Part 7 (1/2)
Kyra cupped her hands around the glowing stone. ”A friend.”
”Thoughtful friend to give you something both beautiful and useful.”
”I guess so.”
”It suits you.”
”That almost sounds like a compliment.”
”I think you've underestimated what a nice guy I am. Compliments and dinner-really, Kitty, what woman could resist?”
”Save the compliments. I'm here for the food.”
Kyra smiled to herself and watched the glowing coals.
”What?” she asked when she realized Fred was watching her from the other side of the fire, the light flickering across his face.
”Nothing.” He shook his head. ”You seem unusually relaxed.”
”You've pretty much only seen me drowning and running from goblins, so you haven't got all that much to go on.”
”True. But you really seem to enjoy”-he spread his hands wide-”thinking about dinner.”
”Yeah, well, one of my roommates said it was either incredibly freaky genetics or a gift from the G.o.ds that I'm not enormously fat. I like food. I like mixing ingredients and discovering how they work together.” Tiny little flames reached around the coals to lick the potato pot.
”You sound like my dad talking about work. He's always going on about the essential qualities of different perfumes and how they combine.”
”Really?” The charcoaley smell of roasted fish and vegetables was starting to scent the air between them, and the warm glow of the fire had heated Kyra straight through. She felt strangely safe in the patch of firelight inside the dense surrounding of trees.
Fred shrugged. ”Family business. Unfortunately, as the youngest son, there wasn't much room for me, so I decided to take off and travel, see what the world has to offer.”
”I can't imagine. I've always known exactly what I wanted to do.”
”What is that?”
Kyra's muscles tensed. ”Um...dairymaid.”
”You're a dairymaid?”
”Yep.”
”Huh. So, what, you like, make b.u.t.ter and stuff?”
Dairymaid? Couldn't she have come up with something better than that? She guessed it could be worse-she did have more than a pa.s.sing knowledge of dairy craft. Domestic Studies were a required part of potioner training. Of course, she'd grumbled like all of the other apprentices, but her Hiccoughing b.u.t.ter and Sweet Dreams Pots de Creme had gotten top scores. Honestly, she loved potions almost no matter what area they were in. Even cosmetics came in handy-she'd learned how to make a glamour that changed her appearance when she needed a disguise.
”Mm-hm,” Kyra said, in answer to Fred's question. ”So tell me about this olive oil. Where's it from?”
She relaxed again as the subject switched back to cooking. She didn't know why she was feeling so comfortable. Somewhere deep in her bones she knew it was dangerous to feel that way.
Her first bite of fish made the niggling feeling of danger evaporate immediately. ”This is so good. What is in that spice mix?”
”Now, I may be a lot of things, Kitty, but a spoiler of ancient Lorienne secret recipes I am not. You'll have to learn the language and find out.”
Kyra threw a pinecone at him. Then took a bite of potatoes.
Fred chuckled, catching the expression on Kyra's face.
”What?” she said, her mouth full. ”It's really good!”
He nodded, still watching her. ”I'm glad you're enjoying it so much.” He reached out and added wood to the campfire before turning to his own meal.
The conversation fell away as they dug into their food.
The flames grew, crackling as they licked the fresh tinder. The fire s.h.i.+fted and sparks flew up into the air between them.
Kyra ate slowly, savoring each tasty forkful.
When the last bit of fish and potatoes were gone, Fred leaned back on his elbows across the fire. ”So, you've got roommates?”
Kyra answered with care. ”Two of them. They're my business partners-we have a dairy business together.”
”It seems like that would be a lot of time together, living and working with the same people.”
”Usually we get along just fine. Sometimes better than others. But we all love what we're doing.” This was completely true, and it wrenched Kyra for a moment. She was the one who'd brought them together to form the Master Trio-she'd seen in Hal's and Ned's eyes the same pa.s.sion for potionery and had known they would make an amazing team. They were both a few years older, and Kyra had attended lectures by them while still an apprentice.
Hal's lectures had drawn huge crowds-mostly giggling girls, many of whom weren't even potioners. Kyra didn't care that he was handsome-in fact, his fussy blue silk and velvet outfit might have turned her away if not for the spark in his eyes when he presented his ideas. His potion theories were revolutionary, and he seemed to have a pa.s.sion for his work.
When Kyra finally extended an invitation to join her in business, she wrote him the most formal letter possible. She wanted him to know right from the start how serious she was.
Ned's lecture, on the other hand, had been poorly attended despite the name he'd made for himself, but he hadn't seemed to mind. His clothes fell in wrinkles over his big belly, and it looked like he'd just randomly picked them up off the floor; but when he spoke he'd had the same spark as Hal.
Ned had ended his lecture by saying, ”So, yeah, that's what I'm working on right now, but, hey, you don't want to hear me yammer on anymore. Anyone up for some meat loaf? I've heard the place across the street has the best.”
Kyra had gone with him, but only because she felt bad.
She felt worse after tasting the meat loaf. ”Actually,” she said, ”I'm pretty sure mine's better.”
Ned's round face lit up. ”Do you use c.u.min? I don't know why more people don't use it. It's pricey, but a small investment for so much goodness.”
Later, when she'd written to invite him to join the business, she'd included a recipe for her most recent improvement to meat loaf.
In the end, though, she hadn't chosen them for their personalities or how they dressed. She'd chosen them because they were the best at what they did, and because they both loved potions. Just like she did.
When things had been good, energy sparked through the flat, and they made potions and poisons that did things no one would have ever thought possible. Everything seemed right with the world. The memories caused Kyra to ache all over, knowing these events would never happen again.
She realized that Fred was watching her. His eyes flickered with the flames from the fire. She looked away.
”You really do love your work, don't you?” Fred said. ”I can see it on your face when you're thinking about it.”
”Yeah, I guess I do.”