The Remembered (Elements II)

Chapter 11

Suddenly unsure, fascinated by the chaos of the room in front of her, Catriona hovered in the doorway, watching what was going on. After a few moments, though, one of the kitchen staff saw her, and called her in.

“Come, girl. You can help.”

The woman’s tone was blunt, but not unkind, and she pushed Catriona towards a bench, where pastry was waiting to be rolled out.

“Here. Roll this out until it will cover the top of the pie.” As Catriona just blinked at her, she added, “Hurry, girl! It needs to be cooked.”

The princess ducked her head, only barely understanding the woman because of her accent, but she obeyed, tentatively rolling the dough out with the rolling pin. The woman snorted.

“Don’t be shy. It won’t bite you.” At that, she bustled off, her loud voice carrying through the chaos as she bore down on another hapless victim.

Catriona hid a smile, and began to do what she was told more confidently, checking the size every so often. Finally, it was the right size and, after watching what the cook next to her was doing, she carefully rolled the pastry over the rolling pin, and laid it on the top of the pie. Again watching out of the corner of her eye, she cut the excess pastry away, and pushed the edges down before pricking the top.

As she finished, someone whizzed by, sweeping the pie away and into the oven. Another topless pie was placed in front of her, as well as another lump of pastry.

“Quickly, you lot. We don’t have time to dilly-dally.”

The woman’s voice carried through the whole room again, and everyone bent to their work, Catriona included. As she lost herself in what she was doing, becoming faster and finding it easier, she began to enjoy herself.

Eventually, no more pies were put in front of her. She put the rolling pin down, and stretched her back, glancing around. The woman came back over.

“Well done. Here." A plate of food was pushed into her hands. “You’ve earned it. Come eat.”

At that, she bustled off, praising all the staff and giving them their evening meal. To Catriona’s surprise, none of them were complaining about the hard work, or the way that the woman ordered them around – even though she could see by their clothes that only some of the staff were slaves. She bit her lip about it. It wasn’t her house, therefore it wasn’t her place to say what should and should not be done. Besides, none of them, servant or slave, looked unhappy or afraid.

Shyly, she sat at the table with the rest of them, choosing a seat at a corner. As they bantered good-naturedly while they ate, she stayed quiet, listening. It warmed her to see that there were no hard feelings between any of them. They all worked well together.

As they began to finish, they drifted away after cleaning their plates, until Catriona and the head cook were left. Catriona glanced up, finished, and studied her curiously.

The woman had darker skin than herself, but nowhere near as dark as Isla, almost pale chocolate coloured. Her hair was a rich black, and her pale hazel eyes twinkled with good humour. She was lean and muscled, and Catriona felt her eyes widen when she saw the flame-coloured tattoos wrapping around her arms and throat, disappearing under her clothes. Her eyes shot back to the woman’s.

“You’re…you’re…” She didn’t know what she was trying to say and trailed off. The fire elemental grinned, and settled back into her chair comfortably.

“Carla,” she supplied. “Korith said you wanted to talk. You’re a good worker, for a princess.”

Catriona flushed, and looked down, fiddling with the fabric of her dress. Carla got up, coming back with two mugs of a steaming drink. She placed one in front of the princess, and took the other for herself. Catriona wrapped her hands around the mug, taking in the scent of the steam.