Eye of the Ocean Book 3 Ji'jin Station

Eye of the Ocean – Book 3: Ji’Jin Station
“Don't let Pilli see your efforts or you'll be eating it tomorrow.”
He lifted the dripping flower out and let it drop to the tray in a tiny splash of
pink. The Master cook was fast, or he'd anticipated her decision. Or maybe she
was getting too predictable. “What would it have cost you to have been more
pleasant?” she added.
A shrug instead and she decided not to press the matter further. He'd talk
about it or he wouldn't.
A mug full of tea for herself, Rit shook his head as she paused with the spout
over another cup. “This is why I never eat,” she said, putting the pot down. “And
this is just lunch for tomorrow, I didn't take this kind of trouble for a banquet
back home. Breakfast for me tomorrow is what everybody else is getting for
dinner.”
“Didn't you ever wonder why I took as many of my meals at your tavern as I
could instead of at the barracks?”
“And here I thought it was...” He reached for a minute slice of pastry and she
slapped his hand away. “Those are samples.”
“I was going to,” he said. And did, the slap had been a tap.
She chuckled, happy to see him relax at last. “Apple and nuts rolled in layers
of pastry. I was going to serve it plain, but what do you think of caramel sauce?”
“Fine.” He looked into each bowl on the tray that might have held some then
ate the second and last bite of the pastry plain.
“Or with ice cream?”
“Both?”
She chuckled again. Another sample tray was brought, but this time she
simply nodded, signing allowance. The Wa'tic left with it immediately. Squash
again for one of the choices, but sliced and with a black speckled but otherwise
clear sauce. The black specks moved, one almost to the rim of the small plate,
dragging a thick slime after it.
One more tray appeared but held only a single dish and a small pitcher. Hic'lic
signed apology before leaving, his pincers hidden from anyone in the kitchen
seeing other than her. Apple pastry, a large oblong, the top dusted with a lace
pattern of powdered white sugar. A sizable ball of ice cream was on one side of
the cake, a bunch of fresh mint on the other.
Pilli again, she felt the Master Cook in the Net as soon as she thought to look
for him, he was monitoring her. They had talked about caramel sauce; she hadn't
known he had prepared some. Her push to sign privacy was sharper than
intended and he backed off abruptly. She sighed. Damage control was going to be
necessary, she just had to work herself into the mood for it.
Rit raised his eyebrows when the Net link died but otherwise was poking at the
dark specks in the ice cream with his fork. The specks didn't move, they were a
type of seed that tasted faintly of cinnamon. Did he think they were frozen eeie
Laurel Hickey www.2morrow.bc.ca