by Melody Rose
Satisfied that she had dressed down the young mage until she was seriously worried about her academic career, the strict witch continued to judge the performance of the remaining students. Everyone had ranging degrees of success, but only one student had been capable of inspiring more than a bored sigh from Professor Graham. That novice cook, a young man whose skin was covered with hardened, green scales that shone like gemstones, was then given the most lukewarm motivational speech I’d ever heard.
“You can heed directions, and you are no stranger to rules, just as one would expect from the golem-born,” she stated with intense fatigue. “However, your dishes lack imagination and heart. Do break out of the confines of your own head, even if your kind is used to being beholden to the will of others.”
He looked up at her blankly with glowing eyes and a straight-lipped expression. I felt glad for his sake that he seemed to have such thick skin, literally and figuratively.
I, on the other hand, wasn’t a fan of negative feedback. As Professor Graham wrapped up being condescending to the student next to me, I thought about how even disinterested comments would make me pretty sad. I always saw cooking as my strength, after all, and I took a lot of pride in my work. Aurelius brushed his fluffy tail against my feet to motivate me to calm down and follow my instincts.
“A… human?” she sniffed when she got to me. “How unusual. Well, I don’t know what more to say that you haven’t already heard, so proceed.”
Almost all the students snickered at her comment, even though I didn’t find it very funny at all. It wasn’t even that much of an insult. It seemed to me that mages really went out of their way to find any opportunity to rag on me.
I nodded and looked down as the cauldron appeared in front of me. It was empty, and that meant that most of the spell would fall on me. That wasn’t so different from working in a kitchen. All the best tools in the world won’t guarantee that someone’s food will taste any good.
My arms were relaxed and steady, not clumsy with self-doubt like most of the students. Instead of starting with the star anise, since that would have brought up sad memories that could mess up my recipe, I began with the vial of pixie berries. I uncorked it and closed my eyes, picturing a picnic with my mother, father, and Aurelius. There was a huge basket filled with raspberries and blueberries, and we were all able to grin and pop them in our mouths, even Aurelius.
For the zest, I then imagined my mother playing tag with me in a grove full of bright yellow lemon trees. I let the happiness spread throughout me, and when it hit a peak, I opened my eyes and watched all the colorful fruit fall down in a brilliant flash. The cauldron gave off a nice orange glow and looked like it was ready for more. I was really glad it didn’t spill over and wreck my whole plan.
Next, I made a spur-of-the-moment decision. I’d combine the daisy flour and the star anise. It didn’t make sense to me to mix the bitter ingredients. It’d rain on my parade, and they’d probably be awful together. I uncorked the two vials and picked one up at a time.
As I held the daisy flour in my right hand and the star anise in the left, I pictured my father holding onto my mom’s hand when she was on the hospital bed. Vases of daisies were all around the room, and she had a whole stack of get-well cards next to her. I also remembered how I kissed her forehead, and she’d put a hand on my cheek. I had brought her muffins to cheer her up, and she promised me I’d make magic in the kitchen. A bittersweet sadness filled my heart, but it wasn’t all bad. It made me think of the dramatic scenes in romantic comedies that would be tied up neatly with a kiss or a proposal.
I opened my eyes again, and a pretty cluster of star anise colored like maple leaves fell out one of the vials. After that, a whole bouquet of daisies managed to pop out of the other vial, and I had to laugh. It was just so funny and wholesome.
Afraid that Professor Graham would hand my ass to me for cracking up, I coughed to hide the sound and get back to business. She didn’t say anything nasty, though, and just looked at me like I had three heads. Come to think of it, my cooking was way different from anything else I’d seen so far.
I didn’t waste any time with an awkward smile or an apology, I was nearly finished with this part of the challenge. The last step would be to fold the rich and creamy satyr butter with the spicy ghost glade peppercorn. This was the deciding moment. I’d really have to push myself past my comfort zone.
I unplugged the final vials, held them up, and closed my eyes for my last daydream. What a head trip it was. I was sitting in front of my mother’s gravestone with Theo next to me in one of his usual well-fitted, classy outfits. He placed a bouquet of yellow roses down in front of the grey marker which played really nicely against the bright green grass. Happy with this nice gesture, I threw my arms over his neck and planted a hot and heavy kiss on him.
I mean, it was seriously out of line considering the scenery, but I got the sense that Mom didn’t mind. It really just felt like we were all just hanging out, except it involved getting risque with Theo and Mom being invisible. I had to do what I had to do for the cooking spell, even if it took me to weird places!
This time, it was harder to open my eyes because of all the daydreams, this one was the juiciest and the most fun. Again, I felt a little guilty about it, but it also felt perfectly natural. Three fatty, yellow sticks tumbled out of one vial, and that made my mouth really water because everyone knows that everything is better with more butter. After that, whole vines of peppercorn fell into the cauldron. They looked almost like clusters of tiny black grapes.
Once I had done everything I could for the moon cookie spell, what happened next truly took my breath away. It was flashier than the Fourth of July. A glowing circle surrounded Aurelius and me, and then a bunch of tiny shooting stars rained down around us. A large white moon that looked like an oversized floating nightlight without the plug also hung over my head. Thankfully, the pyrotechnic show wasn’t obnoxiously loud like fireworks were. Instead, the bright shapes were paired with gentle tinkling noises, and I didn’t have to worry about Aurelius barking his head off.
The cauldron then disappeared, replaced by a serving platter that looked like it was solid gold. That was totally different from all the other dishes, which were far simpler. One girl even got nothing but a torn-up napkin to show off her crumbled cookies. Even more impressive than the swank presentation was my line-up of perfectly baked cookies. They were soft but not too much, browned just right, and glistened with a light coating of melted butter. Each cookie was shaped differently, too, and arranged in a curve that wrapped around the plate. It looked intentional and may have been what we were all supposed to end up with. I remembered back to my astronomy class in high school and realized that all the phases of the moon were shown in their cookie forms. I thought it was pretty clever.
Too bad there were a lot of sneering faces in the room.
After that was out of the way, I whipped up my spirit cider without a hitch. For the well of wisdom, I mentally walked through how Mom showed me how to use every tool and spice in her kitchen. When her health was really failing, she also put together a pretty scrapbook full of doodles, cut-outs from magazines, and written recipes she made up. It was all a little messy because her hands shook so much back then, but that made me love her gift even more. I thought of the old tin box of chocolates that my mother revamped with rose-patterned fabric when she had more coordination. There, she stored all the recipes of all the women in our family.
With that vision fresh in my mind, I mixed the passion stars and the spiced dryad bark together by thinking of the bakery Mom always wanted to run and how she must have been rolling in her grave to know that some two-faced bitch seduced her way to that dream. I felt a fire inside of me that made me want to carry the torch and succeed without the damn business. It was tainted anyway.
To top everything off, a topaz-encrusted cup materialized next to my dish of moon spell cookies. The two seemed to have a special connection because as soon as my spirit cider
appeared next to the gold platter, the baked moons began to glow brightly. Shockingly, Professor Graham began applauding at the sight. I had to admit that I was pretty damn proud about that.
“Fantastique!” she announced loudly. Her yellow eyes were shiny, and she almost looked affectionate. “This young mage has proven to us all that one’s blood does not dictate one’s potential. Seems like the lot of you got loose with your ways and thought your parentage would spare you from failure! Let this be a lesson to you all!”
With that, she folded her hands behind her back once more. “Now then, I think we’ll leave off on that high note for today while you all ponder how you could have done better. Please use the remainder of the class time to reevaluate and refine your techniques. I will proceed with everyone else tomorrow, and do keep in mind that while you are spared for today, I will have even higher expectations tomorrow.”
She held out her arm as a cue for Thunder to fly off his perch and land on her. After that, she just walked out without another word and left us to figure out what to do with ourselves.
All Hell broke loose once we were left unattended. Except for the gemstone boy that Professor Graham called a golem, no one seemed to want to use their extra time to perfect their recipe. He gathered his materials and left with a bored look on his face. Everyone else either flung insults or vials of ingredients at me. Sometimes both.
I didn’t see how that would get them anywhere. I really wanted to give all my bullies a taste of their own medicine, but this was the first time I had been praised by an actual professor at Bouclier, and I didn’t want to screw it all up. I couldn’t convince Aurelius of that, though, because he ran out from underneath me and started snarling at the attackers. I prayed he wouldn’t actually bite anyone because I didn’t want to get sent to the detention cellar.
“Guess you had to make such good cookies to distract from what a nasty lamb’s blood you are!” a mage from the back called out in a mean sing-song voice. I turned my head to see a strange looking guy with orange skin and flames instead of hair. Once he had caught my attention, he hurled what looked like a water balloon in my direction. When it hit me, it burst into a dripping mess and ruined my velvet robe with an ugly red stain.
That did it. To Hell with being meek and mild to avoid getting in trouble! I had it with these assholes!
“Do you want to say that to my fuckin’ face, you goofy fireball?” I screamed as I spun out of my seat and confronted him. “Your insults are stupid, and your hair is even worse!”
Aurelius seemed to get really worked up as my anger got worse, and he transformed into a completely different creature. Instead of reaching up to my knee, he reached all the way up to my shoulder. He wasn’t white anymore, either. He looked like a pissed off shadow with great big fangs and growled ferociously at the prick. The guy didn’t even have time to think of a comeback and sprinted out of the room with everyone else.
“Whoa! Wicked! Such a boss move!” I blinked at a voice I heard from the corner of the room. It sounded like any normal kid from my old high school, and none of the lingo was like what anyone else used in Bouclier.
I spotted dirty blonde pigtails that I thought I recognized and realized that it was Rebecca, who Theo had called a “civvie lover.” She sure seemed to like all things human. In fact, her robe looked like a regular periwinkle maxi dress. Aurelius didn’t seem to think she was a threat because he shrunk back down to his normal adorable self.
“Oh… uh… thanks!” I responded with a smile. I was glad someone was left behind to bond with.
“I could really use some help, girlfriend,” she chirped like an excited bird. “Maybe we could be study buddies?”
I looked into her bright puppy dog eyes and then at the cookies on the platter still left on one of the tables. I had a hunch that Rebecca was responsible for them since they were regular chocolate chip cookies on fine china with a pattern of blue flowers. They looked like what someone’s grandma would make in my world, but since their smell was absolutely delicious, I could tell she knew what she was doing. I guessed she was just really lonely and needed someone to hang out with. That seemed innocent enough. Plus, Aurelius liked her.
“Hey, I’d love that,” I reassured her. “You can never have too many friends!”
“Even if it might seem like… too many cooks!” Rebecca snorted, and I thought I remembered some sort of joke like that making the rounds on the Internet, so I laughed too.
“Good one,” I said with a smile.
“Look at that!” She caught her breath again and then pointed at my robe. “That’s awesome! No one ever gets their robe enhanced on their first day! You’re a real ball of surprises, lady!”
“Really?” I asked and then looked down at myself.
I was no longer in a red-smeared robe that made me seem like I’d gotten stabbed. No, this new robe was made out of sophisticated cut velvet with a midnight blue base and covered with shiny, silvery stars. The pattern wasn’t over-the-top though, just a lovely, delicate shimmer. My waist was cinched with a black corset belt with a crescent moon charm in the middle. I really dug all of it and thought it would send the message that I actually belonged at Bouclier.
“Nice! Much better than what that asshole left me with,” I admitted before glancing around the room. “There doesn’t seem to be much point in hanging around now.”
“Yeah! Let’s grab our cookies and see what we can get into,” Rebecca said. “We’ve got a nice, long break between classes, thanks to you!”
With that, we toasted our spirit ciders, drank them down, and grabbed our platters along with our brooms as we headed out, officially friends.
22
Joan
“Hey, since we both have time between classes,” I began, “and you said you’d like to try your hand at cooking more, why don’t we pop into the meal hall and see if we can help Chef Douglas out? He’s one of the first people… er… mages I met here, and he let me make breakfast with him today. It kind of calming to make food. It’s my happy place, I guess.” I touched the aventurine necklace he had given me and wondered if that too had a part in my success.
“Whoa!” Rebecca blurted out with wide eyes. “You helped him with those pies this morning?! They were killer! Iconic. You really know what you’re doing!”
I didn’t want to take all the credit. Even though breakfast was all my idea, Chef Douglas had helped out so much. “Chef Douglas is the real master of the kitchen,” I said with a bit of shyness. “Well, let’s head over and see what he’s up to.”
As I walked a little faster, both Aurelius and Rebecca was happy to keep up with me. As we made our way over to the furry-eared chef, a spark of inspiration came up. The weather was really nice, after all, and I couldn’t help but notice the rolling green hills and bright sunshine through the windows. I thought it would be silly to be cooped up on the first day of school. “Baking” the moon spell cookies had made me a bit superstitious, I guessed, and I wanted to make today as lucky as possible. Plus, Aurelius would like the fresh air.
“You know what I’m thinking?” I asked. “There’s so much nice sunshine, and it looks perfect outside. All that talk in class about starting the year off right made me think that we could take our cookies outside and have a picnic. Do you guys ever have those here?”
“Well… no…” Rebecca admitted. “But I think it’s a great idea! Theo’s all about stuffy traditions and eating indoors, but to heck what he thinks. You’re the cool kid on the block and kicked ass in Magical Cooking today, so we should celebrate!”
As we chatted and swapped ideas about what to bring, we made it through the long hallways to Chef Douglas’ serving counter in what seemed like no time at all. He stood there, stroking his right horn as he looked at his menu to decide what to make for the students. When he raised his eyes at our approaching footsteps, a huge grin broke out on his face.
“Come back again to take a load off ol’ Douglas’ plate, have ye? And the young lass Rebecca with y
e, no less!” His loud voice echoed throughout the dining hall. “And it looks like ye got yer own plates too!” I was glad to see him with a lot more energy than this morning. That made me even more sure that I wanted to help out.
“As much as I can!” I agreed as I patted Rebecca on the shoulder. Both of us smiled and set our cookies on the counter. “We had a ton of extra time on our hands and couldn’t think of any better way than to pitch in for lunch. You ever heard of a picnic?”
“That I haven’t, little missus. If ye thought it up, though, it must be good, ain’t that the truth?” Chef set his menu down like he wasn’t interested in it anymore. It flattered me that he had so much confidence in my decisions.
Rebecca butted in to prove her knowledge about human culture, and I was happy to step back and let her steal the show. I thought it was really cute how her pigtails bobbed as she spoke quickly and excitedly.
“Picnics are the bomb, man! You bring this basket that looks are sweet and innocent, right? But no!” She also made a ton of gestures, I mean, if she ever wanted to play a round of charades, she’d have everyone beat. “It’s got a whole world of joy inside of it! I mean, humans really know how to shove the works in there...champagne glasses, plates, spoons, forks, appetizers, multiple meals. Better than any of our bottomless charms, their baskets.”
I smirked as she made a bunch of motions to describe a picnic basket. To drive home her point, she actually summoned one before tossing it across the room without a care in the world. It disappeared, and she went off to ramble about something else.
