Alina Nivar: The Moonstone

I: Daily Rutine

Alina woke up with the sun. She quickly got dressed and went downstairs to meet with the other assistants in the kitchen. Two of them had already gotten there, and the rest of them were already coming.

Everything as usual.

Some cooks were giving instructions to the assistants. One of them talked to Alina.

"You! Go to Dolint and get her whatever she asks for!"

Imonette Dolint was one of the head cooks of the castle. She was a big woman of few words who lived for cooking. The lower cooks used to call her Madame Dolint, but she immediately stated that she didn't want to be called anything like that. She was highly respected and a little feared, but everyone liked her despite her taciturn demeanor.

Alina walked to the table where Dolint was. She just said:

"Three eggs, a bottle of milk, a pack of flour and a pack of rice."

Alina went to get the ingredients. In her way she avoided five assistants and two cooks, and quite the same amount of people avoided her. "The kitchen is like a dance where everyone knows the choreography, but it was made two seconds ago" she thinks to herself as she delivers her order. Dolint nodded.

"Very fast. Well done."

Without losing any time, the woman started cooking. Her hands moved gracefully, adding, mixing the ingredients.

Delivering the right orders at the right time, watching people's cooking and sometimes even helping a bit with it, were Alina's daily little satisfactions. She delightfully watched Dolint as she was baking Suro knows what with the ingredients Alina and other assistants got her. Sugar, eggs, lemon scent... It was probably for princess Vunette. She loved sweets, and loved lemon-flavoured sweets even more. Alina had to admit, she had good taste.

The morning went on, and Alina continued doing her job. She even got to help with the princess' plate's presentation.

"You. Come over here." Dolint called her with a hand gesture. "Any suggestions?"

Alina almost couldn't believe she got asked about something as important as the presentation of the plate of a royalty member, but she quickly reacted and started thinking.

"Hmmm... What about meringue?" she said, pointing at the dessert. "We could draw a heart at the top and put lemon zest on it."

Dolint didn't say anything, like making a mental imagen of what Alina said. The girl held her breath.

"Now that's a good idea" the cook talked, and Alina breathed again.

Minutes later, a bell resounded on the kitchen. It was breakfast time for the royal family. As always, everything was perfect and ready to go to the table.

As the servants took the food and the head cooks went to the dining room, the assistants started cleaning the kitchen. Alina took Dolint's table, washing the bowls, putting the left ingredientes back, getting dry dough off the cookware. As every single spot on the kitchen was shiny, the assistants relaxed, some talking, some washing themselves, some just standing in silence. Alina was relieved. If no one had entered the kitchen by that time, that meant she didn't mess up with the plate. After washing her hands, she silently looked at the kitchen. The cookware, the tables, the scent of fresh-baked food... It was like heaven. It was her home.