For a violent, power hungry son of bitch, Lord Rokkan sure knows how to work a room.
“I hope,” he said. “That over time I will demonstrate to everyone in District One that I am a good, peaceful leader, who just wants the best for his people. In fact, on that note, My first act as your new leader will be to establish a better rations system. I spoke with the previous wolf leader last night, and have learned that District One was on the verge of a very serious famine.”
There came a few mutters and gasps from the crowd. It wouldn’t have been the first time the district experienced something like that, but it had been a while and none of the residents were even aware that there was a shortage.
Megan leaned over and whispered to Ollie. “How can we know he’s telling the truth? He could just be saying this to make him look like some sort of savior.”
Ollie shrugged. “Who cares if he’s lying to soften his image? If it means we get food like this...” He held up his now empty breakfast plate, “Let him lie all he damn well pleases.”
“There are more sustainable methods of getting food,” said Rokkan. “And the sooner we start implementing these, the sooner we get District One back on its feet. Now, before, the farming and animal husbandry was all done by the wolves. They were, I’m sure, scared that if they allowed any citizens to work with the food, it would give them too much power. My father, King of the Draak shifters, would never allow his people to cultivate their own food. I, on the other hand, as you’ll soon come to learn, am I much more laid back ruler.”
“How old do you think this guy is?” Megan asked her brother. If she had to guess, she thought he couldn’t be much older than she was. Twenty-three, twenty-five at the most.
“Shh,” said Ollie. “I’m trying to listen.”
Megan frowned at him, but didn’t push the issue. She too went back to listening to the charismatic, “laid back” leader.
“It will require a lot of work from you all at first,” said Rokkan. “Farming for a whole community is not easy.”
How the hell would he know? Megan softly laughed to herself. He the son of a king, I doubt he’s ever had to make a meal for himself, nonetheless farm something.
“But I promise it will be worth it.”
Somebody raised their hand in the crowd. Rokkan pointed at the middle aged woman. “Yes, do you have a question?”
“I was just wondering, are we all going to be farming then? What about the other jobs we used to be responsible for?” She looked down a little boy who had his arms wrapped around her leg. “I was making a steady wage working at The Hotel, I can’t afford to lose that.”
“I’m glad you asked that,” said Rokkan. “We will be assigning some of the work roles here, and wages will change––”
The crowd erupted into a furious frenzy. Everyone began to yell about why he/she, in particular, needed to keep his/her job. People were crying, begging Lord Rokkan not to cut their pay. Even Cal’s chipper expression melted into a concerned one.
Rokkan yelled over the chaos and banged his stick a few times. “Please, everyone! Please, listen. This is a good thing. The wolves had no idea how to run this district. My trusted advisors and I will whip this place into shape in no time, and you will all be better off for it, I swear it, on both my crowns, as the prince of the Draak people and the new leader of District One.”
Draak people? Megan had never heard of them. She wondered what it was exactly that they shifted into.
Rokkan went on to explain some of the changes more in depth. Assignment stations were set up, where people would go to get their new work roles and sign up for shifts on the farms. The biggest change which was to be set in place that very day, however, were the on-site kitchens which were to be set up all around the district. Each kitchen was, eventually going to serve different types of food, at different prices, which was very different from the way the mess hall worked. Instead of having to pay four hours of work for one serving of whatever food happened to be served that day, workers would be allowed to pay using their actual wages, and they would get a choice as to what they want and how much they wanted to spend.
For now, the food sources were still fairly depleted and the options limited, so the kitchens would all pretty much be serving the same old mush. But, according to Rokkan, after the first harvest, they would be able to make and serve a whole slew of exotic, tasty foods. They asked for a few volunteers to help Rokkan’s men set up the new kitchens and get cooking. Ollie and Megan’s parents had already gotten in line to receive their new work assignments when they called for volunteers. Megan, who hadn’t been too eager to find out what new job she’d be slaving away at, had stayed behind and tried to find Aggie. She was curious what the old grump thought about all this.
She didn’t find Aggie. But she did find herself face to face with a tall, dark-purple skinned female draak shifter. She smiled down at Megan and wrapped a strong, spindly hand around her bicep. “I’ve got a kitchen volunteer!” she yelled. Another draak called for her to bring the volunteer over to where the rest of the group was gathering.
“Hey, wait a second!” said Megan. “I didn’t volunteer. Let go of me!”
The shifter tightened her grip. “If I said you volunteered, then guess what, tiny human? You volunteered, understand?” They’d reached the rest of the volunteers. Megan wondered how many of them had also been dragged there against their will. “How many more do we need?” she asked a larger, male draak.
“That should be good. Thank you, Kidam.” He nodded to the woman and then surveyed the group. He pointed to the three youngest women, which included Megan and two other girls she’d never met. “You three, you’ll be working at the main kitchen station in the courtyard. This is where Lord Rokkan will be eating, so it is imperative that you do a good job.”
“That’s ridiculous!” said one of the other girls. “I’ve never cooked before.”
“Neither have I,” said the second girl. They both looked at Megan.
“Me neither,” said Megan.
The draak smiled, mockingly, and bent down so he was on their level. “I’m sorry,” he said. “It seems I accidentally gave you the impression that I care what you think or your pathetic life histories. I don’t. All I care about is following orders and keeping my prince happy, and if I hear that any of you did something to upset him, I’ll re-assign you to toilet duty faster than you can say ‘I’m sorry, Captain El.’”
Megan smirked. “Joke’s on you. I’ve been working toilet duty for five straight years.” She gave the creature a sarcastic salute. “Captain.”
He turned his full attention on to her and widened his grin, showing off his razor sharp teeth. “You don’t want to test me, you sapien bitch. You may think the prince is all smiles and giggles, but trust me when I tell you that it’s all just to save face. Just because Rokkan likes to keep his hands clean, doesn’t mean his dirty work doesn’t get done. I do it.”
Megan’s confidence felt like it was on a rollercoaster. Seeing one of Rokkan’s men so close and smelling the stench of meat and blood on his breath surely made it dip, but hearing that she was right not to trust Rokkan reminded her that she had good instincts. Captain El scared her, there was no denying that, but having a new enemy actually felt good. It gave Megan something to focus on.
She nodded, knowing there was no use in talking back again. She could tell El was about one snarky comment away from throwing a punch, and as self-assured as she was, Megan wasn’t stupid. She was five-five and one hundred and fifteen pounds. One solid punch from the captain could quite literally kill her.
“Understood,” she said.
“Good.” He straightened up and again addressed the group. “Now that that’s settled, let’s get you maggots to work.”
* * *
The kitchen setup took less time than Megan expected. Lord Rokkan had brought a lot of the equipment with him. His preparedness made Megan think this was something he’d tried out in the other areas he’d taken over. It
didn’t strike her as a terrible idea. In fact, although she wasn’t quite willing to admit it, Megan could see it being a really good thing.
Once they got the solar powered oven working and a fire roaring underneath the metal-grate stovetop, the three women got to work on the actual cooking. They had been given some stuff from the rations Rokkan and his Draaks brought with them on the journey to District One and leftovers from the mess hall kitchen.
“What are we supposed to do with this,” the shorter, freckled-face girl named Holli asked. “None of know how to make… anything.”
“Figure. It. Out.” said Kidam. “I will be back to check on you in an hour. You better have something tasty cooking, or I’ll send El.”
She stalked away, towards the mess hall. Megan noticed she had two different guns slung on her belt and she too had a wolf’s tail, which she had hanging next to the weapons.
The tall pale woman, who’d earlier introduced herself as Amara, clapped her hands together. “I guess we should get to work.” She was clearly the least irritated of the three. While they were setting up the equipment, she kept asking the draaks questions about how it worked and what they usually ate. One of the draaks was actually very nice to her, and he seemed almost sad to leave and help the next kitchen station. “I was thinking we could take the meat they gave us from their own rations, chop it up, and put it into this tomato puree. It would make a sauce.”
“And what will we put the sauce on?” asked Holli. “All we have besides the meat are zucchinis and bread. I say we cook the meat separate, that way we know we have at least one good thing.”
“But we have nothing to season it with,” said Megan. “I think mixing it with the tomato paste is a good idea.” Holli gave her a mean look. “Well I do! And I think I know what we can put the sauce on.” She picked up one of the zucchinis. “If we shred this into thin slices and cook it just right, it could be sort of like spaghetti. With the sauce, it might actually be pretty good.”
“Spaghetti?” Holli stared at her as if she’d just spoken in tongues. “What the hell is that?”
Megan realized it wasn’t a dish these two would ever be familiar with. It was something Lou used to send her from District Three. “I read about it,” she said quickly. “My mom has some old cook books from before the war.”
“Wait a minute,” said Holli. “Your mom has old cook books and you didn’t think to grab them before we came out here and started cooking?” She advanced on Megan, and even though she was much smaller, Megan felt the need to take a step back.
“I didn’t think they’d let me go get them,” said Megan, really hoping Holli wasn’t going to double down and order Megan to fetch the cook books that didn’t exist. “It doesn’t matter, I’m pretty sure I can make it from memory.” She wracked her brain trying to remember if there was anything else to the dish besides pasta and meat sauce. Cheese! That was always the best part. Would it be the same without cheese? “Holli, you start cooking the meat on the stove. Cook it in the sauce maybe?”
“Hey, I don’t take orders from you,” said Holli.
“Fine.” Megan rolled her eyes. “You can start slicing the zucchini if you want.”
Holli narrowed her eyes. “You’d like that wouldn’t you, trying to trick me into taking the boring job? No, I’m making the sauce and that’s final.”
“Sure, whatever, I don’t care.” Megan looked at Amara. “Can you slice the zucchini?”
“Absolutely!” she said cheerily. “I’ve never done it before, but I’ll sure do my best.”
“Great,” said Megan. “I am going to run to my apartment then.”
“What for?” asked Holli. “Don’t you think you can stick us with all the work just because––”
“I’m not sticking you with all the work!” said Megan. “God, you are antagonistic! If you must know, I remembered that I have some packages of processed cheese at home. The dish calls for fresh grated parmesan, which is a fancy cheese that we don’t have. But, I think if we take the crappy stuff I have and add some salt and pepper, it could be something.”
Hollie eyed her suspiciously. “I don’t know… Sounds like a pretty convenient excuse to get out of cooking out here in the hot sun next to the hot stove…”
“I will be back before you know it, I promise,” said Megan. “And if I’m not, then you can tell Captain that I ditched my shift and blame any kitchen failures on me. Deal?”
“Oh we wouldn’t do that––” Amara started to say.
“Deal,” said Holli.
“Okay then,” said Megan. “See you in a bit.”
* * *
When she arrived back at her place, there was a present waiting for her. The awkward, misshapen way her pillow was situated where she’d thrown it on the couch told her that Lou sent something.
She quickly ran over and picked up the pillow. Underneath, sat a small, bandana-wrapped parcel. Megan brought it to the kitchen table and unraveled it. Inside the bandana was a box with a note attached.
It read: Dear Megan,
Something terrible has happening in the districts. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the draak shifters have been taking over districts and causing a full-blown panic. The mages that run District Three freaked out and, in an attempt to combat any occupation attempts, they are putting up a district wide protection ward. It means that I will no longer be able to come visit you or send you gifts. The ward is going up soon, so I hope this gets to you in time.
Hopefully the draaks haven’t come for District One yet. I hear terrible, horrific things from others who have faced them.
Please, stay safe. I hope you won’t ever need to use this, but I wanted you to have it just in case.
I love you. I hope I will get to see you soon.
Lou
Megan tore open the lid of the box. Inside was a small dagger. The blade was thinner
And sharper than any knife Megan had ever washed while on Kitchen duty. The hilt was smooth and white, with a beautiful designed carved into it. It was made out of bone, Megan realized as she ran her fingers down its surface.
It was a mage’s blade –– Lou’s blade.
When a mage became fully in control of her powers, she was supposed to make a weapon by hand. That weapon was then charged with some of her power, and was only ever meant to be wielded by her. Lou told her about making the blade, and how it took her so long because she had to stalk and kill the buck whose bone she’d used to make it. Lou had been vegetarian her entire life, and the thought of having to hunt a living creature was almost enough for her to go back on all her mage training and forgo becoming her most powerful stuff.
But she found the strength to do it. And then she endowed this blade with that same strength. And now, the blade was Megan’s.
She packed the weapon back into the box, wrapped the box back up in the bandana, and stashed the whole thing in the back corner of the hall closet.
I hope I don’t have to use that, either, Lou. I really fucking hope.
* * *
Her family had a whole half pound bag of salt and another large pouch of pepper that they purchased just before spice prices skyrocketed. Megan took a bit of eat, three packets of the processed cheese, and ran back to the courtyard.
She could smell the meat from nearly a hundred yards away. It smelled better than the dish they were served for breakfast. As she approached the kitchen station, Holli stopped stirring what was in the large saucepan and put her hand on her hip.
“Took you long enough,” she said.
“Sorry, I got a little sidetracked,” said Megan, taking up the stirring. “How long until that draak woman, Kida or whatever her name was, comes back?”
Amara looked up and squinted at the clocktower across the way. “Ten minutes? Maybe fifteen?”
“Hmmm.” Megan looked down at the pile of zucchini shavings. “With regular spaghetti, I know you’re supposed to cook the pasta in boiling water… But this stuff is already so soft, maybe we should le
ave it like that?”
“We could split the difference?” Amara offered. “How long do you cook the pasta for usually?”
Megan took a shot in the dark. “Five minutes?”
“Then we’ll try two and a half minutes,” said Amara, sounding more sure of herself than she had the entire morning.
“Alright,” said Megan. “Works for me.”
Holli blew some of the hair out of her face and stared at the other two with obvious disapproval, but if she had any better ideas at the moment, she kept them to herself.
“I’ll put a pot on,” said Amara.
They ended up taking the zucchini shavings out after only a minute and a half. They already looked so floppy, Megan was worried any longer in the boiling water would have made them downright soggy.
The sauce seemed to be done as well. Cautiously, Holli poured some of it over a plate of the cooked zucchini, and Megan added a touch of cheese and spices. They took a second to stare at their ridiculous attempt at a meal.
“Is it finished then?” a voice came from behind them. It was Kidam. “Let’s have a taste, shall we?” She was wearing a smug expression, clearly anticipating the girls’ failure. Amara handed her the finished plate. She turned back to look for a fork, but Kidam dug in with her hands.
She chewed, methodically, a few times. Swallowed, said nothing, and brought another handful to her mouth. She had finished almost half the plate before she finally spoke. “It’s fine,” she said. “Sufficient.”
A breath of relief escaped Megan and her shoulders, which she hadn’t realized she’d been tensing up towards her ears, relaxed down.
“We’re so pleased you like it,” said Amara. “Do you want some more?”
“No.” Kidam sneared. “I said it was fine. Don’t get all excited, yeah? You still have to impress the prince. In the meantime, I’ll have more of these ingredients sent over to you, and you make, let’s say another three hundred servings?”
Lord Rokkan’s Private Toy Page 4