Chapter 47: The Foods Zorathys Dislikes and Something Good to Stop the Headache
Chapter 47: The Foods Zorathys Dislikes and Something Good to Stop the Headache
I bolted out of the office the moment his antennae drooped in defeat. He had still been reading, voice steady and monotone, while the scroll in his hands seemed to unroll endlessly, curling around itself like a smug serpent.
I had fallen asleep immediately he started reading from the scroll and I woke up hours later. I mean hours, not minutes or seconds, hours later. And when I woke up, Morthen was still reading from the scroll. Even Rin had fallen asleep. She had transformed into her raven form and was on the rug, her wings draped over her stomach as she slept.
I had no idea ravens slept that way. But I wasn’t even surprised. This was Rin, after all; maybe her kind didn’t sleep this way, but she did.
I told Morthen, who looked crestfallen when I said it, by the way, that I was starving and I needed to leave. I had threatened him about starving the future queen, and then he blanched... I’m not joking.
I feel kinda sad for threatening him, but I could not stay back any longer, and so I hightailed it out of the office with Rin behind me, but she told Morthen that his lecture was boring before we left.
I made my way to the kitchen. I needed to eat something, after all.
Warm air wrapped around me, carrying the scent of smoke, roasting meats, and sharp, aromatic spices. The familiar clatter of copper pots and pans provided a comforting rhythm.
We hadn’t even stayed up to five minutes when I heard people screaming and a bird flying, flapping its wings loudly.
"Rin! What did I tell you about transforming in my kitchen?" Kethra said sternly.
Rin immediately went down and transformed back to human form... as similar to human as she could get, but that was her mistake.
Kethra took her by the ear.
"Ow, ow, you are hurting me," Rin cried out.
"And you didn’t think you were hurting my staff? The new copper pots are not jewelry just because they are shiny. The cutlery is not jewelry just because it is shiny!" Kethra scolded her.
"I was just checking," Rin said.
"Go and stand in a corner and do not make a sound at all," Kethra told her.
"But I’m my lady’s maid," Rin argued.
"Go, now!" Kethra snapped, brandishing a spoon the size of a battle axe.
Rin pouted, but obediently shuffled to the corner far from every cutlery and close to the door.
"I’m sorry about that, my lady. It’s just, these ravens are a headache whenever they come in here," Kethra said.
"It’s alright. If you hadn’t sent her to the corner, then I would have done it myself," I told her.
"What brings you to the kitchen, my lady? We were about to deliver food to your office," she told me.
I waved her off. "No need. I’ll just eat here."
Kethra stared in horror. "In the kitchen?" she asked me, and I nodded. "Yes, just give me the food."
"How about you eat in the dining hall instead?" she asked me, but I shook my head.
"There’s no need for that. And besides, you forget that I told you I would be working with you to come up with something that Zorathys could eat and enjoy," I told her.
"You were serious about that?" she asked me in shock.
"I’m not a liar, Kethra," I told her as I made my way to the small table in the kitchen. It was clean, too.
"Serve the food and also, can you give me a list of the things that Zorathys doesn’t like?" I asked her.
Kethra gave me a look, then nodded. While the others placed my food in front of me, she handed me a scroll.
I immediately opened it, and it rolled, stopping at Rin’s feet.
"Kethra... what is this?" I asked her.
"A list of everything the King doesn’t like," she told me.
I didn’t even glance at the words. I just passed the scroll back to Kethra.
"I’ll have some food first, please. I’m not going to have a headache from whatever that is," I told her.
She took the scroll back from me while I focused on the food in front of me.
The plate they set down was simple but breathtaking.
A slice of ember-fowl... yes, I still remembered the name, I’m not that forgetful after all. Its skin was a bit dark but it was glazed with a sauce and there were some herbs in it too.
I pointed at it. "What was this made with? This is ember-fowl, right?" I asked Kethra, who nodded with a smile on her face.
"Yes, it is. It was prepared with smoked crimson herbs and blackfire sauce," she said. "And it was also grilled too."
I nodded and then moved to the next dish that was placed in front of me, right next to the ember-fowl.
It was a plate of some black... is that rice? I stared at it, and yes, yes it was rice. It shimmered a bit, even with its black color.
"And what’s this?" I asked her.
"Void-black rice, is what we call it. It’s one of the few foods the king is able to eat, although only sometimes," she told me.
A bowl of broth was placed in front of me, too. It was fragrant with smoke and something sharp and green. And finally, a single perfect bloodfruit, sliced paper-thin, arranged in a crimson rose.
I took a bite of the fowl and nearly cried. Smoky, sweet, a slow burn that bloomed into warmth behind my ribs. Everything tasted so good that I didn’t even ask Kethra what the rest of the dishes were made with.
"This is so good," I said to her with a smile as I ate.
"I’m glad you enjoy it."
Kethra gave me space as I ate quietly, devouring everything.
When I was done, some of the workers in the kitchen cleared the plates. I noticed Kethra was standing next to me and wondered why.
"Is something the issue?" I asked her.