by Jane Glatt
“There,” she held the bowl up, the black bread sticking into the air. “That’s how we serve stew at the Iron Demon. Two pennies a serving and they can have butter and a second piece of bread for another half-penny.”
Brenna eyed the bowl. In Kingsreach for two pennies you’d get a slice of roast as thick as the bread. The stew at the Crooked Dog cost only half a penny, although they rarely had meat in it. She smelled mutton and could see thick chunks of potato and carrots.
“Here, that’s yer supper.” Ma Colley handed her the bowl. “Eat it now, we’ll be gettin’ busy afore long.”
Brenna took the bowl, grabbed a spoon from a table near the door and dug in. Leila came in she and ma Colley chatted while Brenna concentrated on her stew.
She took the last crust of the bread and wiped the inside of the bowl with it, soaking up the last drops of gravy. Her first bite of stew had been good but after Brenna had rummaged among the herbs in the inn’s kitchen, it was even better. She’d added the same spices to the big stew pot, too. A lad named Huw, who hauled water and washed dishes, told Brenna the stew was the best he’d eaten, but he was careful to say it while Ma Colley wasn’t around.
The inn got busy and between ladling stew and cutting the thick bread, Brenna had little time to gossip with Huw and the second serving girl, Fern. Leila and Ma Colley had little interest in discussing anything outside of the tasks at hand - namely keeping the food and drink flowing from the kitchen and taps to the mostly male customers. Brenna hoped Kane and Yowan were having more success than she was.
Eventually the time in between orders for stew was longer. The ladle was scraping along the bottom of the pot and Brenna waved over Ma Colley.
“The stew’s just about done, ” Brenna said. “Should I have Huw wash the pot up now?”
“The stew’s gone already?” Ma Colley peered into the pot and then back at Brenna. “You sure you did one ladle a bowl, like I showed ye?”
“Yes, Mistress.” Ma Colley’s eyes narrowed and Brenna relaxed her body, keeping her hand near her knife. If the woman thought she’d cheated her out of coin, either on purpose or accidentally, she could be in trouble.
“It’s too early to be out of stew.” Ma Colley’s gaze swept over the kitchen and settled on Huw, who stood washing bowls and mugs in a large basin of water. Leila came through the door depositing a stack of dirty bowls by Huw’s elbow.
“Best night we’ve had in a long while, Ma,” she said. “The stew went over big tonight.”
“And the bowls weren’t filled more’n usual?” Ma Colley asked her daughter.
“No Ma, but we sure did sell a lot. Men who usually eat only one bowl had two and those who eat two, some of ‘em had three.” Leila came over to Brenna. “I don’t know what ye put in the stew Jemma, but I’d appreciate it if ye’d tell me.”
“Just a few herbs and spices I saw around here. I told you I knew some about cooking.”
“That ye did.” Leila grabbed her mother’s arm. “We’ll need to make extra stew for tomorrow night. Some of the lad’s are bound to talk it up.” She turned back to Brenna. “I told ‘em we had a new cook and they’d best get here early if they wanna eat. But we need to have extra, in case.”
Brenna waved goodbye to Huw and headed out to the tavern. For the most part the place was quiet, with only a few scattered tables of men drinking ale from mugs. Kane was talking to Ox Colley at the taps. Ox filled two mugs and Kane picked them up and made his way over to her.
“Thanks,” Brenna said as took a mug and sipped. She sighed with pleasure as the cool liquid slid down her throat. “Where’s Yowan?” She looked around the tavern but saw no sign of her grandfather.
“He’s doing a walk around the stables, making sure they’re locked down tight for the night,” Kane said. “And he’s offered to take the first watch. Claims he’s more interested in sleeping late than bedding down early.”
“And what do you think about that?” she asked.
“I think I’m more interested in bedding down than sleeping.” Kane’s smile widened. “What do you think about that?”
Brenna felt her face flush and she smiled slowly. “I think for someone pretending to be slow, you’re very smart.” She took one last drink of ale before she stood up. Kane rose as well and they headed for their room.
Brenna quietly climbed off the bed, grabbed her clothes and pulled them on, trying not to wake Yowan, who lay sprawled on the other cot. She ducked out of the room and headed down the stairs. It was early and the inn was just starting to come to life, except the kitchen, of course.
“We’re not servin’ yet. Ye’ll need to wait yer turn,” a woman called out as soon as Brenna entered the bustling room. She stood by the table, a large dark mass of dough in front of her, her arms in it up to her elbows. The hearth fire burned high and the room was warm with the heat and smell of baking bread.
“I’m looking to help,” Brenna said and the woman turned golden brown eyes her way. “But if I’d be in the way I’ll leave.” She could always check on the horses.
“No, that’s aright.” The woman paused a moment, her hands still in the black bread dough. “You must be the new one. Jemma is it? I’m Polly.”
“Can I help with anything?” Brenna looked at the round dark loaves of bread lined up on a side table. “I’m not much of a baker but you seem to have that in hand.”
“Aright, there’s a half wheel of cheese in the cold room,” Polly jerked her head toward a small door opposite the hearth. “Ye can bring that in. First meal’s mostly bread and cheese. If any ask we give ‘em some hot eggs, but most days they don’t ask.”
Brenna opened the door to the cold room, a small space that was damp and cool after the warmth of the kitchen. She lugged the half wheel of cheese out and onto a counter. She cut small wedges off the wheel while Polly continued her bread baking.
While she cut she could hear the sounds of the tavern coming to life beyond the door. Ma Colley came in once, nodded to herself when she saw Brenna at work and left. Fern, the serving girl, came in to cut thick dark slices of bread. These she placed on plates along with slices of cheese from Brenna’s growing pile. The next time the door swung open Leila came through.
“Well Jemma, seems yer makin’ yerself useful again.” She smiled at Brenna.
“Just hoping to pay my way,” Brenna replied. She put down the knife. “Is this enough?” Leila leaned over, looked at cut cheese and nodded.
“Should do. Our morning trade is slow, usually. Did you eat?” Brenna shook her head. “Well, go on, then, get yerself somethin’ and bring it along. I want to talk about tonight’s meal and if there’s anything ye might want fer it.”
Brenna grabbed a warm slice of bread and some cheese and followed Leila into the tavern. The sat down at the table closest to the kitchen door, close to where Ma Colley stood at the taps.
“Da usually sleeps late and Ma looks after the taps in the mornin’,” Leila said. “Ye can’t tell much but Ma was happy today when she saw ye in the kitchen.” Leila smiled at Brenna. “She’s always happy when she doesn’t hafta do any work in there. She don’t much like the cookin’ but she does it when she has to, even though she don’t have the touch. Not like you, anyway.”
“I just know herbs and spices, that’s all,” Brenna said, nibbling her cheese.
“That ye do,” Leila agreed. “The Iron Demon is known for good plain fare. We use good food, not the rot that some use, and we charge a fair price. But it’s rare we sell out. I had to turn away some who wanted extra helpings last night.” Brenna looked up from her bread and cheese when Leila paused. “Ma always says, if ye keep ‘em eatin’, then ye keep ‘em drinkin’, which is where we make our profits. So if ye have a special recipe for stew ye want to try out, I’ll do my best to get ye the ingredients. Though I hafta tell ye the spice merchant ain’t due back for another two weeks.”
Brenna swallowed the last of her bread, thinking. She had many ingredients she could use for flavor
ings safely tucked away in her pack but she wasn’t going to offer them. “I’ll take a look at what you have on hand. Maybe I won’t need anything.” She’d look at what they had and make sure she needed something else, something she herself carried, something most healers would carry. If the spice merchant was away the only place for supplies was a healer. It was unlikely a town the size of Blackwall would have more than one healer so that could mean a trip to see her grandmother.
Leila nodded. “Let me know before the noon meal if you need anything else for later. Noon is simple, same as now,” she nodded at Brenna’s empty plate. “’Cept we add some meat dried with berries. Keeps real well around here so there’s not much work”
Brenna surveyed the kitchen, quickly gathering up all the spices and herbs she could find. It was a very small collection for an inn that served three meals a day. There was salt and pepper of course, as well as some standards like basil and rosemary. But there were other basics not on hand - thyme, cloves, and garlic. List in hand Brenna headed into the tavern to find Leila.
Kane was leaning against the bar talking to Ox Colley, who was wiping down the wooden surface. She tweaked the old steel sword at his side and Kane turned her way and nodded as Brenna came toward him.
“Master Colley, do you know where Leila is?” she asked the large man behind the bar.
“She and her ma have gone to visit a poorly neighbor.” Ox put a meaty hand on top of the bar. “But they’ll be back afore the noon meal.”
“Thank you.” Brenna looked at Kane. “I’m for a mug of tea then.” Kane nodded and followed her into the kitchen, leaving Ox to his cleaning.
Tea in hand Brenna led the way out the back door to a courtyard. Yowan was over by the stable.
“Good morning, Yowan,” Brenna said. “I hope you had no trouble last night.”
“None at all,” he said. “Arlott and I,” he glanced at Kane, “agreed that it was one of the best-behaved tavern crowds we’ve seen. Seems like they don’t need guards at all.”
“It was strange, unnatural, almost.” Kane looked at her. “There wasn’t a single fight, not even any cross words.”
“Could they be watering the ale?” Brenna had rarely been in a tavern without some sort of trouble erupting. Places like the Dog were known for fights but even a decent inn like the Sheaf bred trouble.
“Not from my discussion with Ox this morning.” Kane frowned. “And although Leila and Ma Colley seem well respected, it’s almost like they’re feared.”
“Well, it is a small town - there can’t be that many places to drink and eat. Could the men be afraid of not being let back into the tavern?” Brenna hadn’t gotten any sense of what Kane was talking about from her time in the kitchen.
“I don’t think it was that,” Yowan said. “I noticed a few men looking at the door, as though they were expecting someone.”
“We’ll try to find out more tonight,” Kane said. “About that and the healer.” He looked sideways at her. “But Ox did rave about the stew last night. Seems it tasted better than usual and they sold out. Made Ma Colley and Leila very happy, which makes Ox happy.”
Brenna laughed. “A few flavorings can make a big difference. That reminds me,” she waved her list at them, “I need to find Leila.” The two men headed to the stable to check on their horses and Brenna went back inside.
She found Leila and her mother, back from their visit, in the tavern going over the accounts from the night before. They were in the midst of sizing up the amount of ale they had left and what they’d need to bake bread the next day.
“Jemma, sit down,” Leila said. “We’re just going over the market list so if you have anything you’d like, I’ll take it now.”
Brenna handed her list to Leila who scanned it, then shook her head. “Sorry, I can’t get the spices until the caravans come back in two weeks.”
“That’s fine.” Brenna stood to leave then turned back. “But some of it, the thyme and cloves and maybe the garlic, might be found if you’ve a healer in town.”
Leila exchanged a look with her mother. “Why would a healer have spices?” Leila asked.
“I heard they use them in their healing. I knew one in Kingsreach - she often bought herbs and spices.” Leila and Ma Colley were looking at her strangely. “My mother and I worked in a spice merchant’s shop. That’s how come I know about spices and such.” Brenna was relieved to see Leila relax when she said that.
“We don’t truck with healers much,” Ma Colley said. “They’re witches. Least the one around here is. I don’t think we should be tradin’ with her.”
Leila looked at the list. “Can you do a good stew with what we have?”
“I can do a little better than last night’s stew.” Brenna looked at her. “But if I had more to work with I could make it even better. And it might be good if the stew wasn’t the same every night.”
“I’ll think about it.” Leila folded the list and tucked it into her blouse. “We don’t want the councilmen comin’ down on us.”
thirteen
Kane moved through the tavern trying to stay close enough to listen in on conversations, but not too close to be noticed. That was one good thing about being a guard at the Iron Demon - he was supposed to be around so for the most part the patrons ignored him.
Leila came out of the kitchen with a tray full of bowls of stew and he peered past her trying to catch a glimpse of Brenna. She’d sought him out just before tradesmen and town labourers had started filling up the tavern. Leila had commented on some councilmen - Brenna thought she’d been worried – so Kane was hoping to overhear something about them. Now the miners were starting to fill the room, their booming calls for drink and stew making listening to quieter conversations difficult.
Kane nodded to Yowan, who was across the room beside the taps, before he headed out the front door. He’d circle the tavern and then check the stable. He didn’t expect trouble but their horses were in there and they couldn’t afford to let anything happening to them.
He closed the door and stepped into the road just as s group of cloaked men rounded the corner, heading for the Iron Demon. Kane quickly moved out of their way. The man in the lead wrenched the door open and stopped in the doorway, the others, three of them, crowding around.
“Let’s see if the stews all that improved,” the man in front said. “Perhaps there’s witchery afoot.” All four men laughed as they entered the tavern.
Kane, his back to the wall, crept back to the door, opened it just wide enough for him to squeeze through, and took up a position near the door.
The whole atmosphere inside the Iron Demon had changed. There were no more boisterous calls for ale and stew - now the customers silently focused their eyes on their own bowls and mugs. The four men walked slowly to the middle of the room before the leader pointed at a table. The current occupants picked up their food and drink, got up, and left the table empty. Kane frowned when Leila scurried over and wiped the table down.
“And what can I get you fine sirs today?” Leila’s voice, usually so firm, sounded timid and shaky to Kane’s ears.
He caught Yowan’s eye across the room and shook his head slightly. Concentrating on his sword at his side, he tried to reach Brenna to warn her. When he finally felt her respond, Kane relaxed and surveyed the room again.
“Your best ale and some stew,” the leader said, sliding his gray cloak off his shoulders and handing it to Leila. A sword and a knife hung at his belt. “We’ve heard your stew is much improved these days.” His companions also handed their cloaks to Leila. The four men were well-armed and Kane wondered how competent they were with their swords - they didn’t look like trained guardsmen.
“Yes, m’lord,” Leila said. “I’ll get that right away. We’ve a lass used to work for a spice merchant and knows how to flavor up a stew, is all.”
Leila backed away and hung the cloaks, four heavy woolen gray garments, on hooks the men had passed when they’d come through the door.
&n
bsp; Ox started to fill four mugs with ale as Leila scurried past him to the kitchen. She returned quickly with four bowls heaped with stew, almost twice the normal serving. Kane was relieved that it was Fern, not Brenna, who trailed behind with a plate of thick slabs of bread and a pot of butter.
He looked back to find the dark eyes of the leader on him. Kane simply nodded and kept sweeping the room with his eyes.
“And who might that be, Mistress Leila?” The voice was smooth and soft.
Kane once again found himself matching his gaze with other man’s dark one.
“Name’s Arlott, m’lord. We hired him as an inn guard.” Leila stood by the table as Fern set the bread down and Ma Colley stepped over with four mugs of ale. “He’s jes passin’ time while he waits fer the next caravan to go out. Him and his partner.” Leila indicated Yowan, who nodded, leaning against the wall beside the kitchen door.
“Ah, I see.” The man picked up his bowl and sniffed. “And the lass who’s good with spices?”
“She’s with ‘em too, m’lord. From Kingsreach, she said.”
Kane tensed as the dark eyes swiveled back to him.
“Is that right?” The man drawled. “From Kingsreach?”
“She is, we aren’t.” Kane nodded to Yowan. “We picked her up in an inn along the road. She cooks better than us.” Kane shrugged. “And it’s been cold at night.” He held his gaze until the other man threw his head back and laughed.
“Ah, yes, nothing like a woman to keep the chill away at night.” The dark eyed man turned to his companions. “And she can cook too. I wish all the men I knew were so practical. What say you, Geordie?” A younger man flushed but didn’t respond.
The group ate two bowls of stew each and downed numerous mugs of ale before they grabbed their cloaks and headed out of the inn. As he left, the leader turned to Leila and told her they would want something different the next night, leaving the woman hunched and silent. The room seemed to hold its breath for a few minutes, then the rest of the customers quietly started to leave, faces somber.
