by Raye Morgan
A shiver went through Emma’s heart. “Why?”
“That’s a good question. I’m not sure if it’s because they’ve seen you and Sebastian together and can tell there’s some sort of chemistry there—”
“That’s crazy!”
“Or if his little lecture about you knowing about poisons scared someone.”
“Oh, Agatha…”
“Don’t let it upset you. This sort of thing is always going on around here. I just wanted to warn you to watch your step.”
“I will.”
And the day had been going so well up to that point. Agatha’s warning put a chill on it.
The next day started well enough, and then in the afternoon the housekeeper pulled her aside, acting conspiratorial.
“I have to ask a favor of you,” she said. “We have a very important dinner tomorrow night. Chef Henri, unfortunately, has been called away. His mother is ill. Could you possibly take over and handle it?”
Her spirits leaped. “Of course. I’d be happy to.”
“You’ll have to do everything, I’m afraid, from menu planning and ordering the supplies on down. Nothing has been done. Please understand how important this dinner is going to be. It needs to be special. Certain members of very old-fashioned, traditional factions will be in attendance. They’ve been very obstructionist and the prime minister is hoping they can be cajoled. As things stand right now, they are vehemently against the prince’s coronation.”
“Because of his playboy reputation?” Emma asked, curious.
The housekeeper hesitated, then ignored the question and went on.
“Delicate negotiations are going on right now. If anything were to go wrong with the dinner…”
“Don’t worry.” Emma was excited about the opportunity. “Everything will go like clockwork. I guarantee it.”
“All right. Now remember, they are traditional. Nothing too trendy on the menu, please.”
Nothing too trendy. Okay. How about roast beef? And for the fish course…a bright idea suddenly occurred to her. Why not the unicomus, the fish she’d seen in the market the day before? Oh, my. She smiled just thinking of it. She’d won a prize at a competition in Belgium with her version of Monkfish Tournedos on a bed of Caramelized Langoustines. The unicomus would be perfect for something similar. She knew just how she would handle the presentation. And with those wonderful faces, a large, grilled unicomus spread out on a platter would make a spectacular centerpiece for that course—and be symbolic for the hope of Meridia being united behind Sebastian.
Wow. It was exciting to think that her cuisine could be a part of Meridian diplomacy.
She went to work on it right away. When she gave the supply list to the kitchen boy who was being sent into town to do the shopping, he looked it over and then gave her a puzzled look.
“Is there something you don’t understand?” she asked him.
He hesitated, then shook his head, but he stopped to show the list to Angela, the prep cook who had been particularly antagonistic to Emma. That made her curious and she was about to ask them what the problem was when she noticed Agatha sneaking into the pantry to look for snacks for her baby, and she forgot all about it as she made a show of casually going into the pantry herself, in order to help her.
It was nice to have a friend at the castle. But she didn’t have much of a chance to spend time with her. She was so busy preparing for the big dinner, she didn’t even have time to miss Sebastian, though she did pause now and then to wonder how his meeting with the specialist had gone.
The next day she was totally immersed in preparations, from food to the table setting, and she was surprised when someone mentioned that Sebastian had returned the night before. That made her wonder why he hadn’t said hello. But she assumed he was as wrapped up in his project as she was in hers.
She saw him early in the afternoon, looking things over and ordering the wine to be brought from the wine cellar, but he was in a different room talking with the sommelier and didn’t look up when she passed.
That disturbed her a little, but she didn’t have time to think about it. She was intent on doing such a good job that he would be proud to have her as his coronation chef. And if her meal could help him with his diplomacy, so much the better. The kitchen was a madhouse, but she was keeping a cool head and things seemed to be falling into place.
She took a short break late in the afternoon. She’d promised Agatha that she would come up and visit for a while, but she really didn’t have time for that. Still, she thought she would stop by for a minute or two.
But when she knocked, it was a male voice that called out, “Help!”
Startled, she opened the door and stepped in, only to find Sebastian on his back on the floor, with Merik happily using his chest as a trampoline.
“Thank God,” he said when he saw her.
“What are you doing?”
He frowned. “Babysitting is harder to get right than you’d think,” he said sheepishly. “This kid’s got me pinned to the floor. Can you get him? I don’t want to knock him down and hurt him.”
“Sure.” She took the gurgling boy up into her arms. His fat little limbs went wild and she could hardly hold him. “I see what you mean,” she said, laughing as Sebastian rose to a sitting position, then stood. “Here, have him back.”
The prince took the child, hugged him to his chest and murmured sweet nothings for a moment, kissed the top of his downy head, then set him into his playpen. Merik promptly settled back against a pillow, closed his eyes and went to sleep.
“Wow,” Emma said, watching in awe. “You’re going to make a great dad.”
Sebastian was staring at the child, too. “Is this for real?” he said suspiciously. “Are you sure he isn’t trying to trick me?”
She laughed, turning toward him and he caught hold of her.
“Hey, I missed you,” he said, and the next thing she knew he was kissing her.
His body was hard and wonderful against her breasts and her hips and his mouth was so hot, she was breathless. But she couldn’t let this happen.
“No,” she said, leaning away. “No, Sebastian, not in front of the child.”
He pulled her back and buried his face in her thick, curly hair, laughing softly. “What’s the matter? You think the kid’s going to squeal?” he asked.
She shook her head and pried his arms from around her. “I’ve got to go back. I only stopped in to see Agatha for a minute because I’d promised I would.”
Reluctantly, he let her go. “So you’re in charge of dinner tonight?”
She nodded.
“Is it going to be great?”
She nodded again.
He grinned. “Good. I’m holding you to that.”
She started toward the door, then looked back. “And your trip to Zurich?” she asked.
He waved her on. “I’ll tell you about it later,” he said. “Go be a genius of a chef.”
“Okay.”
His eyes were deep with a warmth that thrilled her and her heart sang as she left him. She wouldn’t let herself think about the long term. No point to it. The short term would do—for now.
The company assembled on the terrace and an hour later they were summoned into the dining hall. Emma made a last-minute survey of the table and then stood back and watched for a moment as the diners arrived. She thought she could tell those who belonged to the traditional bunch who didn’t like Sebastian. Most were elegantly attired, the men in tuxedos, the women in long gowns, but three men and two women were dressed in traditional Meridian costume. They had to be the ones everyone was especially anxious to impress and satisfy.
Once again Sebastian failed to look her way, but she refused to let herself dwell on it. She had things to do.
The soup went out and the empty bowls came back with compliments to the chef that made her glow. And now the fish course was served, with two footmen carrying out the huge grilled unicomus on the platter for the centerpiece. Emma got busy
on the main course, a beautiful roast beef with truffles and kohlrabi, cooked to perfection. She was carefully arranging slices on a plate when she first began to realize something was wrong.
A shout from the dining hall was her first clue, then a clash of voices getting louder and louder. Frowning, she put down her knife and wiped her hands on her apron, starting toward the door.
She hadn’t taken two steps when the door burst open from the other side and the short, stout prime minister came roaring in.
“What in God’s name do you think you’re doing?” he shouted at her, waving his arms. “Are you mocking us and our traditions?”
“What?” Stunned, she was at a loss.
“It’s an outrage, a sacrilege!”
Another man who was a stranger to her came striding in behind him. “You’ll pay for this, young lady,” he said, shaking his finger at her. “I swear, you’ll pay.”
She shook her head, her hand to her throat. “I…I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about. What have I done?”
“The unicomus. How could you?”
“The fish? But—”
“The unicomus is our national fish. It is sacred to us. We never, never eat it.”
“What?” Horror shot through her like an electric shock. Such a thing had never occurred to her. “But…but why didn’t anyone…?”
Her voice trailed off as she looked about the kitchen. It was strangely empty. Everyone had fled and left her alone to face this. They’d known it was coming. That was why no one had told her. Because they hadn’t wanted her to know until it was too late.
She turned back, her heart leaden. “Oh, dear. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know? Didn’t know? That’s a lame excuse.”
“But no one…”
She stopped herself. No, she wasn’t going to blame this on anyone else. She should have researched it more fully. She knew most of the kitchen staff was out to get her. She should have checked.
“I’m just so sorry,” she said quickly. “This is completely my responsibility. Please. Let me go out and apologize to everyone.”
She made her way out to the head of the table, her heart beating like thunder in her chest. Public speaking was not her forte, but this had to be done.
Sebastian rose as she approached the table. That pulse at his temple was throbbing hard. Her gaze met his and she didn’t see anything friendly there. Did he think she’d done this on purpose?
Well, she had. She’d wanted to surprise him—never a good idea. There was a horrible, hollow feeling where her pride and happiness were supposed to be. She stopped beside him and turned to face the diners.
“Please, may I have your attention? I’m Emma Valentine. I was the head chef for your meal tonight.”
“You should be ashamed,” a thin, silver-haired woman in traditional costume cried.
“Take your haute-cuisine style back to wherever you came from,” a dark man chimed in. “We don’t need your kind here in Meridia.”
She swallowed hard and squared her shoulders as she looked out at the angry faces.
“Please listen to me. I knew that the unicomus is your national fish. I knew of the great affection all people of Meridia hold for this animal. What I didn’t know was…” She gestured toward the table. “I didn’t realize it was held in such high esteem that it was never eaten. That I didn’t know.”
There was a murmur of disbelief.
“But you see, my dear,” Aunt Trudy chided gently, “here in Meridia, we are all raised with so many stories about the unicomus. He is our folklore, he is our ancestor, he is our hero. It is the unicomus who saves children from drowning, who saves kittens from being eaten by nastier fish, who warns the sailor of coming storms. He is our dearest pet and he embodies the national spirit. To eat him would be…a form of cannibalism.”
More mutterings of agreement came from the diners.
“Your Highness, I truly didn’t understand that. I am so, so sorry.” She looked back at the others. “If you can’t forgive me, at least please understand, I didn’t know.”
“Well, it was beautifully prepared, my dear,” said Aunt Trudy diplomatically. “Perhaps another time with a different fish.”
She tried to smile. “I’ll have something else brought out to you right away, if you can just indulge me for ten minutes.”
She glanced at Sebastian for the first time since she’d started speaking. His face was impassive. She had no idea what he was thinking.
“And once again, ladies and gentlemen,” she said as she turned to go, “my abject apologies.”
She strode quickly back toward the kitchen. Tears threatened, but only for a few seconds. She let her anger back in to keep them at bay. She would certainly like to wring some necks. No wonder the staff had headed for the tall grass.
Sebastian came in right behind her, grabbing her arm to pull her around to face him.
“What were you thinking?” he demanded.
She looked up at him and wanted more than anything to be in his arms. But he wasn’t in that sort of mood. Here she’d worked so hard to impress him and make him proud, and instead she’d ruined everything. But that didn’t mean she was going to crumble.
“You tell me this,” she said right back. “Why were those unicomus fish being sold in the market if nobody eats them? What is that all about?”
He blinked. “We don’t eat them. Italians do. It’s a delicacy. They come up on purpose to buy them.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “Let me get this straight. They are too sacred to eat, but not too sacred to sell to Italians to eat. Is that it?”
“Don’t ask for logic, Emma,” he said. “It’s always been done that way. What can I tell you?”
Closing her eyes, she shook her head. “What you could have told me is, ‘Don’t ever cook that fish’.”
He frowned. “Wait a minute, Emma. Are you telling me that no one in the kitchen warned you? No one said a word?”
She hesitated. She was afraid she knew where this was going and that was only going to make things worse. Much as she would like to punish a few of the kitchen staff herself, she didn’t want the prince to get involved.
“No one said anything,” she admitted. “But it’s my own fault for not—”
He swore angrily, his face dark. “I’ll fire every one of them.”
“No!”
“Of course I will. They must have done this deliberately.”
“I’m sure they did. But you can’t fire them. I’m going to need every one of them for the coronation dinner.” She looked up into his eyes, wishing he would take down the ice-cold barrier that kept her from seeing what he was thinking. “Besides, they deserve a little leeway on this. It’s been coming for a long time. They finally got back at me.”
His brows drew together. “What are you talking about?”
She shook her head. “They’ve all resented me from the moment I arrived. You can hardly blame them. They were, in effect, being told they weren’t good enough to pull off the coronation dinner. That they needed me to come in and tell them what to do in their own kitchen. Naturally, they wanted to see me stumble.”
He stared down at her for a long moment. For just a second or two she thought his stone-cold eyes were softening. But it didn’t last. Shaking his head, he swore again and turned on his heel, heading back out to the dining hall.
Meanwhile, Emma began to scramble to put together something to take the place of the fish course. One by one, the kitchen staff straggled back in, looking shamefaced and getting right to work without a word. She acted as though nothing had happened as well, and the rest of the evening went beautifully.
But always in the back of her mind was a new ugly fear. After what Agatha had told her about people wanting her gone, this episode should have put the icing on the cake. If anyone was going to be fired, it was probably her.
And she had a hard time looking that possibility straight in the eye. There would be th
e disappointment, of course. The blow to her career. The humiliation as the look on her father’s face said, “I told you so.”
But the worst result would be something completely new. If she were fired, she knew without a doubt she would never see Sebastian again.
CHAPTER NINE
EMMA opened her eyes in the morning and wished hard that everything that had happened the day before had been a dream, something she could laugh off. But the hollow ache in the pit of her stomach told her otherwise. She could only hope that this day would be better.
Unfortunately, pieces of bad news seemed to be lining up to take turns tormenting her. After dressing, she went down to the kitchen and the first thing she saw was the local newspaper spread out on the kitchen table. There was a large, fuzzy picture of a couple in the midst of a gentle kiss on the cover, and the headline read, MONTY KISSES TRAITOR CHEF.
She gasped and her stomach did a somersault. Shaking, she pushed the paper away and turned, getting to work. It was all she could think to do.
The kitchen staff were on their best behavior today. The night before, after all the guests had gone, Sebastian had come in, gathered them together, and let them have it.
“That was a nasty trick you played tonight,” he told them angrily. “By rights I should sack you all. I fully intended to do so. But now I’ve been told that would be a mistake. In other words, you are all very good at what you do and we need you. At least for the short term. So you have a reprieve. No one is to be sacked until after the coronation.”
Gasps were heard all around.
“And maybe not even then. But that will depend on your behavior. You’ll be watched. And just to make it easier, you’ll each take turns doing the watching and I want a report on how things went every evening.”
That was such a smart thing he’d done—getting them to report on each other rather than giving her the duty. That way, they couldn’t see her as the bad guy. Sebastian was impressing her with his management skills.
But she hadn’t impressed much of anyone herself. And now she would have to make up for it.
