickling fingers away and wrapping her own around them in a gentle squeeze, “not in my beer!”

“Why not?” Nerdanel wondered, her expression pure innocence; a clear mirror of her youngest sons’, sparkling mischief hidden better in her eyes than Ambarussa had ever managed.

Anairë smiled softly, shaking her head at her best friend. “Well… maybe if we were to make it sweet, now you’ve added a floral component… honey – we need some honey…” Turning, she stared at the walls of her pantry, frowning thoughtfully before reaching for a cutting board and a small container. “Oh no you don’t!” she growled, snagging Nerdanel’s sleeve when she tried to sidle out “You did this, you are going to help me make something of it! Get to cutting.” Sternly, she pointed at the board and the knife, prodding Nerdanel into action. “I shall go beg some honey off Elemmírë,” Anairë sighed, staying only long enough to ensure that Nerdanel began cutting up the sticky dates she’d found for her before leaving the small room with a swish of skirts. “And you can have your owne brewing vat for these kinds of experiments – I shall order you one as a gift!” she threatened over her shoulder.

Behind her, Nerdanel’s bright laughter filled the brewing room.

 

 

The called it ‘Forbidden Lavender’, and it was good; an instant craze sweeping through Tirion and even spilling over so far away as Vanyamar.

As exact and precise as she was with her statues and forge-work, Nerdanel never had truly mastered the culinary arts – nor did she much care to, beyond keeping herself reasonably fed, really – so of course, she had no idea how much lavender she’d used to make it. She did, after much prodding, admit that she’d added the small flowers to the vat more than the time Anairë had caught her – so it took some experimentation to arrive at a proper recipe and more than enough frustration to make Anairë want to tear her hair out.

Still, the lavender ale won a place of pride in Anairë’s summer brewing schedule, even if she kept up the pretence of it being Nerdanel’s work by keeping the vat in her house… and keeping her friend away from the brewing vats in her own house that had not been designated for experimentation.

---

Chapter End Notes

Lavender beer actually exists; I picked this one