Lovely Dark Things

TWENTY-TWO (ISELEN POV)

"Wow..." I whisper in shock.

"What were you expecting? The king's castle is a fortress where hundreds of aristocrats, soldiers and bureaucrats live... And they need to be fed somehow." Ruby chuckles next to me with mocking eyes while leaning her shoulder on the stone wall.

"I know but I was expecting... several rooms maybe. Not one massive kitchen the size of a soccer field."

"What's a soccer field?"

The beautiful elven girl asks bewildered but I ignore her, I'm too busy watching the show from the top of the stairs: it's almost like a perfectly coordinated ballet. Hundreds of humans working like small ants in a massive rectangular room with a tall roof supported by columns, so big I can barely see the other side. There're dozens of fireplaces on the long sides and more bonfires in the middle of the room, long tables of solid wood are scattered around and humans clean fish, whisk eggs, cut meat and veggies they get from barrels piled up in different side rooms. Water comes from several wells connected to an underground river and heat is unbearable here despite the tall windows are open. Fortunately, witch fire doesn't smoke as much as normal fire.

"Who is it?" I ask pointing at the elf that's sat on a carved wood chair on a platform. His clothes aren't as fancy as the ones a noble wears but it's pretty obvious he's the person in charge here because he's barking commands nonstop although I can't understand him. After some months living in Baalberith, I've managed to learn a few words and sentences from the dark elves' language but this guy is speaking too fast.

"He's the head chef, if you want to call him that," Ruby answers, bored and pulling her shirt away from her neck with a finger, upset because of the heat most likely.

"He looks really stressed," I whisper watching the tall and skinny elf who's sweating on his chair and screaming nonstop, arguing with other elves that are running all over the place to follow his orders immediately.

"I know, his job is complicated... He's in charge of feeding an army of people and has to plan different menus according to different status: for soldiers, for nobles, for priestess following the religious calendar, for the king and queen's table... And he can't repeat them often or meals would become too boring. Every dish must be perfectly cooked and seasoned and must arrive hot to the table, he needs to make sure that no one steals expensive goodies, something like a bowl full of strawberries is a luxury in this castle and only the Queen and her guests should enjoy it, although the chef gets special orders too if someone like my father decides all of a sudden that he wants lamb instead of chicken. Those kitchen helpers are privileged workers since they can eat the leftovers from the King's table and slaves have the little that's left on the plates."

"I understand, are all those soldiers watching so no one steals fruit and other delicacies?" I ask confused pointing at the elves that are wandering around the room monitoring everybody's movements, there're several black guards but also others who wear colourful uniforms.

"No, those guards are watching in case someone poisons the food." I blink staring surprised at my girl for a second before nodding. Of course, sometimes I forget that I live among cruel and ambitious beings that would do whatever necessary to succeed.

"It'd be easy for a noble to bribe one of the kitchen helpers or intimidate a human slave to poison your father's food, for example."

"That's why there're several black guards here and also the Queen's guards, some coming from the Temple and from different noble families... They take turns. The head chef and kitchen helpers are also watching since they could be considered responsible if a noble dies after eating a piece of cake, actually, they'd be forced to eat the rest of the cake to check if it's poisoned and later would be killed if they don't die before."