“What?” said Holli. “That’s nuts! Even on cooking duty in the mess hall, we’re only ever responsible for maybe one hundred servings max. Three hundred will keep us here all day. I have to go find out what my new work assignment is and start doing something that will actually pay my bills. Everyone knows kitchen duty pays shit.”
Kidam nodded, her face softening. “You know, you bring up a good point. This really is only a two man job anyway. Why don’t you run along now and go find your new assignment.”
“What?” said Megan. “That’s not fair!”
“Hush!” Kidam demanded.
Holli took a moment, probably to determine whether or not she trusted Kidam was telling the truth. After watching the draak woman carefully, she opted to leave. She threw off her apron, tossing it at Megan, and said, “later suckers,” and walked back to the mess hall. Once she was out of earshot, Kidam let out a small, mean laugh.
“You humans are so thick.” She turned back to Megan and Amara. “The kitchen station jobs are the highest paying in the district now. She won’t figure that out until it’s too little, too late, I’m afraid. Now, where were we? Ah, yes. You two need to make three hundred more servings. The prince will be stopping by later today, to evaluate… the meals.” She gave the two women an odd look when she said that, as if the prince was going to be there to evaluate something else, something sinister. “Make sure you don’t disappoint him.”
“I feel bad for Holli,” Amara said when they were once again alone. “She’s going to miss out on a lot of money for the day. She has a kid you know? She told me while you were up getting the cheese.”
Megan shook her head. “I didn’t know.” She sighed. “Maybe we can give her a cut of what we make, if we can find her after her shift. Afterall, she did help us with the set up and the initial cooking. She deserves something.”
Amara smiled. “That’s a great idea. And who knows? Maybe she will be reassigned to kitchen duty anyway.”
“Maybe,” said Megan. “But maybe kitchen duty isn’t exactly what we think it is.”
“What do you mean?” Amara looked up at her with worried, watery eyes.
Megan thought about revealing all her concerns to this sweet, optimistic woman. She had been feeling a little uneasy ever since Captain El picked out the three youngest, arguably most attractive women in the group to serve at kitchen where the prince would eat. And now, after Kidam had acted so weird earlier when discussing the subject, Megan was pretty sure her concerns were valid. But Amara didn’t seem to suspect anything, and there was no reason to trouble the girl before they knew anything for sure.
“Oh nothing,” said Megan. “Nevermind. It was just a dumb thought. Let’s stop talking and get to work. We’ve got a lot of bad spaghetti to make.”
Chapter Five
The Famous Zandle Zoodles
The prince didn’t make it over to their kitchen station after all. At least, not that Amara or Megan noticed. They were, admittedly, slaving away like mad-women, trying to get all the food prepared and served. Word of their delicious zucchini spaghetti traveled fast, and soon they had a line of both draaks and humans, stretching all the way across the courtyard. It was possible, albeit unlikely, that the prince had arrived and simply kept a low profile. Half the time Megan was not looking at the faces of those she was serving –– she was too focused on making sure she didn’t put too much cheese on top of the plate and that she collected the proper amount of payment.
When the extra ingredients were delivered, the draak who brought it all informed the two women of what everything costs. They were then told to calculate how much to charge for the dish –– something neither of them had ever been asked to do.
“How do we figure that out?” Amara asked.
“Just take the costs of the ingredients,” said the draak. “And add money for the time and energy it takes to put all this stuff together.” He spoke slowly, and in a condescending tone, as if speaking to children. “Do you think you can do it? Or should I put someone smarter in charge? A draak perhaps?”
“No, no,” said Megan. “We can figure it out. Thanks.”
“Good,” said the draak. “I will collect your earnings at the end of the day, and pay you what you are owed.”
They mulled over the prices for a while. It was hard, calculating what a woman’s time was worth when for her entire life she’d been taught that she herself was worth virtually nothing. Eventually, it was agreed that they would keep the prices low, because the people of District One deserved a good hot meal for a reasonable price. They calculated what four hours working at the lowest wage under the werewolves regime was worth, since four hours of labor was what used to be required for a meal, and set the price two cents lower than that. It still more than covered the cost of the ingredients, and it meant that their kitchen station became by far the most popular spot that day.
At about five o’clock, the sun was hanging low in the sky, and they had served the last of it, Amara and Megan were finally able to take a break. They sat down, right on the sandy floor of the courtyard and fanned themselves with their hands. The sweat was dripping off Megan as if she’d just stepped out of a swimming pool and Amara’s face was redder than the tomato paste. They sat for nearly half an hour, waiting for the draak man to come back and collect their earnings. Instead, it was the prince who paid them a visit.
Amara spotted him making his way over and quickly stood up. She tried to wipe the dust off the front of her apron and told Megan to get up.
“Why?” Megan grumbled. She’d laid all the way down and she wasn’t sure she was ever going to be able to get back up. “You can deal with the draak, can’t you?”
“It’s not him,” said Amara. “It’s the prince!” She bent down and pulled Megan up by her upper arm with surprising strength. She wiped the dirt off of Megan’s front as well and picked a leaf out of her hair.
“I don’t care if it’s the king himself,” said Megan. “I’m tired.”
“I’ll bet,” said the prince, who was apparently close enough to hear them. He was still a good ten yards away. Draaks must have enhanced hearing, like the wolves. “You girls were the talk of the town today. Everybody wanted a taste.” Megan could see his face now. He was wearing a flirty smile and walking with swagger. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get a plate of my own.”
“There might be enough of the ingredients, we could make you some,” said Amara, hurrying over to the stove.
“That’s quite alright,” said Rokkan. “I trust the word of my people. You can make it for me some other time.” He was smiling at Megan. “Have you been paid yet?”
“Not yet,” said Megan.
“Well, I hope you’ll be happily surprised with your new wages.” The prince took a step forward. Megan could smell him. His scene was sweaty, but also soapy, as if he’d recently had a shower. Megan would kill for a nice, warm shower after the day she had. “You two must be ready to get home and get cleaned up,” he said, as if reading her mind. “I can settle up with you.” He reached for a leather pouch which hung on his belt. “Do you have the day’s earnings?”
Amara started to take coins out of the large pocket in her apron, but there were simply too many. Instead, she took the whole thing off and handed it to the prince. “It’s all in there.”
He shook the apron and listened. “Wow, you guys did very well for your first day.” He poured the contents of the apron in to a larger, empty bag he had slung over his back. Then he pulled coins out of the small pouch, counted them carefully, and handed the women their pay. “Here you are.”
Megan stared down at the coins in her palm and immediately started to think of all the things she could do with that kind of money. She could pay to have the hot water fixed in her family’s apartment. She could pay all the debt the Zandles had accrued with their ever-generous local grocer. Or, she thought selfishly, I could get the hell out of here.
“Now then,” the prince said, bringing Megan out of her daydr
eam. “Before I let you go, there is one more matter I would like to discuss. How would you two like to work for me, as my private chefs, in the leader’s quarters?”
Megan wasn’t as taken aback by the offer as it appeared Amara was. She had let her guard down, for a second, once the prince paid them, but now that he was soliciting them for his personal use, she was once again dubious.
“You want us to work in your quarters?” Amara gawked. “So we wouldn’t have to do any of the other district duties? And we would only have to cook for you?”
“My men and I,” said the prince. “You’d have to cook for all of us. And some of my… other companions.” He looked at Megan when he said this. “Don’t be fooled, it will be a lot of work, and you’ll have to live in the quarters, because there may be meals that need preparing at any hour. You will of course have days off where you will be allowed to return home and see your friends and family, and the pay will be even more than you made today.”
“Yes,” said Amara. “I would love to! Thank you so much for the opportunity. My name’s Amara, by the way, and this is Megan.”
Megan frowned at the prince, not offering him anything in the way of an introduction. “Neither of us have any cooking experience, save what we did today.” Amara elbowed her and shot her a desperate look but Megan didn’t stop. “I’m sure there is someone more experienced you could hire.”
“But I want you,” said Rokkan.
“Why?” asked Megan. “Unless… there’s another aspect to our job that you’re not telling us about?”
Rokkan narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything.
“May I ask,” Megan continued. “Will cooking be the only thing requested of us? Or will we be expected to perform other tasks?” She kept her eyes on the prince, daring him to deny the reason he really chose them.
He didn’t break away from his stare. Megan could feel Amara looking at her too.
“I do not appreciate what you are insinuating,” said the prince. He sighed, and his serious face broke once again into his fake, people-pleasing smile. “But I can understand why you would want to know for sure. Considering the monsters you were previously working for, I can only imagine gorgeous, smart women like yourselves were constantly being propositioned for unsavory things. I can assure you, if you agree to come on as one of my cooks, that is all you will ever be asked to do; cook.” He winked at Megan. “That being said, if you ever find yourself wanting to explore other types of work, that could be arranged.”
Amara giggled and looked down at her feet. Clearly, his charm was working on one of them, although, he didn’t seem to care much about what was and was not working on Amara. He seemed to only have eyes for Megan.
“Fine,” Megan eventually broke the silence. “I’ll do it.” She leaned in close to the prince. “But don’t you think for one second I am going to want to explore. I am doing this for my family. I can’t pass up money like this.”
The prince threw his hands up in surrender. “Whatever you say, beautiful. You’ll both start in the morning. Go home, talk to your family, and pack your things. I’ll see you bright and early.”
He let his gaze linger on Megan for a bit longer, then turned and walked away. Megan watched him go, and tried not to notice how his strong back muscles looked, sweaty and glistening, as he disappeared into the mess hall.
* * *
“You’ll never believe this!” said Cal as the family ate their dinner. Him and Iris had made decent money at their new assignments and were let off early, and had enough time to go to the store and prepare a tasty meal. “Your mother and I were assigned permanent farm duty.” He looked so happy he could burst. “Isn’t that exciting? We’re going to be working outside in the fresh air all day. And tending to the animals, you know I always loved animals. Before the war, I was planning on going to school to be a veterinarian.”
“Yes, dad,” said Ollie. “You’ve told us a million times.”
“What about you mom?” asked Megan. “Are you excited about working on the farm all day?”
“It seems like it will be quite a lot of physical labor,” said Iris. “Luckily, the every day farm workers have shorter shifts than all the other duties. We either have to go in super early or stay super late at night, but the shifts themselves are only five hours. Which isn’t so bad. We opted for the morning shifts, that way we can always be home for family dinner.” She rubbed her hand along Megan’s back and smiled at Ollie. “What did you guys get assigned?”
“They kept me on carpentry, since I’m already trained to use all the dangerous power tools… and because I’m not really good at anything else,” said Ollie. “I’m fine with it though. They raised my pay a little, so that’s nice.”
“That’s fantastic news!” said Cal. “How about you, sweetie?” He looked at Megan. “Are you still on cleaning duty?”
“Did you guys have any weird interactions with any of the draaks?” Megan asked, avoiding her father’s question. “Like, did any of them get too aggressive, or threatening?”
Ollie laughed. “Well, yeah, but they were no worse than the wolves.”
“The draaks at the farms seemed pretty nice actually,” said Iris. “Except this one short, mean guy. He was a total grump. But nothing we can’t handle. Why, did you have a bad experience with one of them? Did they hurt you?” Iris tone shifted and she searched Megan’s eyes for answers.
“No, I wasn't hurt.” Megan realized it was time she fessed up to the day she’d had. “I was asked, or rather, I was forced to work at one of the new kitchen stations. The prince’s number two man was calling the shots –– his name is Captain El.”
“Oh I heard about him,” said Ollie. “While I was on my lunch break, two of the draaks sitting near me were complaining about him. Sounds like a real mean guy.”
“Yeah, him and his little lacky,” said Megan. “A female draak named Kidam. I had do deal with them both today. Then, once we finished our shift, the prince came over and talked to us.”
“You talked to the prince?” asked Iris. “What did he want?”
“Well, we did a pretty good job making the food, so he asked me and the other woman if we would want to come be his private chefs. We would work and live in the leader’s quarters.”
The family was silent. Iris put down her fork and tears formed in her eyes. “You’re going to live there?”
“He said I would have some days off,” said Megan. “And the pay will be really, really good. I couldn’t say no.”
“But what about the captain you were just talking about?” said Ollie. “He’s probably going to be around to bother you all the time. And who knows what goes on inside the leader’s quarters? I don’t know how I feel about this… we would have no idea if something happened to you until it was too late.” Ollie’s voice cracked and his breath started to shorten.
Cal put his hand on top of his sons. “It’s okay, Ollie, just breathe. Just breathe. We will figure this out.” He looked at Megan. “Are you sure you want to do this? Because, we could try to get you out of it… somehow…”
“No, dad, it’s fine.” Megan pushed down her own fears and unease, and put on a brave face. “The prince was nothing but kind to me today and I can handle the captain, he doesn’t scare me. Besides, we need the money. Who knows how long this new system is going to last or how long the draaks are even going to be in power here. I heard from Lo–– from the girl I worked with today, that District Three is putting up wards to block any attack from the draaks. Seems to me everything is sort of… unpredictable at the moment. The more money we can stash away now, the better.”
Iris nodded. “She’s right. I heard something similar from a draak I worked with on the farm. I got her talking, and all the sudden she’s telling me everything about their previous occupations and how the elementalists are not happy with the draak king’s recent takeovers. She thinks there might be another war coming.”
That really shut everyone up. The thought of a second war was almost
too much to swallow. Megan found herself looking to her dad, waiting for him to say something positive, to point out the silver lining towards which they could all shift their focus. But he was staring down at his plate with a face of defeat.
* * *
That night, Megan wrote a letter to Lou. She’d never had enough money to buy postage and send mail, but now she did. There was no guarantee it would even get to Lou –– Megan wasn’t sure they were even collecting mail from other districts, what with the new wards and the ever-looming threat of occupation, but she felt it was worth a try.
He looked so tired. She wrote. They all did.
That’s the funny thing about hope –– It’s exhausting. This new draak regime has brought us better wages, more food, and more hope than we know what to do with, and it’s wearing us out.
If you had told us a week ago that we were on the verge of another war, I think the people of District One would have simply nodded their heads and said, “sounds about right.” We were already suffering, so what was another war?
But now… now that we’ve been given a glimpse at something more… now that we’ve been given the agency to make a better life for ourselves… the thought of another war is devastating. They gave us hope, which is now making us that much more scared.
I feel I should mention, at least some point over the course of this letter, that I have been asked to work as a personal chef for Rokkan, the prince of draaks himself. I have no idea what to expect, but I will be bringing your gift along with me, so that should at least give you some piece of mind.
I have no idea if this letter will even find its way into your hands, but if it does, just know we’re all safe. For now.
Visit me if and when you can.
Megan
Chapter Six
First Day Jitters
Lord Rokkan’s Private Toy Page 5