The cookery had always been Joriellyn’s favorite part of the Temple. Cozy fires, bubbling cauldrons, and the mingled aromas of roasting meats, simmering stews, baking pastries filled the air with a fragrance that could even make a statue’s mouth water.
It wasn’t a large space, just roomy enough to have fires for three cauldrons, a separate fireplace and spit for roasting meat, and a bread oven. Two prep tables in the middle and countertops on either side of the fires were the work surfaces where the magic began. Two open doorways on one wall led to a walk-through larder, stocked with anything and everything one could imagine. A swinging door opened out into the serving area and another door, the one Joriellyn had come in, led out into the open grounds behind the Temple.
Since the first time when she had wandered in, just a mere wisp of a girl, she had enjoyed watching Baba Tetti work her magic. The old woman was a wonder in the kitchen and knew how to combine even the most basic of components and turn them into something amazing. Baba Tetti took the finest ingredients, fresh from the Temple gardens and the village butchers, and created the most delicious meals in the world. This part of the world, anyways, Joriellyn had remarked more than once. How could it possibly be otherwise?
Every time Joriellyn would visit, Baba Tetti would let her help. Sometimes the girl would stir the cauldron of soup or knead dough for the bread, other times she would assist Allorien with peeling and chopping vegetables or turning the meat on the spit. She even helped Teka wash dishes in the big cauldron that was always boiling with soapy water. Joriellyn never saw it as work, it was all fun and exciting to her.
And she always got to be The Taster. Anytime that Baba Tetti came up with a new concoction, she would get to sample it and give her opinion. Whatever the old woman made was always fantastic. Once she had made a raspberry tart that popped and sizzled and sparkled in Joriellyn’s mouth as she ate it. She could hardly stop laughing to finish the wondrous pastry.
Some said Baba Tetti was a witch and brewed up spells in her cauldrons and summoned up Demons. Joriellyn thought that while she might just be a witch, the only thing she summoned in that kitchen were hearty appetites. Her cooking certainly was wizardry, whichever the case.
So when Joriellyn, still flushed from her sparring match with Centurion Avaline, stumbled into the cookery, Baba Tetti didn’t even look up from her hissing and burbling cauldron. The little old woman lifted a gnarled hand and pointed to the prep table in the center of the room, belting out commands in a thick accent.
“Peel up carrots, Girl. Make coin slices. Nice ‘n thin!”
Without comment or hesitation, Joriellyn set about following Baba Tetti’s orders. She had never used her name, simply calling her ‘Girl’. The young Trainee supposed she would still be called ‘Girl’ even when she herself was old and gray.
Joriellyn often wondered just how old Baba Tetti really was. She had looked ancient since the girl first laid eyes on her. The Cookery Mistress seemed small, but she was stoop-shouldered, making it difficult to guess her actual height. Her body was always wrapped in thick layers of woolen kirtles, knitted shawls and aprons, so she looked almost as round as she was tall. And though her pinned up hair was white as snow and her dark skin was wrinkled and worn, there was a lively sparkle in her lavender eyes.
The Cookery Mistress didn’t move as many of the elderly in the village did. Instead of creaking and hobbling about, Baba Tetti fairly danced through the kitchen, hopping about on nimble feet. Although she looked like an ordinary Oru, with her rounded ears and full, round face, Joriellyn knew the old woman had to be something more.
Greeting the girl with a knowing smile, the proper cookery assistant moved aside and made a space for her at the prep table. If Baba Tetti was small, Allorien was positively tiny. She was K’trythe’, a Cross-Kin with the delicate features and lightly pointed ears of an Aelythyr and the short stocky body and coarse red hair of the Styr’Kva. Allorien was the Kitchen Mistress’ second set of hands. The two women worked together in such precise synchronization that anyone watching would swear that they could read each others’ thoughts. Joriellyn still hadn’t been able to convince herself otherwise.
Before she started combat training, and before she ever had thoughts about becoming a Temple Guard, Joriellyn considered being a cookery apprentice. It was there, in that kitchen, that she was given her first knife and taught proper handling by Baba Tetti. Having prepared so many vegetables over the years that followed, she could do it with her eyes closed. Her hands knew the way. In no time at all, she had been absorbed into the rhythmic flow of the enchanted cookery.
Just as Joriellyn finished the carrots, Baba Tetti scooped them up and tossed them into the stew cauldron. Allorien came in right behind, producing a dozen or so big purple turnips in front of her. She picked up a heavier knife and commenced chopping the root vegetables up into cubes. Normally, the silent controlled chaos of the cookery didn’t bother Joriellyn, but today she felt she would burst with the details of her morning sparring session.
The Cookery Mistress closed her eyes and raised a spoonful of liquid from the stew cauldron. She inhaled the steam and then just barely touched the wooden spoon to her crackled lips.
“So what is important, you can’t wait to tell Baba Tetti?” she croaked.
Joriellyn’s knife didn’t slow a bit, continuing its deft progress through the turnips. Though she tried to reply casually, she couldn’t contain her enthusiasm. The words tumbled out of her mouth, fast and loud.
“I beat Centurion Avaline!” Joriellyn declared proudly.
Allorien’s eyes flew wide and she stopped dead in her tracks. The diminutive woman bobbled the tray of sausages she was carrying, nearly casting them to the floor. Baba Tetti didn’t budge, there wasn’t a hint of warmth in the gesture. The old woman simply nodded her head, dropped the spoon back into the cauldron and began stirring again.
“Jori, that’s wonderful!” Allorien exclaimed, a bright smile dawning across her lips. “I knew you’d do it someday! And today was the perfect day for it.”
Joriellyn basked in the compliment, but it was short lived. She looked over at Baba Tetti and the old woman still had her back turned, tending the stew. The girl’s shoulders drooped in disappointment. Allorien rolled her brown eyes and shook her head.
“What?” The Cookery Mistress glanced back at Joriellyn and scowled. “You want prize? Feh! Knock on Miz Tin-head, little bit. Think you so tough now?”
Tears welled up in Joriellyn’s eyes. Her mouth moved, but no words would come. She couldn’t understand it. Baba Tetti was always kind and encouraging. Why is she being so mean? And on my birthday!
Her throat tightened. Joriellyn dropped the knife onto the table with a clatter, ducked her head and bolted out the back door. She narrowly avoided colliding with a horned Vesg woman with gray and green mottled skin, who was bringing in a load of wood for the fires. With only a hasty sob muttered in apology, Joriellyn raced off to her room and didn’t look back.
Stunned, the Vesg woman shrugged her spiny shoulders and launched into a rapid stream of words in her native tongue.
Allorien blew out an exasperated breath. “I really don’t know, Teka.” She turned and glared at Baba Tetti. “What was that all about?”
The old woman sucked on her teeth and grunted. “What’chu mean?”
Teka dropped the wood by the fireplace and uttered another string of words, guttural and harsh. She gestured to the door and Baba Tetti while she spoke, then finished with a quick swipe of a clawed hand across the front of her wool tunic.
“Teka’s absolutely right,” the K’trythe’ woman fumed. “You know Jori’s been working so hard! And to finally beat Avaline? That’s an amazing thing she did, and you…”
Allorien inhaled slowly, letting her rising anger diffuse before continuing.
“You dismissed her like a child that brought in a gworfl*!”
Teka made a clicking sound with her tongue and added “On day of girl’s birth, too!”
“Feh,” Baba Tetti grunted again and went back to stirring the stew. “Finish turnips!”
Throwing up her lanky arms, Teka shook her head and left the cookery. Allorien mumbled unintelligible syllables under her breath, but grabbed a knife and picked up where Joriellyn had left. The mood of the kitchen remained tense, but the food still had to be prepared.
The cookery felt just a little colder, a little more empty. It was missing the warmth of one girl. One who wasn’t as grown up as she thought.
* Gworfl: a short, thick caterpillar-like creature that excretes a noxious mucus when threatened.
This is the second part of my prequel story. I hope you like it. Please leave comments below!
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