Chapter 50: A Little Box and an Unexpected Guest
Chapter 50: A Little Box and an Unexpected Guest
Kethra returned to the dining hall carrying something small and carefully wrapped, and for once it wasn’t a steaming tureen or a platter that could double as a shield. She set it on the table between us with the gentleness of someone presenting a keepsake—her fingers lingering for a heartbeat before she withdrew.
I straightened. "What’s that?" I asked.
She smiled. "It’s a snack box."
"A snack box?" I asked her with a frown on my face.
"Yes."
"But I’m confused. Why would you be giving me a snack box?" I asked her.
"It’s actually not something I did myself. The kitchen staff made this for you. We were all glad at the way you seem to appreciate our food unlike the King, who always pushes it away. You enjoy eating and your eyes light up. You appreciate the effort we put into it, so we all... I shouldn’t be saying we because I only made the snack along with a few others, but um... yes, this is a gift."
Could it be that I’ve gotten this queen thing down? Only a few days in and I was already receiving a gift? That has to be a record, right?
I adjusted my expression so Kethra didn’t know that deep inside, I was patting myself on the shoulder for a job well done. It seemed this queen thing would be easy. Maybe I’ll rethink my decision about leaving.
After all, the food wasn’t bad, and apart from the fact that the demons looked a bit scary... no, I take that back. The people from Aelthryn were a lot more scary, especially with their dressing and makeup.
I reached for the box. It was smaller than a teacup, carved from dark wood and lacquered smooth until it glowed a bit. Around the edges someone had inlaid shards of pearl in a pattern that looked, at a glance, like ripples on water. The lid fit with the faintest click, and under the rim someone had etched tiny runes so fine they looked almost like flecks of stars.
"It’s beautiful," I said, because it was.
"Open it," Kethra urged softly.
I turned the box. "Um... how?" I asked her, because I couldn’t just stick my hand into the box.
"Oh, sorry. You don’t open it. You just shake it a bit, hitting it on your hand softly, and it’ll come out," she told me.
"Oh?" I said, intrigued, because this sounded like something we had in my past life.
I shook the box as instructed. There was a faint rattle, like little bells inside a bead bag, then a soft click, and a single tiny object rolled out onto my palm.
It was the size of a large pea. It was leaf-green with a faint dusting of what looked like sugar—except the sugar seemed to glow faintly from within.
For a second it simply sat there on my hand. It smelled like sugar, some herbs I couldn’t name, and something more. Something I also couldn’t name.
I popped it into my mouth and my mouth exploded with flavor. The center melted and released a syrup that tasted a bit of cinnamon.
The center melted slow and even, releasing a syrup that tasted like a dozen small happy things at once—dulled cinnamon, mint, a hint of salted caramel, and beneath it all a ghost of pear.
All ingredients I knew would have a different name even if they sounded exactly like what I just said.
"What did you use in making it?" I asked her.
Kethra grinned widely. "That’s a merrowberry bonbon," she said with the matter-of-fact pride of someone who’d been right about a thing. "Merrowberries from the shallows, shaved and reduced until the essence sings. We folded in a pinch of candied dusk-leaves and a smear of moon-sugar. It steadies the stomach and lifts the mood. We call them small comforts."
"It’s brilliant," I told her honestly, and I meant it. The little green ball had the sort of flavor that left a warm, clean note at the back of the throat, like closing a door on cold weather.
"Thank you. There are various different flavors and all of them are sweet. I noticed you love sweet foods, and also another reason we made it is because of how soothing the snacks are. I know how work can be stressful, so this will help when things are getting too tough for you," she told me.
Work again. Why was everyone talking about work? What could a queen possibly be doing? What work could she possibly do? I had no idea and honestly, I didn’t even want to ask. I figured it wouldn’t be difficult, if at all.
I closed my hand around the empty box and gave it the faintest shake again, because the gesture of possibility felt comforting. "It’s very sweet," I said. "I appreciate it."
She leaned in and, for a blink, I could have sworn the sparks braided through her hair winked like embers. "Goodnight, my lady."
"Goodnight, Kethra," I told her as I walked outside the hall where Rin waited by the doorway.
Now that she knew the Demon King wasn’t going to kill me, she took her work a bit seriously.
Rin stared at the box and frowned. "What is that?" she asked curiously. "It looks dull."
"That’s because it’s not meant to be shiny, Rin. It’s a gift for me," I told her with a small laugh.
"A gift?" she asked with a frown. "A gift for you should shine like you shine. That looks so dull," she said, making me laugh.
We walked back to my room together, and Rin complained throughout about how I should throw the box away and she’d give me a better gift—one that was extremely shiny and would flow with every movement I made.
Given the fact that it was a snack box, I wasn’t going to throw it away. It wasn’t meant to be shiny either, so I warned Rin and told her that if anything happened to the box or the snacks inside it, she would be in trouble.
Rin muttered about how I may be even more scary than Zorathys. She helped me as I changed out of my clothes and took a bath, changing into my sleepwear.
Vaelory wasn’t available because she still hadn’t woken up from the shock of seeing Morthen. Funny, I know.
Once Rin was done, she left the room and I took a snack from the box—this one was another flavor. I placed the box on the bedside table and then went to sleep.
What I didn’t register was that perhaps there would be another threat to the snack box apart from Rin. A threat in the form of a very huge serpent.