‘Don’t you dare stop stirring, girl!’ snapped Marina.
I jolted back into action just in time to stop the pot of chocolate cream from boiling … and to hear Horst say, ‘They’re incognito.’
‘They’re what?’ Was he saying that my wonderful crowns were ruined?
He waved one dark hand impatiently. ‘Incognito means in disguise.’ He turned to Marina. ‘A messenger boy came by this morning to make a reservation for “Count von Reimann” and his daughters. They’re dressed like any other nobles, but the moment I saw them step inside, I knew exactly who they were, and so did everyone else. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are scribblers from the newspapers hurrying over here right now. We already have a crowd piling up outside just to peer through our front windows!’
‘Sounds like a pretty manky disguise then.’ Snorting, Marina elbowed me aside to take over the last stages of the chocolate creams. ‘Maybe next time they should think about wearing masks.’
‘Oh, being incognito is only for show.’ Silke spoke with a knowledgeable air, rocking back and forth on her heels with her hands tucked in her pockets. ‘If they came as themselves, they’d have to bring along a whole honour guard. This way, they can travel without so many soldiers and servants cluttering things up. But …’
Her eyes widened, and she lost her poise. ‘Ahh!’ She clapped her hands to her cheeks. ‘I can’t believe the king himself read my handbill! The king himself! Is there any way to see into the front room from here? I want to see the crown princess! I’ve never been this close to her before!’
For the first time since I’d met him, Horst looked mischievous. ‘If you want a really good view …’ Reaching over to the wall, he lifted a decorative plate from a hook just higher than my head. Behind it was an inch-wide square of clear glass. ‘Just this once,’ he told us both, winking, ‘but be quick. No one wants to see eyeballs peering in at them as they eat!’
‘Come on!’ Silke grabbed my arm and pulled me with her. ‘Ohhhhh.’ She pressed her eye against the glass and hummed with satisfaction. ‘She’s even taller than I thought.’
‘Who?’ I asked.
‘The crown princess, of course!’ Silke turned back to me just long enough to roll her eyes. ‘Really, Aventurine, even you must have heard of her, no matter where you came from. Not only is she beautiful, she also speaks at least seven languages fluently and she’s the finest diplomat the royal family’s produced in the last two hundred years. Everyone loves her. She’s going to be the best queen that we’ve ever had!’
‘She sounds absolutely perfect,’ I said sourly.
I knew all about older sisters like that.
I had far more sympathy, when I peered through the glass, for the younger girl who was sitting at their table. Her skin was the same light brown as her older sister’s, and her thick dark hair was arranged just as carefully, but her expression couldn’t have been more different. Her older sister smiled serenely and carried on a flow of conversation with their pink-skinned, thickly set blond father as more and more faces pressed up against the front window of the shop. Neither of them seemed aware of the crowd gathering outside, or of the other customers whispering and staring in at them. The younger sister, though, had her shoulders hunched and her face squeezed into an expression of miserable discomfort. As I watched, her fingers rattled out a nervous rhythm against the table … until her older sister reached out, still smiling as graciously as ever, and firmly pressed them into stillness.
Oh yes. I knew older sisters like that much too well.
And none of them was wearing a single crown. Not even the ‘crown’ princess.
So much for human royalty.
Sighing, I stepped away and let Horst hang the plate back in place, covering up the peephole. He was beaming as he stepped away … until he caught sight of Marina.
‘What are you doing?’
Marina’s eyes narrowed as she poured the last of the chocolate creams into a glass. ‘What does it look like I’m doing, Horst? Even you should recognise a few kitchen tricks by now.’
‘But …’ He shook his head, wide-eyed. ‘Did you not hear a word I said? The royal family –’
‘Wants hot chocolates,’ Marina finished for him. She arranged the eight chocolate creams neatly on to a tray, then tilted her head, considered them and began to shift the glasses around into different positions, like birds changing formation in a flock. ‘I’m aware of that. And I’ll get to them … when I’m ready.’
Horst grabbed his hair with both hands. ‘Are you insane?’
Silke’s eyes widened. ‘Er … you might want to keep your voices down. I’m pretty sure the wall isn’t that thick.’
‘That’s right.’ Marina gave the glasses of chocolate cream a tight smile. ‘We wouldn’t want to scare the customers, would we?’ She circled one glass of chocolate cream slowly around its tray, narrowed her eyes and reached for another.
‘You – !’ Horst reached out and grabbed the tray.
Marina grabbed the other end. Glasses clattered against each other in their struggle.
‘Watch out,’ she said, her grin turning feral. ‘If any of these spill, I’ll have to make them all over again. Then the royals would really have a long wait, wouldn’t they?’
‘What is wrong with you?’ Horst demanded. He stepped back, panting hard. ‘Don’t you realise that we finally have the opportunity we’ve been dreaming of? We could turn everything around after all! If the royals like your chocolate – if every paper in town reports that they came here and drank your hot chocolate and approved – !’
Taut lines formed around Marina’s mouth. ‘I don’t care if the royals like my chocolate,’ she said. ‘That’s not what I make it for.’
‘That’s not … that’s not – argh!’ Horst slammed his fist against the wall, making the decorative plate rattle.
I ignored him. I’d been getting better at reading human expressions, especially Marina’s, but there was something in her face now that I’d never seen before. I looked harder, trying to figure it out.
‘Do you have any idea how close we’re running to bankruptcy?’ Horst glared at the wall that he’d just hit. ‘If we don’t find enough new customers soon – if our prima donna chocolatier doesn’t throw a fit and scare away our final chance at survival –’
‘Oh, enough!’ Marina snarled. ‘It’s always about me ruining things, isn’t it? It’s all my fault the business is failing, according to you. It’s all my fault that no one ever comes here. Never mind the fact that I’m only supposed to have to deal with the chocolate, I’m not supposed to be the one who deals with the public, or –’ Her voice shook on the final syllable, and she slammed her mouth shut.
I’d never seen my mentor show such weakness before. I took a quick step closer, ready to protect her while she healed that telltale break in her scales.
‘It’s going to be all right,’ I told her. ‘You –’
‘Don’t worry about her, Aventurine,’ Horst snapped. ‘She’s just throwing tantrums and trying to prove she’s more important than royalty. Well, let me tell you something, Marina!’ He bared his teeth at her. ‘You’re not.’
‘Then that makes everything easier, doesn’t it?’ Marina snarled back. ‘Because in that case, you won’t mind when I walk out!’ Reaching behind her neck, she unfastened her apron in one quick move and pulled it over her head. ‘See? I’m finished. So you can find someone else to blame when this all goes wrong. Because I’m not going to be the one who ruins our final chance. Not this time!’ And with that she threw the apron directly into Horst’s face.
‘Marina!’ he growled, his voice muffled under the apron.
But she was already marching out through the door that led to the stairs and her own private quarters above the shop.
Horst yanked the apron off his face. ‘Arrgh!’ Looking murderous, he turned and lunged after Marina through the private door.
‘But – !’ Silke began, starting forward.
The door slammed closed. I could hear the thunder of feet running up the stairs.
Silke stared at the door, and then at me. She looked as stunned as if a hurricane had just blown past.
I sighed and added long silver spoons to the tray with the chocolate creams. ‘Well, they won’t be back for a while.’
Marina and Horst’s everyday battles were bad enough, but this one … They could take hours of shouting to resolve it.
Silke’s eyes looked wild. ‘But what about the royal family? They’re still waiting for their hot chocolates. With my handbill!’
I looked at Silke, standing with me in the bright white kitchen in her bright red jacket and black trousers, with no chocolatier, no waiter and no authority in sight.
‘So, these royals are really important,’ I said, to make certain, ‘even though they’re not wearing crowns?’
‘Yes!’ Silke threw her hands in the air. ‘So if you still want to save this chocolate house, despite the fact that it’s run by people without a single shred of business sense between them … !’
I would have glared at her for that, under normal circumstances. Right now, though, I had more important things to worry about.
I had a hoard to protect, and no one else to help me.
‘All right,’ I said. I took a deep breath. ‘Then we’d better get started.’
CHAPTER 14
I had watched Marina make hot chocolates time and time again. But it felt more than intimidating to pick out one of her clean copper kettles for myself. It felt wrong. I had to stop myself from taking a guilty look backwards as I crossed the kitchen to the wall where they hung, to make sure she wasn’t watching me do it.
I had never been allowed to make hot chocolate by myself, not even under Marina’s supervision. I’d only watched, carefully taking note of every movement I could glimpse from my side of the kitchen, as she’d performed the all-important ritual.
‘I hope you know how to do this,’ Silke said, ‘because if the royals don’t like your hot chocolate, then everyone in this city will know it in less than an hour, and my brilliant handbill campaign will have been wasted. You’ll never get a customer again … and I’ll never get my payment! Do you have any idea how many favours I had to call in, just to get that handbill printed in the first place?’
I gritted my teeth and grabbed the largest copper kettle. ‘I’ll be fine,’ I told her. ‘But you’d better get started.’
‘What?’ Her eyebrows shot upward. ‘I don’t know how to make chocolate! I can’t –’
‘Not that.’ I pointed to the tray of chocolate creams. ‘Those need to go out before they cool.’
‘And you want me to deal with them?’ Silke looked from the tray to me. Then she let out a crack of laughter. ‘Oh, well,’ she said. ‘Why not? At least it’ll be a new experience for all of us.’ She gave a twirl, the tails of her red jacket flaring around her. ‘I’ll bet none of your fancy customers has ever been served by a girl like me before!’
Whistling through her teeth, she scooped up the tray and strode out through the swinging doors, her head held high. A moment later I heard her voice ringing out through the front room, strong and confident:
‘Ladies and gentlemen! I believe some of you are waiting for these?’
Phew. She was gone. My shoulders relaxed. The last thing I needed was an audience as I tried to do this myself for the first time.
But when I tried to move forward, I couldn’t do it. The kitchen suddenly seemed huge and echoingly empty. I could almost feel the walls expanding around me as I grew smaller and smaller, my chest tightening more with every moment. Too-familiar words suddenly rolled through my memory.
‘Your scales haven’t hardened enough to withstand even a wolf’s bite …’
‘You may think yourself a ferocious beast, but outside this mountain you wouldn’t survive a day …’
I’d set out from my family’s mountain twelve days ago to prove I really was capable of defending myself and our hoard, no matter what my mother claimed. But the Chocolate Heart wasn’t just my personal hoard to defend. It was my final chance at happiness, too. If I made a single mistake now …
‘What are you waiting for, girl?’ That was Marina’s voice, sharp and strong in my memory. I squared my shoulders and stepped up to the cupboard where the round cakes of cooking chocolate were kept.
One dense, crumbly cake of chocolate, two round spoonfuls of ground sugar, water, milk … a touch of cinnamon, a taste of vanilla, a breath of cloves, and for the final touch … I paused, my hand hovering above the plate of fiery red chilli powder.
Marina had never told me exactly how much chilli she used in her chocolate.
Too much, and the royals would gasp and choke for breath. Too little, and the hot chocolate would be as bland as grass.
If I let myself wait and wonder any longer, I would never make a choice at all.
So I tossed a solid pinch of dried chilli pepper into the kettle before I could think any more about it. Either it would be perfect, or it would burn their mouths to cinders. I wouldn’t know until they drank it.
Please, please, let this taste right! Let me save my hoard today. Let them love this place as much as I do!
The lid of the kettle rattled in my shaking fingers as I closed it and set the hot chocolate mix on to the charcoal brazier to cook.
Silke sailed back into the kitchen, her tray full of empty cups and glasses. ‘Lots more orders,’ she said cheerfully. ‘No one wants to leave while the royals are still here to gawp at. So at least you’ll make plenty of silver for the chocolate house today … even if your hot chocolate does turn out to be disgusting, eh?’ She slid me a mischievous look.
But I couldn’t even bring myself to rise to her bait. I had too much experimenting to do … and quickly.
Chocolate creams, at least, I knew how to make. I had no idea how to make the pastry for chocolate tarts, but luckily, a dozen pastry shells sat waiting in their baking dishes on the counter, prepared by Marina earlier that morning. I mixed together a big bowl of fresh, eggy chocolate filling for the tarts, and as I poured out the rich, sweet-smelling mixture into all of the little pastry-lined baking dishes, I hoped with all my heart that they would taste as good once they were baked as they smelt at that moment.
But nothing else mattered as much as the royals’ hot chocolates. As soon as the kettle was ready, I shoved the tarts into the oven and abandoned everything else to pour the steaming liquid into the three most elegant silver chocolate pots we owned, while Silke hovered over my shoulder. Then I growled until she moved away so that I could use the long wooden molinet to froth the hot chocolates, one by one. I could feel the clock ticking steadily away in the front room, while the royal family – and their watchers – waited for their service … but just as Marina had instructed me the very first time we’d met, I took my time with every one of them, not stinting so much as an instant of care.
My hot chocolates had to be absolutely perfect. They had to be so good, the royals would want to save the Chocolate Heart, for all of our sakes.
Finally, I set all three hot-chocolate pots in a row on a tray, along with three beautifully ornamented porcelain cups in silver cases.
‘At least they look pretty,’ Silke said. ‘So, now we’ll see, eh?’ Dropping me a wink, she picked up the tray. ‘Feel free to watch through that little peephole as I have my one and only interaction with royalty! I’ll need a witness if I want my brother to believe me when I tell him what I did today.’
I yanked the decorative plate off the wall as the kitchen doors swung shut behind her.
There were more and more people crowding outside the Chocolate Heart now, pushing and shoving for position in front of the broad glass windows. For the first time since I’d moved into the chocolate house, every single table was occupied, and a long line had formed at the front door.
Silke was right. If the king took one sip and gagged – or coughed, or winced and set the cup aside – everyone would know a
bout it. And I was beginning to understand humans by now. It didn’t matter how many people had tasted Marina’s hot chocolate before and loved it. If any of them heard that the royal family hadn’t liked it, they would immediately decide that they didn’t either.
Humans really were herd animals. And now I was at their mercy.
Silke swept up to the royal table as if she’d been mixing with the upper crust her whole life, smiling and chatting as she laid down the tray. The king was so lost in thought he didn’t even seem to notice, his eyes narrowed and his gaze fixed on his hands, which were clasped together on the table in front of him. The crown princess gave Silke a smile, though, and said something that made Silke’s own smile deepen. At the sight of the three chocolate pots, even the youngest princess straightened, looking suddenly hopeful. She started to reach for hers, and I tensed, waiting … but then her older sister gave a tiny head-shake and she subsided, looking embarrassed.
Silke poured for each of them with a flourish. Then she scooped up the empty tray and moved back a step, looking expectant.
I waited with her, holding my breath.
The crown princess looked at her father. Nothing happened. His gaze was still fixed on his hands. The younger princess reached out again for her own cup, but she snatched back her hand at a stern look from her older sister.
Not a single customer in the whole shop was moving. Every gaze was fixed on their table.
Then the king gave a sudden start, his eyes flying wide open. The crown princess smiled and nodded towards his cup.
Grimacing, he nodded. He reached out, lifted the cup to his lips …
And the front door of the chocolate house flew open. The small, perpetually annoyed-looking man who’d run his fingers over the paintwork in our front room four days earlier marched inside, along with the tall, brown-haired woman who had tried to bribe me. At the sight of her wide, satisfied smile, everything inside me braced for danger.
The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart Page 10
