The Kindreds, Volume 1

The Eighth, Pt. 5

Sada's tale nearly took longer to tell than it had taken to experience. Om' Modir would not let her satisfy her and her Trolls' curiosity until Sada had been fed and her belly warmed with something they called mead, which was supposed to be sweet but tasted as bitter as wine. It reminded her of the southerners' milk punch once again. When she discovered it truly was wine, just made from a special nectar, she nearly spit it out in anguish. It was only her first hour of meeting these people and she had already disgraced herself as a woman! She was red-faced for a long while after, and her condition was not helped by the cup of the devilish liquid that she had drank.

Sada learned that the Trolls ate no meat—something that was unheard of in Ettedon and probably across all of her world. The woman Sada had thought to be the queen's guard, Orla, simply squinted at her and harrumphed when Sada asked about the strange diet, but a mossy woman named Edri happily volunteered that most Spiritkin who lived in the Valley of Kings refused to kill living creatures or eat their flesh. The squat woman said it with a bright smile, but Sada thought that when it was put in such a gruesome way, nobody would want to eat meat. She was suddenly thankful there was none on the table.

All but a few of the women helped to make the food for the feast. When Sada tried to help, she was abruptly ushered back to her seat on the floor in what they called the central cell. She learned then that the men, women, and guests of the clan had very distinct roles. The clan was fairly small, consisting of perhaps fifty Trolls. All but four were women. The few men were called wanderers, and most were from other Troll clans, both distant and neighboring. They stayed with a clan for a few months, catering to the queen, and then left to find a new clan. Sada was not told of the activities the men participated in while with a clan's queen, but she did not think she wanted to know either. While the feast was prepared, Groll and the other male Trolls sat around Om' Modir, looking upon her reverently and making strange humming noises. Some even danced while Om' Modir looked on with a smile.

Sada tried to avert her eyes. She preferred to watch the women work, anyway.

The female Trolls had much more distinct and numerous rolls in the clan. Some were outside of the dwelling, which was an asymmetrical but artfully crafted clay structure the Trolls lived in consisting of several angular rooms called cells. These women were working on a new cell, but Sada wasn't told what its function would be, and when she asked, they just smiled and talked of something else. A few other women were in a cell a few rooms apart from the dining cell, and were tending to the young they called cubs. They would be asleep soon, and then the women would leave to attend the feast. Most of the female Trolls were in the food cell, preparing dishes for the banquet. Sada had watched with amazement as they turned three or four ingredients into a plethora of dishes.

Trolls subsisted on a diet of nectar, pollen, tree sap, and a few select herbs for flavoring. Om' Modir had said with a laugh that their teeth were simply for decoration, as all of the food was soft. The women of the clan turned baskets full of crumbly pink and golden pollen into countless food items, more than Sada's cooks could make with sugar, flour, salt, and whatever else they cooked with. She watched with rapt fascination.

First, a handful of the pollen crumbles was taken from the basket and put into a ceramic dish. A ladle of water was added (if it was food for the queen, a milky yellow substance was used instead) until it became a paste. Then the Troll worked it with deft hands until there were no more lumps or grains visible. This paste was passed on to the next series of Trolls, who would stir in thick blobs of nectar straight from the flower, or pour in fermented nectar from a jar until the paste thickened. At the next station in the relay, a woman would add in butterfly milk or fresh herbs and flowers for flavoring. The smells made Sada's hungry mouth water unbidden. Once the batters had been separated by flavor and more pollen or nectar were added for texture, they were shaped into various creations. The batter that was more pollen-heavy became bread, while the herb-laden pastes turned into cakes and muffins. Tarts and pies were made by using a rolled-up leaf to pipe jelly made of petals, nectar, and squished fruits into hollow dishes lined with thick batter. Once the pastries were formed, they were taken outside of the dwelling to a fire in a clay oven. Thick white smoke wafted up from it, and hunger began to pain Sada's belly. Thankfully, the food hadn't needed to cook for long; the Trolls baked it simply for taste.