70, The kitchen

Ayya wished she could ask Tenac to hold her. It all felt like too much. She guessed he would have if she had asked, but it wasn’t the time or place for something like that. Instead, she took half a step back and felt the back of her dress skim the front of his uniform. It helped a little.

“The council has voted, and the decision is we will grant you permission to aid the sick people in the city,” the head of the council said. Ayya felt a surge of relief go through her. Why was the king looking so gloom? It was what they had hoped for. Or had he changed his mind? “But,” the head of the council continued, and Ayya felt her heart drop. “There are restrictions placed on that permission. You, or your companions, may not use magic on any subject of this kingdom,” he said. Ayya went from happy and excited to shocked and confused. That would explain why no one looked pleased. “Do you understand these restrictions?” the head of the council asked Ayya.

“I need clarifications,” she told them. 

“Yes?” 

“If I were to brew a tea and use magic to enhance its powers and then give the tea to someone, would that count as using magic on that person?” she asked. 

“Well, I don’t know. Does it?” the head of the council asked, looking at the king and the bishop.

“No, I wouldn’t say so,” the king said. “The magic was used on the tea, not the person.”

“I don’t know if I agree,” the bishop said. “There could be remnants of magic left in the tea.”

“Is that true?” the king asked Ayya.

“Yes, and no. It’s not a simple question to answer. It all depends on how you define magic. When I use magic, I manipulate elements that exist in nature. I can focus water in the air and concentrate it into running water. But when I let go of my focus, the water stops running. The element is still present in the air, like it was before I used the magic,” Ayya explained. “If I use magic to enhance the medicinal properties of a tea. I will use my focus to draw out and combine the elements of the herbs into the water. When I stop focusing, the process will stop. But the elements will remain.”

“Thank you for that explanation. Then I can see no need to restrict the use of magic in that purpose, as long as it’s not used directly on the subject,” the king said. The council nodded, Ayya saw that almost all council members agreed. 

“Then I understand and accept the limitations. But I want to add it will limit our usefulness and the process of determining what is causing the illness will take longer,” Ayya told them. 

“We understand,” the head of the council said.

“Then we will start our work tomorrow morning,” Ayya decided. 

“We are grateful, your grace. Thank you for coming. We will let you work in peace. If you need anything, send a message to me and you will have it. I will set up a meeting later this week to get an update,” the king told her. 

“Thank you,” Ayya said. She nodded toward the king, the bishop, the head of the council and to the council in general before turning around and walking out. They didn’t stop to talk with Hinat and Firlea as they exited the chamber. They just quickly gathered in their group and walked to the tower. When they were safely inside, Ayya told everyone the news. There were shouts of joy, and an impromptu celebration broke out. Ayya called for a servant and asked them to let the kitchen know they would like some extra treats with dinner if possible. 

“You did it,” Firlea said as they sat down to wait for the food. 

“What is the next step?” Hinat asked. 

“I need to write to Sinhera and write home. Sinhera needs to prepare to be here for a while. And everyone back home needs to know we will be here for longer than expected and we might need their help in planning a new strategy now when we can’t use magic on people,” Ayya said. 

“Hinat and I can do some thinking about that as well. We weren’t prepared for that limitation, but I’m sure we can adjust to it,” Firlea said. 

“I would appreciate it. I was thinking of sending a message to father Link. His church is responsible for one of the treatment centres of the sickness. I was thinking we could visit it tomorrow morning to get an overview of the situation. We have so little information on the decease,” Ayya said. Even though the illness had been a part of the daily life for almost eighteen years, very little was known about it. Ayya was hoping the ones treating the illness would have more information. She, herself, remembered only parts of her parents’ illness. Ayya had been too young to pay attention to the details, and her memory of the weeks she spent taking care of them had become fuzzy. She mainly remembered how she had felt. 

“It sounds like a good plan. We need to see what we are dealing with,” Hinat agreed.

“And you don’t have any objections?” Ayya asked Tenac.

“No, that was always part of the plan. We have trained for it,” he said. Ayya smiled at him. He was a planner. More so than she had realised. She had time before dinner to put together letters for Sinhera and Tariana. After dinner, she would write the note to father Link and a longer letter to her mother. The kitchen had sent up a small feast for them and the good mood continued. There was laughing and a song or two was heard. Ayya enjoyed it all. She knew there would be a lot of hard work for them all moving forward. They deserved a last night of fun. 

“Would you hate me if I asked you to go down to the kitchen with me?” Ayya asked Tenac when they were almost finished eating. 

“I will never hate you, and I don’t even mind you going down there. Should we go now?” 

“Yes, I’ll just let Firlea and Hinat know we are going,” she said.

“Do that and I’ll get our cloaks,” Tenac agreed. They met up by the door and after Tenac helped Ayya with her cloak, they headed out into the castle. 

“Do you prefer to go inside the castle or over the courtyard?” she asked as they walked hand in hand. 

“Over the courtyard, better visibility,” he said, making her giggle. 

“Sure thing,” she agreed and took the path that led to the door and the courtyard. She guided him towards the wood storage and the well. Everything was covered in snow, but she remembered the way. The simple wooden door leading into the kitchen looked exactly as she remembered it. “The kitchen will most likely be deserted now. They will have sat down to eat their dinner. But they should be done soon and start to prepare for the cleanup and tomorrow’s breakfast,” she told him as he opened the door and looked inside. He held it open for her and when Ayya stepped inside the kitchen, she was flooded by memories. It hadn’t changed at all. A young girl came walking out of the dining room and froze when she saw Ayya and Tenac. “Hello,” Ayya said in a cheerful voice. “Could you let Mrs Karrots know that Mary would like a word with her?”

“Yes, your grace,” the young girl said, curtsied and ran off. 

“This is where you grew up?” Tenac asked. 

“Yes, this is where I spent most of my time. I used to work over there,” she told him and pointed at the work station she usually worked at. The sound of fast moving steps could be heard in the almost empty kitchen. Mrs Karrots came walking around the corner and stopped when she saw them. Ayya smiled at her. It was good to see her old mentor. Mrs Karrots looked almost the same as when Ayya had last seen her, like she and the kitchen were an everlasting part of the castle. 

“Your grace,” Mrs Karrots said, curtsying to Ayya.

“Mrs Karrots, please don’t do that. I am in too much of a debt to you to see you do it,” Ayya said and walked up to the woman. 

“It’s nice to see you again, my lady. But I must say, I wouldn’t have recognised you if I didn’t know who you were,” Mrs Karrots said.

“I have got that a lot since I’ve been back. I’m sorry to disturb you during your dinner. We just wanted to come by and thank you for all the wonderful food you have been sending to us,” Ayya said.

“It has been our pleasure. We were all very happy to hear you had returned, and you had done so well for yourself. Do you still cook?” 

“I do. I have even learnt some new dishes. My mother and my friends in the Che’hul are almost as wonderful cooks as you. They have taught me a lot,” Ayya said.

“I’m happy to hear that. You have always had a talent for it. Is there something I can get you? Or your suitor?” Mrs Karrots asked, eying Tenac. 

“Thank you, but we are fine. Mrs Karrots, this is Tenac. Tenac, this is Mrs Carrots,” Ayya introduced the two, and they greeted each other.

“I am in your debt, Mrs Karrots. Ayya has told me you taught her how to cook and I am forever grateful for that,” Tenac said.

“He’s a smooth one, isn’t he?” Mrs Karrots asked Ayya with a laugh. 

“He is,” Ayya agreed and smiled. 

“I was happy to do it and I’m happy she is putting it to good use. If you have the time, I would like a demonstration of some of the new recipes you have learned.”

“I will try to make time,” Ayya said. They talked for a short time, but Ayya didn’t want to keep Mrs Carrots. She needed to get back to work soon and should have some rest and eat her food in peace. As Ayya and Tenac walked across the courtyard, he stopped her.

“Do you want to go to see Anna?” he asked. “You will be busy working from now on. Do you want to take the opportunity to visit her before it becomes crazy?” Ayya smiled and kissed his cheek.