Rune Stealer

In the Kitchen

 When Mercy finished tidying up Laika's room, she made way for the kitchen. She was to be one of the servers for this Royal Meal because they were short a few. A maid usually wouldn't be one to fill in for a server, but Mercy was happy to do it so she could see old friends. Beff, the head cook, to be specific. Beff was basically a second mother to Mercy. She owed it to Beff for her job at the palace. When her mom got sick and Mercy had to take care of her, she went door to door asking for jobs for food for her mom. Beff took her in and taught her to cook and helped her into the palace work.

She owed both her and her mother's life to Beff.

Mercy left Laika's room and went into the conjoining study. After checking to make sure no one was in it, Mercy walked to the bookshelf to the right where she pushed on the bare panel between the window and the bookshelf. A small rectangle sunk in and old hinges squealed in protest as Mercy coerced the ancient door to open just enough for Mercy to slip into the servant's passage.

The passage was barely big enough for two people to pass by and barely tall enough for Mercy to stand straight in. However, there was no light in these passages.

Mercy walked with her hands on each side cobblestoned passage to guide her to the kitchen. Mercy counted each time she felt the wall disappear then reappear when there was another passage branching off the one she was on; she knew when to turn and when to stop. When Beff first took her through these passages that led to many locations throughout the palace, Mercy had been terrified. It was so dark and incredibly easy to get lost in the passages. Beff had quizzed her on the map of the passages for weeks before Beff let her go by herself. That was over a decade ago and Mercy now knew the servant's passage like she knew her own home.

Having taken a few turns, Mercy came up on a wall and she felt the wall for a small hole. Once she found it, she stuck two fingers into it, grasped it tightly, and pulled. There was a crack and a creak of the heavy door scraping on it's hidden hinges. Light burst into the dark hallway and Mercy had to shut her eyes against the piercing glow as she slipped into the back storage room of the kitchen.

Mercy blinked repeatedly, willing her eyes to adjust to the light as she stumbled through a crowded room full of brooms, buckets, and old pots. The clanking of metal and the roar of fire in the kitchen was muffled inside the storage room but grew louder as Mercy drew closer to the door. Once at the door, Mercy braced herself and opened it. The raucous noise of the kitchen clapped against her eardrums at the heat of the stoves and ovens enveloped her in its thickness. As always, it took a while for Mercy to get accustomed to the Kitchen's atmosphere whenever she entered. When she first started working here long ago, she felt as if she was going deaf. She would walk home with a strong ringing in her ear. When Mercy complained about it to Beff, she just laughed and clapped Mercy on the shoulder.

"Your chillun ears don'not use to 'er noise, yet m'dear," Beff had said with a cackle. Mercy was still barely getting used to Beff's accent and the words she used. "Just you wait, de be fresh as som'ner by near day!"

"Mercy!" Called Beff when Mercy walked into the kitchen.

"Beff," cheered Mercy with a smile as she met Beff's sparkling black eyes. Beff was twisting her long, thick dark braids into a bun on the top of her head, revealing the black cooking rune on her dark skin. Beff was in her usual attire, black tank top, black breeches, and a half apron tied at her waist that was covered in various stains. Beff wasn't one for the feminine cooks uniforms that the rest of the female cooks wore.

Beff had her back turned to Mercy, but twisted her head to give a large grin to her. Mercy could see the familiar large boat sail tattoo on Beff's shoulder blade too. The sail had a large five starred sun on it with a spear laying over top of it.

"Da sun's fo' me country," explained Beff one day when Mercy had asked her about it. "Poneen da sailing country ja know. Spear's fo' me paps who wer' the roughest don' pirate out der ja hear!"

The tattoo soon disappeared, though when Beff turned around and opened her arms wide with the same ginormous smile on her face. Mercy giggled as she fell into her embrace.

"It's been eons since ja graced jer presence in me kitchen m'dear!" Mercy giggled again as she took all of Beff and her intensity. Having spent her childhood with Beff, Mercy considered herself an expert at understanding people from Poneen.

"I try to visit as much as I can," Mercy said, looking up at her dear friend.

"Try mo' ja Pink," Beff laughed in response. Mercy busted out laughing at Beff calling her a Pink. That was the Neesh name for white people. The first time Beff called her that, Mercy wasn't quite sure what she meant, so she asked.

"Don' no Pinks in Poneen," Beff said loudly long ago. "We Neesh leather skinned, dark as black! Even dem fongs in Thatis be tanned like hide. Don' never see a Leing b'fo', but heard de ash white. But joo Galabee freak don' Pinks. Joo be the Pinkiest Pink Mercy dear!" Mercy blushed, feeling as if that was a compliment. "See," screeched Beff with a cackle. "Pink!"

"I'll try, Beff," Mercy said with a small smile as they stood in the hot kitchen.

"Good," said Beff with a nod. "Now go on, wash dem claps," ordered Beff, referring to Mercy's hands. Mercy went off to the sinks to do as she was told and she found herself falling back into the old routine. She rolled up her sleeves and grabbed a knife and helped Pats, one of the cooks, cut the vegetables.

"Beffsair!" Mercy heard one of the younger cooks call.

"What, Jennison?" Beff yelled back from the other side of the kitchen.

"Len burnt the fish!"

"Len," boomed Beff, her usual intensity flaring. Beff threw the rag, which she had been using to hold a hot pan, over her shoulder and angrily marched over to a young cook who was weeping over a smoking pan. Mercy laughed to herself, remembering when that was her.

Later, when the first course was done being cooked, Mercy was helping the new cooks, Len and Jennison who both had the required cooking runes on their necks, arrange the food on the cart.

The Royal Meal would be served soon.