16.Jul.13, 07:56 PM
“Ouch!”
Nellaris jerked her hand away from the hot tray of wherry meat, grimacing as she sucked on a finger. Her cheeks burned red; she had been helping her mother to cook food for years and her palms and knuckles were still covered in burns. Ignoring the cook’s laughter and belated warning, she grabbed a nearby cloth, folded it twice, and picked up the tray with a glare.
“Don’t glare at me so, child,” the cook said. “And it’s your turn to eat, so you take your time coming back, you hear?”
It was the indignity of the burn that stung more than the burn itself. Steam continued to rise off the meat; she should have known the tray would be hot. A bitter Nell mumbled her assent as she walked toward the dining hall. Ducking around a skewed chair and a few milling dragonriders, she placed the tray on the laden table just so. Beside it, a basket of bread had grown bare on one side. She shifted a few rolls to make it look a bit fuller and turned her attention to the rest of the table. The cups had been placed at the end of the table opposite the jugs of water and klah.
“Oh, honestly!”
She started the business of setting up in a more logical order, moving what cups would fit near the jugs and beginning to shift everything else down. She worked with such single-minded concentration that she didn’t notice the hand reaching for a piece of fruit just as she wrenched the basket away.
Startled, she set the basket down again to allow the person to make their choice. “Sorry. I was just trying—well. Here.” She gestured to the basket with one hand, keeping the other on a handle to whisk it away as soon as she could. “The red fruits are particularly nice at the moment. Picked today.”
Nellaris jerked her hand away from the hot tray of wherry meat, grimacing as she sucked on a finger. Her cheeks burned red; she had been helping her mother to cook food for years and her palms and knuckles were still covered in burns. Ignoring the cook’s laughter and belated warning, she grabbed a nearby cloth, folded it twice, and picked up the tray with a glare.
“Don’t glare at me so, child,” the cook said. “And it’s your turn to eat, so you take your time coming back, you hear?”
It was the indignity of the burn that stung more than the burn itself. Steam continued to rise off the meat; she should have known the tray would be hot. A bitter Nell mumbled her assent as she walked toward the dining hall. Ducking around a skewed chair and a few milling dragonriders, she placed the tray on the laden table just so. Beside it, a basket of bread had grown bare on one side. She shifted a few rolls to make it look a bit fuller and turned her attention to the rest of the table. The cups had been placed at the end of the table opposite the jugs of water and klah.
“Oh, honestly!”
She started the business of setting up in a more logical order, moving what cups would fit near the jugs and beginning to shift everything else down. She worked with such single-minded concentration that she didn’t notice the hand reaching for a piece of fruit just as she wrenched the basket away.
Startled, she set the basket down again to allow the person to make their choice. “Sorry. I was just trying—well. Here.” She gestured to the basket with one hand, keeping the other on a handle to whisk it away as soon as she could. “The red fruits are particularly nice at the moment. Picked today.”