Chef Fenris POV
We have known the theme for the competition. We have prepared all our ingredients.
The air in the was thick. Alpha Stone summoned us to his chamber. The walk was short. The stone walls felt like they were closing in. This place is too soft. I missed the sharp bite of the northern winds.
We entered his room. The Alpha sat in a chair carved from black oak.
He did not look at us immediately. He sharpened a small dagger with a whetstone. The scrape of metal on stone filled the silence.
He finally looked up. His eyes were cold.
"Tell me." Alpha Stone said.
His voice a low growl.
"What do you plan to prepare for the three rounds of the competition? I will not accept a loss. The Moon Crescent Pack needs this victory to survive."
I stepped forward. I am the lead for the second round. I know the weight of our hunger.
"Chef Skade will handle the first round." I said.
"Varg and I will be her assistants. She will be making the Glacial Peaked Poultry. It is a chicken dish not known in this time. She will use chilled fats to create a texture that shatters like ice before it gets to the throat."
"For the second round." I continued.
"I will be making the Moss-Crusted Venison. It is a Blackwood dish. I will cook wild herbs with a real kind of liquor. It is called the Blood-Vine Liquor. I will serve the liquor as a side drink. Skade and Varg will assist me."
"And for the third round." I concluded.
"Chef Varg will make the Gilded Pond Soup. He will use the giant golden lettuce flower as the base. He will make a duck soup with a golden color broth. Skade and I will be his assistants."
Alpha Stone stopped sharpening his blade. A dangerous smile spread across his face.
"It is good that you are prepared." He said.
"Do you have all the ingredients ready?"
"I have checked them myself, Alpha." I replied.
"They are secure."
"Perfect." He said.
He stood up. He sheathed his dagger.
"The Blackwood kingdom is not ready for what is to come. Even though we have been assured victory through other means. We would still give them a taste of a dish they would marvel at. I want them to know their best is nothing compared to our skill."
He looked at the window.
"Now, begone. Sharpen your knives. If you fail me, do not bother returning to the pack." Alpha Stone stated.
His dismissal was a threat. Not a gesture.
We headed for our rooms. The hallway was empty.
Skade stopped by a large tapestry. She adjusted the silver pins in her hair.
"I am going for a walk around the palace." Skade said.
Her eyes were bright with a strange hunger.
"I want to see the layout of their defenses. And their stoves."
"This is not our pack, Skade." I warned her.
I gripped her shoulder.
"Be careful not to do anything that will implicate us. We are guests. For now."
"I am always careful, Fenris." She whispered.
She turned. She vanished into the shadows. She was going through the servant's stairs.
Varg did not even look at her. He went to his room. He is a man of few words. He only lives for the fire. And the blade.
I did not believe Skade. She had been sneaking out since the competition was announced.
I followed her slowly. I kept my distance. I saw her reach the royal kitchen.
What is she doing in the royal kitchen? I asked myself.
I stood over a stone fence. I peeped through the kitchen window. The smell of roasting meat and old flour drifted out.
I saw Skade move inside. She stood in the center of the room. She looked like a wolf in sheep's clothing.
"Where is the Chief Royal Chef?" Skade asked.
Her voice was loud. It was a challenge.
"She is not available." A young boy replied.
He was chopping carrots. His hands were small.
"A days to the competition and the Chief Royal Chef is not available?" Skade asked.
Mockery dripped from her tongue.
"Is she scared? Is she trying to run away from the competition because she knows she will lose?"
"How dare you talk about our Chief Royal Chef like that!" Chef Silas yelled.
He slammed a wooden spoon on a table.
"Why will she run from you? Even our youngest chef here, Chef Pip, can handle your arrogance."
Silas looked at the boy. Pip looked like he wanted to hide.
"He can?" Skade asked.
She pulled a curved knife from her belt. She began to spin it.
"Let us see. I challenge this child to a knife work match."
"Y... ye... yes." Pip stammered.
He looked at Silas. Silas nodded at him.
"Why would you just come to our royal kitchen and demand a competition?" Martha asked.
She wiped her hands on a dirty apron.
"Are you trying to show off your skills or what? We have work to do."
Skade completely ignored her. She looked only at the boy.
"Don't worry, Martha." Silas said.
"Today the mighty shall fall. Let the challenge begin!"
I watched Skade. She took a full onion from a basket. Her hand became a blur.
The sound of the knife hitting the wood was like a drum.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.
In less than a minutes. The onion was a pile of transparent, even slices.
Pip was still struggling. He had only cut a quarter of his onion. His slices were thick and uneven.
"We won't blame him. He is the youngest chef. If you dare challenge me." Silas challenged.
Skade didn't say a word. She gesture that he come forward.
"My turn." Silas said.
He took a knife.
Skade beat him too. She cut faster than the eye could follow. She finished by slamming her knife into the table. The blade buried itself deep into the wood.
"Tell your ghost chef that I am waiting." Skade said.
She walked out of the kitchen. Her head high.
I watched the Blackwood chefs through the window. They looked defeated.
"I cannot believe she is that fast." Pip said.
He was shaking.
"My hands feel like lead."
"Do not cry, boy." Silas said.
He tried to pull the knife out of the table. But it was stuck.
"We will report this to Sophie when she comes back. We must tell her the northerners are using psychological warfare."
"Look at this blade." Martha said.
She touched the hilt.
"We should leave the knife exactly like this. We will show Sophie that Skade had the nerve to challenge her in her own kitchen. It will stoke her fire."
"Yes." Silas agreed.
"Leave it. Let it be the first thing she sees. She will know we were insulted."
I left the window.
I headed back toward the guest rooms. I took a shortcut through the corridor.
I heard voices coming from a side room. I recognized the deep tone of Alpha Stone. And the drunken voice of Grand Prince Magnus.
I stayed behind a stone pillar.
"The girl must not reach the kitchen on the day of the match." Magnus said.
"You said you had a plan." Alpha Stone replied.
"I do." Magnus said.
"I have men positioned. I will kill the Chief Royal Chef to make sure she is not available for the competition. Blackwood will lose. Alaric will fall. My plans for the throne will finally become a reality."
"Do what you must." Alpha Stone said.
"I only care about the harvest rights."
My heart hammered. This was murder.
This was not the way of a true chef. I waited for them to leave. I waited for the day to get dark.
I needed to warn them. But I could not be seen.
I found a piece of parchment. I crafted a message. I used a cipher that only a high-ranking official like the Beta would know how to read.
To anyone else, it looked like a blank page.
I headed back toward the kitchen area. I saw Silas and Martha walking to their quarters. They were still talking about Skade.
"She moves like a demon, Silas." Martha said.
"How can a human hand move that fast?"
"It is not human." Silas muttered.
"It is northern speed. Sophie will show her. Sophie has a different kind of speed."
I wore a dark cloak. I pulled the hood over my face. I stepped out of the shadows. They both gasped. Martha dropped her basket.
"Please! Do not kill us!" Martha pleaded.
She fell to her knees.
"I'm not here to kill you." I said.
I kept my voice low. A distorted rasp.
I handed Silas the message.
"Give this to the king's trusted friend and Beta." I commanded.
"Why should we give him an empty paper?" Martha asked.
She peeked at it in the moonlight.
"There is nothing here."
"Give it to him." I replied.
I stepped back into the darkness.
"He would know what to do with it. If you value your lives and your chef. Do not lose that paper."
I disappeared into the shadows. I climbed the stone wall back to my room. My arm was shaking.
I am a cook. Not a spy. But I could not let a master of the craft be slaughtered.
The Chief Royal Chef is in danger.
