Aria came over and gripped my arm again. I looked down at her. The child’s eyes were full of fear, even as she looked at the servant girl. Was it fear that kept her tongue from wagging. Was she afraid of these humans?
Triton had yet to declare war on the land-dwellers. There had been some wars fought between the humans that we all watched from a distance. They were a violent lot with no regard for spilling blood. And they tended to kill that which they didn’t understand. Could it be that these thoughts ran through Aria’s head when she looked upon them?
I nodded toward the woman. “We will follow.”
She led us to a great dining hall, where Evan stood beside a chair at the end, but not at the head. Across the table from him, two places were set. The woman gestured toward the seats, and a butler waited at the chairs to pull them out for us. Once we were seated, Evan sat as well. “I hope that you found your accommodations acceptable?”
“Yes, thank you, Prince Evan.” I bowed my head toward him.
“Wonderful. You both are welcome to stay for as long as you like. We have a festival coming up in a little more than two weeks. I hope you’ll remain until then at least?”
Aria gasped next to me, her eyes growing wide as she grabbed my arm and nodded.
I leaned in. “The festival is something the princess is looking forward to.”
“Then I’ll do what I can to make it the best festival we’ve ever had. I trust you both enjoy seafood, as it is my kingdom’s specialty.”
Aria nodded to him with a coy smile, letting her gaze slip his direction, and then looking down again.
I rolled my eyes. And I might have been caught in the act by Evan, since his smile widened when my gaze returned to his. I cleared my throat. “Yes, your highness, we both greatly enjoy the seafood in the area.”
“Excellent,” he said as the courses were brought out.
Some of them were raw, as we were accustomed to eating, but other dishes were cooked so that they looked little like the animal they once had been. It was interesting, the different smells and tastes that accompanied the act of cooking and spices that were used. Cooking was a form of creation magic that I greatly wanted to learn. “Your highness, while we stay in your castle, would it be alright if I spent some time in the kitchens?”
He raised a brow. “Of course.”
I smiled, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to see it because of the gossamer veil that hid the bottom of my face. “Thank you, sire. I will endeavor to learn much.”
He smiled and drank from his goblet. “I hope you enjoy your time there and if you have any questions, feel free to let the head chef, Sebastian, know that I have given you permission to learn.”
Aria kicked me under the table, and a winced a bit, but tried to keep my posture consistent. Still, I bowed my head toward the Prince. “Your generosity is great, your highness.”
He laughed a little. “Princess Aria, what will you do during your visit?”
Silence. A blank stare. Then tears filled the bottoms of her eyelids as she looked toward me again.
I sighed and then leaned toward the prince. “The princess wishes to know more about your culture and your kingdom. She hopes that you might show her, personally, more about them yourself if possible?”
She smiled again and nodded toward me and then toward the prince as well.
His brow knit over his forehead and his eyes darted a bit as though calculating the possibility. Finally he smiled. “I will make time for it.”
Chapter 4
Sebastian watched me as I added ingredients for the cupcakes and mixed the batter. Cooking was both magic and an art form, and Sebastian was happy to teach me both. Creating something of value to the people who consumed them, the enjoyment that it brought others… these were the things I wanted to learn.
“Excellent. Now pour them into the cups.” Sebastian smiled at me through his wiry gray beard. The corners of his blue eyes crinkled as he watched me.
Once I set the cupcakes into the oven, I sat on a stool with Sebastian. The chef had been a bright spot in my enslavement. His general zest for life was infectious, and hard to find for anyone in their later years like he was. He made me realize what I’d been missing during my self-imposed exile. Although I traveled and learned what I could, I hadn’t made any true, lasting friendships. The tall, older gentleman with a constant smile was open, honest, and a patient teacher.
I kept watch over my cupcakes while they sat in the oven.
“They won’t cook faster if you watch them, you know? It will actually feel as though they are cooking slower.”
I laughed.
Eventually, the heavenly aroma of the cupcakes filled the kitchen. When they'd hit a certain smell, Sebastian grinned. "They are ready."
I wrinkled my brow. "You can tell they are ready by how they smell?"
He laughed and nodded. "Yes. When you pull the scent in and taste it with your magic, you can tell when it's hit the right amount of cooking. You have a small window of perfection before it becomes overcooked, and if you jump in and pull things out too early, you'll have raw dough. Remember the scent of raw dough?"
I nodded.
"Good. When you no longer smell raw dough mixed in among the cooked, you'll know the window is open. When the tangy scent begins, and things start to smell sour, you'll know it's overcooked and starting to burn in spots."
That made perfect sense. I nodded and opened the oven door, allowing the heat to splash against my skin in much the same way as the waves did when I sunbathed on the rocks or on a beach. I loved the feeling. It almost felt as good as sunshine after a cyclone. Once I pulled the cupcakes from the oven, I took a deep whiff. I allowed the magic in my core to pull the scent in and taste it. It didn't smell the same as it did when it was raw, nor did it have the tangy, sour scent that Sebastian described. This aroma could help me learn to time my cooking in much the same way that Sebastian did—with his nose.
The elder chef gestured to a metal grill he'd placed on the counter top and then opened the window over the counter wide. "Set your cupcakes here and allow them to cool."
Just as the oven had washed my skin with heat, the window above where I placed the cupcakes bathed my skin in coolness. With a breeze like this one, it wouldn't take long for the cupcakes to cool.
"Call to the wind, ask it to shift so that it blows in from the north, bringing just a wee bit cooler air."
"Change the weather?" I asked with a smile tugging at my lips. "You do that just to cool your cupcakes?"
He offered me a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's only for a short while. It's not as though we're calling in a storm."
"I'm just teasing you." I smiled and pulled magic from my core, asking the breeze to shift from the north. I closed my eyes and imagined the snow upon the peaks of the mountains in the next country and pulled the wind from there and called it near.
"I'll get the icing we can use once it's cooled." Sebastian's voice said, but I had yet to open my eyes.
I continued to pull the snow drifts and the cool air down the mountain and toward the town where Evan's castle sat. I imagined the icy breeze coming directly in the window I stood before and knew that it would soon wash me with even cooler air. The breeze approached, almost to the very spot where I stood. Next to me, feet shuffled, and I imagined Sebastian's return. Then the cool air arrived, and I shivered with its sudden freeze.
With a smile on my lips, I opened my eyes.
Sebastian stood before me, and I smiled at him.
He pressed his finger across my forehead playfully and pulled it away, red.
I furrowed my brow at him. "What did you just do?"
"Nothing." He shrugged and licked the redness off his thumb. Then I saw that he had a small tub of red icing in the crook of his arm.
I blinked at him and stuck my thumb into the icing. "I know you didn't just do what I think you did."
Sebastian stepped back, laughing. I followed him step for step. He was
about to turn around when I grabbed him by the arm and then spread my red thumb down his cheek. He retaliated with another finger full of icing across my arm. There wasn't much of my face he could reach because of the veil the evil princess forced me to wear.
A squeal escaped me, and I reached for the tub again, but Sebastian pulled it from my reach.
Someone cleared their throat, making us both stop and turn their direction. Prince Evan and Aria both stood there at the kitchen door watching us. She frowned and glared at me.
Prince Evan laughed. "What are you two up to?"
Sebastian laughed as well, wiping his cheek with a rag he produced. "We are baking, sire. My lady and I were just about to put icing upon the cupcakes.
The prince stepped toward us, and Aria glared harder, following him, keeping her arm hooked in his as much as she could. I dropped my gaze toward the stone floor. The last thing I needed right then was to have Aria making my life harder. What punishment would she come up with? I enjoyed coming and working in the kitchen with Sebastian. The worst punishment I could think of was that she would make me come with her on the outings with the Prince. Not that the prince was boring, he was actually quite interesting and made learning about his kingdom fun, but touring the kingdom wasn't something I wanted to do. I'd much rather stay in the kitchen and learn the magic of baking.
I felt fingertips run along my forehead, and I blinked up, flinching back.
Prince Evan had the red icing that had been on my forehead now on his thumb. He licked it off. "Strawberry flavored. My favorite."
His eyes sparkled when he smiled down at me. Blood rushed to my cheeks and heated them, but I couldn't take my eyes off his. For a moment or two, I couldn't breathe nor could I even imagine breaking my gaze with him. He looked playfully down at me as my heart raced.
Then Aria grabbed hold of my arm, wrenched it, and yanked me toward her roughly. I nearly cried out, but I bit my lip to keep it in. My eyes met hers as they flashed with anger. I swallowed, suddenly able to breathe again. I bowed slightly toward the prince. "Forgive us, Prince Evan. Sebastian. The princess and I have need to take care of some things."
The intense look in the prince's eyes never left, and his gaze remained on me. I swallowed again.
"Not a problem, dearest Ursa. I will show you my technique for spreading icing tomorrow when we bake again." Sebastian's crooked smile reached me from the side as his eyes were wide and took in the whole scene.
I bowed again, trying not to look at the prince. But somehow I felt his eyes burning into me from behind as Aria pulled me away from the kitchen. It wasn't the first time. In fact, whenever I felt as though someone was watching me, or looking my direction, it was always the prince. During meals and other times we were in a group together, I often found him looking at me. His gaze said that he knew something about me that he wasn't expressing yet. Did he know who I was? Impossible. He hadn't caught me once without the veil. And he couldn't possibly remember me just from my eyes. Could he?
Aria wrenched my arm once more when we'd reached our rooms. "How dare you," she seethed through her teeth.
Her eyes were alight with the fire of anger and hatred. I remained silent in the onslaught of her glare.
"You are not supposed to be drawing attention to yourself." She yanked at my veil. "What is the point in this thing if it doesn't keep the prince from looking at you. He's supposed to be looking at me!"
She stomped away nearly pulling my veil with her before finally releasing it. She huffed. "This isn't working. When I get around him, I get so nervous I can't speak. And when I try, I can only think about stupid, blubbering things that wouldn't be suitable to say to him at all. I want to be eloquent. I want to be able to talk to him like you do."
"You need to stay calm, Princess," I offered. "Keep your feelings in check so you can speak."
She shook her head, turning toward the window. The bright, midday sun shined on the tears that spilled from her eyelids. I frowned. Mermaids didn't cry in the water, but on land, it was a different story. Was she becoming more human each day? The laws of nature have it so that we can come and go from land to waters at the full moon, but if we stay on land past the full moon, it becomes harder to return. Returning to water before the full moon had its repercussions too, but I didn't know what they were.
"Easy enough for you to say. You're smart and speak well. I stutter when I'm nervous and trip over my own words. There's nothing I can do about it." The tears spilled over her cheeks as she put her face in her hands.
I placed a hand on her shoulder, my heart going out to her. As much as I despised her and her whole family, I hated to see her in this kind of pain.
Her fingers reached for mine and squeezed them. Then she twisted them and turned to face me. "Don't look at him again. Don't speak to him. Don't have anything to do with him. Understand? I will make your life hell here on land, and if I return to water without his love, I will make sure you die a slow, painful death. I will bring my father’s fury down upon you so fast your head will spin clear off your body.
My fingers twisted and popped as they were dislocated. Sharp pain shot up my arms as I bit down my scream. Tears stung the backs of my eyes, but I swallowed them back. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of letting her know how much pain she caused me, but it only seemed to make her angrier. She twisted harder. My face screwed up with the pain, and my knees buckled. When I knelt on the cold stone of the castle floor, she finally released my fingers. With a cruel smile on her face, she strolled away from me, her tears mocking my sympathy.
I cradled my hand against my chest. How could I ever have pitied her? How could I have felt a moment of empathy or compassion? She and her entire family were a blight on the earth and in the sea. The world would be a better place if they were removed from it. The tears that had been stinging the backs of my eyes came out unbidden. I swiped them away with my unbroken hand.
Creation, healing. Those would be the very things I'd lose if I let my anger take hold of me and destroyed the wretches as they deserved. I covered my broken hand with my good one and pulled healing magic from my core. Sharp pain returned as my fingers popped and straightened back into place. I hated her and wanted her dead. If I turned to destruction, though, there would be no coming back. I'd need to think long and hard about what kind of magic I wanted to possess, and would it be worth what I lost just to be rid of my bane?
Chapter 5
For the next few days, the castle was in a fervor. The harvest festival approached, and the pinnacle of the week of jousting and contests was a dance sponsored by the castle, which the king billed would be the event where Prince Evan would choose his bride. The whole thing turned my stomach. No. I really didn't care about what was going on in the castle. What turned my stomach was Aria's happiness. She primped and primed and shopped with money given to her by her keeper. All she talked about was this being her opportunity to capture Evan and make his heart hers.
Meanwhile, I did my best to stay out of their way. I spent all my time in the kitchen as I could, with Sebastian teaching me all of the magic involved in baking. Aria kept Evan away from the kitchen which helped me keep from having to interact with the prince at all. Things were better that way. My hatred for Aria could stay under control, and I could almost forget how evil she was. I could almost forget my need for her blood and the desire to rip her to pieces. Almost.
Instead, I lost myself in the love of baking and in Sebastian's constancy. His jovial mood kept all thoughts of destruction at bay. Because of him, I was able to concentrate on creation and why I wanted to keep that magic with me. I sat in front of the window feeling the mountain breeze that I'd called to cool my apple pie. I'd gotten it exactly right this time. The scent of raw dough had diminished, and no tangy burned scent mixed with the heavenly aroma of a perfectly baked pie. I turned around and faced Sebastian. "How did I do, teacher?"
He smiled down at me and examined my pie. With oven mitts covering his hands, he lifted the pie and observe
d it from several angles. Then he set it down and took out a long thin wooden stick. He poked it through the center of the pie and pulled it free, clean.
I smiled. I knew I had passed.
A serious expression flickered across his face, and my heart leaped in my chest. I doubted myself for a second. My stomach churned until a smile slowly tugged at his lip. "Excellent. Your timing is perfect."
My own smile widened so that even my cheeks hurt beneath my veil.
"But," Sebastian said, the serious look returned. He pulled out a knife and began slicing a piece of the pie. "Timing is not the only factor in baking. You have to also have to learn to mix the right ingredients in the perfect manner so that the taste is just right. And, you have to give the mixture your own flair. You have to add a part of your heart and soul into the baking in the form of something different and original, so that the dish becomes yours and no one else's."
The pie was still warm, and as he pulled the piece away to plate it, apple slices and pie filling oozed into the empty space in the tin. Sebastian cut a bite off the tip of the triangle-shaped piece and nodded. "The crust is still flaky and crispy from baking. It's separated well from the inside."
Then he took the piece and pushed it into his mouth. His eyes closed as he chewed and then swallowed. "A hint of cinnamon and something else. The original ingredient that you used was... curry?"
His eyes popped open.
I laughed. "Yes."
He pointed his fork down at his plate. "You added curry to an apple pie?"
I smiled at him. "Yes."
He shook his head and took another bite. Then he chewed slowly and swallowed, pointing at the pie on his plate. "This really isn't half-bad."
"So... does that mean I pass?"
He took another bite and nodded his head. "Yes."
"Great. Next lesson?"
Promise Forever: Fairy Tales with a Modern Twist Page 9
