Crescent (Book 1)

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A note is tacked to Jackaby's door the next morning: 

Lady Brenna, I am out for the day. I'll have your results soon. Best, J a c k a b y

I read the note over again as I make my way down to the kitchen where I know Moira will be. A fresh roast is cooking, and when I follow the smell to the fireplace, I find the plump woman I know as the head cook shouting orders by one of the counters.

"Is the next tester out of the oven yet, Ann? By gods, child. Clean up your mess! Yes!" A younger girl scrambles around in response to Janice's voice, pacing to different points around the kitchen. She goes from mixing bowls to preparing a spot for a freshly baked pastry she pulls from the oven. Moira smiles at the sight, busily continuing to write onto a long list of parchment at the table. Ten plates of half-eaten delights are strewn around her, and I already know she's probably writing in which pastries made the menu and which did not. She waves me over, dismissing the guards behind me.

She shoves a plate with some kind of danish towards me. "I'm thinking of lavender and lemon maybe? Or is it too floral? Vanilla- or something sweeter?" I take a bite. I only get a nod in before she tosses another plate toward me and gives me a view of the parchment she's writing across. She rubs her head absently.

There are more items scribbled off than there are options left, I notice, but it doesn't really matter. "It's all amazing." I say as I scarf down another bite of the second croissant-like puff. She's not looking at me, and I clear my throat to get her attention. "Do you know where Jackaby is?"

Moira glances up for a moment but frowns, marking another option off the list before she replies. "I haven't seen him today. Why?"

I shake my head and wince when the woman behind us yells again. "We were supposed to meet today but..." She doesn't reply, but when another clatter sounds from behind me, the head cook takes off on a warpath toward the girl I'd seen earlier- Ann I'm guessing- and plates another line of selections.

"You've done it again! It's overbaked!"

I know if I don't leave now, I'll be caught up in whatever yelling match is about to ensue, so I wordlessly take the platter of lavender-scented puff pastry and hurry away. Decorations arrive in wooden crates in the grand hall and a few servants carry them around as I pace toward the library in search of quiet. There's always noise, always someone following, someone watching. But, I'm glad when I find the comfort of the book stacks. A few guards lurk close behind, but when I find a comfortable couch, I select a book from one of the bookcases and sit. I'm content to spend the day reading- or trying to at least. I'm quickly becoming friends with what little quiet I can find because I know that when Ceth returns, there will be even less.