Hello all,

Anyone still here in this little fancorner?

I'd thought I'd try my luck with a new story.. Hope you enjoy it.

Remember, I'm not a native speaker so I apologize for any errors you might find along the way.

Rievews are greatly appreciated, thanks!

Humming a joyful tune to herself, Aislin Cavanagh wiped the last traces of icing sugar from the kitchen surface. Turning the kitchen to the spotless state that it had been on that morning when she had started with her day.
Pushing back a blond lock of hair that had come undone from under her cap, she realized she was quite content with the work she had done today. The caramel for the little pear tartlets might have gone a just little darker than she wanted it to be, but the taste had been as intense as she had pictured it. Aislin was sure no-one but herself would mind that the color of the caramel would not be exactly the same as the hazelnuts she had chosen for decoration, as long as the caramel hadn't burned. But she was a perfectionist in her work and she knew that was part of the reason why she was working in the Royal castle of Cloister. Today was good, but she knew she could always do better tomorrow.

As head of the confectionary, Aislin was one of the two women running the kitchens in the castle. The biggest kitchen, used for all dinner preparations, was under the firm 'command' of Mary MacIntosh. Like her, Mary was a perfectionist that took no tolerance of any failure in her domain. She had kicked out new maids in less than an hour if she felt they did not take on their jobs seriously. Mary ran her kitchen like it was a military operation. But besides that, she was a kind warmhearted soul that cared for everyone in the castle. Also she never minded a bit of gossiping with Aislin, in their scarce free minutes between cooking.

Aislin had the smaller kitchen to be used only for bakery and sugar craft. She didn't mind. Unlike Mary she did not have an entire staff to keep busy, she worked alone. Sometimes one of the kitchen maids would help her in busy times like the Yuletide festival, or when a wedding was to be held at court. But otherwise it was just her and she liked it that way.

With a clean kitchen, her head was clear to think about her work for the next day. Tomorrow she would start with making a simple cinnamon sponge-cake, to give her some extra time for trying out a few more cake recipes for the princess' birthday next month. Princess Isabelle would turn eighteen and the King had ordered a big cake as a grand finale on the banquet that was held in honor of her birthday.

Rumor had it, the King would announce the engagement of his daughter to lord Roderick. Aislin had never seen him, but it was said he was a grumpy man, and much older than Isabelle. She hoped, for the princess' sake the rumors would prove untrue.

Aislin could picture a high cake, 4 or 5 layers maybe, lavishly decorated with sugar covered violets in different colors, that Aislin knew were the princess' favorite flowers. Only she wasn't quite sure about the filling yet. The vanilla cake with layers of strawberry mousse she had made today was nice, but would turn out too sweet in combination with the marzipan cover.

Absent mindedly she traced her finger alongside of the little "trial" cakes, and put it to her mouth to taste the mousse.

"Hmmm still good though..." Maybe she could try the mousse to fill out pastry baskets and cover them with fresh strawberries or other red fruit, to be used as a dessert. Tomorrow she would ask Mary, what she would think about the idea.

"Any leftovers for a hungry knight?" Crawes deep voice resonated through the kitchen. She turned round to greet her good friend. "Well well, how kind of you sir, to pay a poor cooks maid a visit at this late hour of the day". Aislin curtsied in joking manner.

"You are hardly a cooks mate, miss Cavanagh".

"And I have you to thank for it, sir Crawe", she replied.

"Not at all," Crawe smiled "this is your own, talent Aislin. All I had to do is point it out to the right people".

Aislin returned his smile "Well, Edward, I can honestly say it's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. And I will always be grateful that you did" "Grateful enough to spare a piece of cake? I'm starving!"

Aislin chuckled and reached for a plate. She cut a large piece of her 'trial' cake and put it in front of him. "Here, you can help me decide whether this would be a good base for the princess's cake."

Crawe grabbed a fork and took big bites of the cake. He didn't speak while eating, but from the approving noises she could tell he liked it.

He finished his plate before saying anything again. "Hmm that was divine! Just what I needed after this long day of training".

Without asking Aislin put a second helping on his plate Crawe started eating with the same eagerness as his first. "Elmont made us run barefoot for hours today, I sweat I could eat that entire cake!" He smiled apologetically at her as he took another bite. "Hmm. Ever considered that maybe lord Elmont makes you run so much, because you eat too much of my cake?". Crawe frowned at her. "No, I think he just likes to wear us out till we can say no more! I swear he has more energy than is good for him. We could be riding for days on end and he never even breaks a sweat."

Aislin looked out of the window trying hard block the mental image of lord Elmont riding his black horse, perfectly poised with the wind blowing through is hair making it stand in an upright position. His piercing blue eyes looking down at her.

Crawe didn't notice her sudden daydream as he kept rambling about how the different elements of the training had tired him, while he finished his second piece of cake. "He should have a girl to drain him of that excess energy, instead of taking it all out on us", Crawe mumbled to his empty plate.

"Edward?!" she scolded him. Shocked by his insinuating language, but more so shocked by the way she felt herself longing to be that girl.

"Sorry, Aislin.. I forget you are a woman sometimes".

She laughed... "Is that a compliment?!"

Crawe flushed a little and stammered "Well yes,... no.. Yes... I mean we've been friends for so long, to me you're like 'one of the guys' sometimes". Aislin smiled at him: "compliment it is... then. More...?" she asked pointing at his empty plate. Crawe shook his head. "No thank you. I should be getting home."

"Here", Aislin lifted the rest of the cake on a plate "why don't you take the rest of it home to Melissa and the girls".

"Thank you, Aislin, they will love it",

"Just return the plate, please. Otherwise our king Brahmwell will have my head."

Crawe chuckled. "Don't worry; our King doesn't interfere with petty theft. I would be more worried about lord Elmont having your head... or more if you decide to give him any trouble."

Aislin could feel her cheeks turning crimson. "Edward... please!"

"All right" he smiled, "I should know better than to make fun of a lady. Thanks for the cake, I promise to bring the plate back tomorrow.

And with a large grin Crawe left the kitchen. Probably knowing more then he should, as far as Aislin was concerned.!