Cinder
The next day, Scarlet came knocking on Cinder's door in the afternoon. Iko answered it, bowing respectfully to the Selection participant.
"Sorry to bother, but is Cinder here?" she questioned. Iko's bright, blue head bobbed.
"I'm sorry, your name?"
"Benoit. Scarlet Benoit."
Craning her head behind the door, she called, "Miss Linh! Miss Benoit is here to see you." Iko stepped aside and made way for Cinder.
"Scarlet!" Cinder exclaimed. "Do you need me for anything?" Scarlet shrugged.
"Just thought we should go do something fun together today," Scarlet answered vaguely, knowing that this would probably be her last day before she would get dismissed. Luckily, Cinder seemed entirely clueless. She nodded and turned to Iko, "If anybody comes while I'm gone, just tell them I'm out."
Iko dipped her head in a respectful nod. "Alright. Have fun, miss!"
Grinning widely, Cinder stepped out of her room and immediately looped her arm through Scarlet's. "So, where are we going today?" she chirped giddily. They walked down the hallway and turned a corner.
"I just thought we could do some baking. It relieves stress, you know."
"Really?"
"I have no idea." They giggled like the were little girls again, and stepped into the kitchen. A blast of hot air shot towards them, courtesy of the ovens and stoves. However, nobody was inside the kitchen. It was just empty.
Scarlet bustled towards the cupboards and opened all of them to find the correct kitchen appliances. It seemed like she would have a hard time finding the right ones, since there were at least two dozen cabinets, drawers, and cupboards inside the royal kitchen.
"Today, we will be baking French macaroons," Scarlet announced, grabbing a roll of parchment paper, a baking tray, a giant sifter, and a piping bag, setting them next to the huge fancy stand mixer that Scarlet had always wished for. To Cinder, however, all of these things were foreign to her. She stared at them in wonder.
Scarlet shot a glance at Cinder, who was still gaping at the tools. "Do you know how to bake?" She shook her head. "Well, I guess I'll just have to teach you, then." Scarlet was just like a bee. She bustled around the kitchen busily, grabbing different ingredients needed.
Finally, she laid them out neatly on the table, helping Cinder tie an apron around her waist. Grabbing the sifter, she set it on a piece of parchment paper. "Here, hold this," she ordered, thumping the heavy bag of sugar into Cinder's arms. She almost fell over from how heavy it was.
As Scarlet measured the amount of sugar needed for the recipe, she asked, "So. How was your date with Kai?" Cinder sighed heavily.
"Well, I don't know. It was okay I guess. I talked a lot about how difficult life was at home, and I was probably just making him listen to all of my useless ramblings. But we became friends and picked flowers-specifically peonies- for Peony." Scarlet stifled a giggle and handed her the bag of finely ground almonds, helping her measure that, too.
"What about your date?" Cinder said.
Scarlet shrugged, letting Cinder dump the almonds in a processor. After letting the almonds go around a few times, Cinder sifted all the mashed almonds into the mixture with the sugar. "We went to the palace grounds to practice archery. Our date didn't really end that well, with all the rebels attacking and stuff." At the mention of the attacks, they grew silent for a while. "I learned something in that date, though." Scarlet said, breaking their short hushed moment.
Cinder turned her curious gaze on Scarlet, who grabbed the metal bowl and placed the beater in Cinder's hands. "Oh?"
"Yeah, turns out that Kai and I weren't really meant for each other. I feel we're more like friends," Scarlet answered. Cinder nodded, understanding her feelings.
"That was something important to know," she smiled. Cinder watched as Scarlet did something complicated with an egg, moving the egg yolk back and forth between the two, cracked egg shells, separating the yolk with the rest of the egg.
In the end, three egg whites were set inside of the bowl.
"I learned something else, too," Scarlet smirked. "This one is important to you." Cinder's curiosity was really piqued. "I was chatting with the Prince while we were hiding from the rebels. I asked the Prince who he liked the most." Scarlet sent a smug look at her friend. "He answered with you."
Cinder fought a blush that struggled to climb up her face. "I'm… honored?" she said in the end, unsure of how to react. Scarlet barked out a laugh and nudged Cinder in the shoulder.
"Come on, we all know you like him back." Cinder didn't answer. Her face burned, and she wasn't sure it would revert to its original color ever again. "Now, come on. Those egg whites aren't going to whisk themselves." She set the bowl of egg whites on the stand mixer and turned it on to medium speed.
Once the whites were starting to mix together, Scarlet gradually poured in the white sugar in with the egg whites, watching Cinder get mesmerized by how fast the whisk was spinning in the bowl. They watched the mixture until it became white and smooth, small creases seen inside. "Who are we making these for?" Cinder asked when Scarlet ordered her to cease the mixing.
"The guards and servants," she answered, taking the bowl out of the mixer and pouring the almond and sugar mixture into the egg whites. Scarlet handed Cinder a spatula and told her to fold the mixes together. "I just thought that this could be a way to repay them for all they've done for us." Cinder smiled fondly at Scarlet's sweet gesture.
Grabbing a toothpick, Scarlet added some red gel food coloring to the mix, making it more colorful. Taking over the bowl, she mixed them together until the batter was a smooth, pink fluid.
She spooned the mixture into a piping bag, tying it up and attaching the head to it. Cinder helped slide the pan over, smoothing a piece of wax paper over it. Scarlet squeezed the mixture into a circular shape, where it rested on the pan.
"So, if you and Kai decided that you can only be friends, does that mean that…" Cinder couldn't finish her sentence. Scarlet smiled sadly, setting the tray aside to let it rest and grabbing another tray lined with parchment.
"Yes. I'll be leaving soon," she confirmed it. After everything was piped, they waited until the macaroons were ready to bake and slid them into the preheated oven. They dusted off their hands and hung the aprons back onto the hook. They chatted for a bit, waiting for the macaroons to finally be ready. Just then, the oven bell rang, interrupting their conversation. Slipping on an oven mitt, Scarlet carefully and skillfully took out the macaroon trays.
Placing it on the counter, she slid her finger gently over the smooth surface of a macaroon, feeling satisfied at the crunchy outer coating of the cookie. Grabbing the raspberry flavored frosting they had made earlier, she piped the frosting onto the cookies before passing them to Cinder to sandwich it between another perfectly rounded cookie.
"Finished!" Cinder crowed triumphantly, feeling accomplished about her first baked macaroons. They high-fived each other. Suddenly, Thorne came in with an unfamiliar looking guard behind him. Scarlet stiffened at his presence. Shooting her a curious look, Cinder wondered how this green eyed man made her so rigid.
"Ooh, food," Thorne grinned, sneaky fingers inching around their bodies and snatched a freshly baked macaroon off of the pan. Scarlet made a sound of protest and tried to smack his hand away, but the pastry was already popped into his mouth. His eyes closed, and he made a satisfied noise. "Nice job, ladies. Tastes great." Cinder glared at him.
"This isn't for you, Thorne, it's for the guards and servants," said Scarlet, crossing her arms. He shrugged.
"I'm captain, am I not?" Immediately, he brightened up. "Ooh, does that mean I get more later, when you bring it to them?" Both of the girls shook their heads. Making sure the macaroons were out of Thorne's reach, Cinder nudged her head towards the guard behind him.
"Care to introduce us to your friend?" Thorne shot a glance behind him and stepped aside, a stupid grin plastered onto his face. He nodded, clapping his hands on the other guard's shoulders. You could see him bristle, a low growl emitting from his throat, baring his sharper-than-normal teeth.
He's not entirely human, Cinder thought with a hint of fear. "Ladies! This is one of Queen Levana's hybrid guards, Ze'ev Kesley, best known as Wolf." So. One of Queen Levana's lackies, huh? Scarlet whispered his name quietly behind Cinder's shoulder. When Cinder glanced at her, she saw that Scarlet's face color matched her hair. Fire engine red.
They both muttered a quick hello. Moving into action, they both grabbed a pan and tried to inch around the two guards. Eyeing the doorway, Cinder said politely, "Please excuse us. We would like to bring these to the guards and servants?" To their surprise, Thorne agreed and stepped aside.
Not before winking at both of them them, though. Scarlet made a gagging sound behind her.
Before they knew it, they had ran out of the palace and into the gardens, which was where they had all asked them to meet. The ladies were surprised that so many of them showed up, considering they must have jobs. But then Cinder spotted Kai lurking around the corners of the crowd.
Cinder rolled her eyes with a smile. This must have been his doing.
"Thank you all for coming!" Scarlet chirped brightly. They moved forward to place the macaroons onto the picnic table set up in the middle. "We made some macaroons for all of you to enjoy." Both of them curtsied respectfully, which made some of them startle.
A little surprised that higher class would bow to them, they all became flustered and moved around the table, uselessly complimenting how good it tasted to hide it. As Cinder was watching them enjoy the treats they had prepared, she didn't notice Kai sidle up to her until Scarlet told her.
Well. Kind of.
"WOW! The prince is here! I gotta run!" With those words, she sprinted away as fast as she could, cackling wildly. Cinder stared after her with wide eyes, seeing that Kai also had the same reaction. Once they made eye contact, both of them burst out in laughter.
Once they had calmed down, Kai put a hand on Cinder's shoulder. Unknown to him, the simple gesture sent butterflies whirling in her stomach. He leaned closer and whispered, "How have you been?" Cinder visibly flinched as she thought about Chiyoko and Pearl.
"Um… fine," she lied. She shot Kai a reassuring smile. "It's been fun." Kai nodded, then realized how tense Cinder was at this moment. He grabbed her by the hand and led her to chat with the servants.
Whispering in her ear again, he said with a smile, "Come on. Loosen up, Miss Linh. Have some fun." Cinder couldn't stop the next words from blurting out of her mouth, but once it did, she wished she could kick herself all the way back home so that she wouldn't have to face her embarrassment.
"Can't have fun unless you're here, Kai."
For a second, he looked taken aback. Cinder also debated running for the nearest hiding space. But instead of rejecting her, he chuckled and gently took her hand. "Of course, my lady."
Levana
"Hmm…" the Lunar queen thought aloud. To anybody else, she would seem like she's thinking. Only she knew that that simple sound veiled disgust. From above her room, she looked out her opened window. The veil distorted her view quite regularly, but she could make out one picture very easily.
There, down below in the gardens, was the Prince and Cinder Linh. One constant image burned in her mind, fueling her fury and making her want to go down there and claw the girl's eyeballs out. They were holding hands, and even worse, the Prince seemed to be enjoying it.
Levana grit her teeth, but tried to appear calm. She couldn't seem weak now, could she? Clapping her hands twice, she called to her second in command, "Sybil?"
"Yes?" The servant rose out of the shadows, coming forward with her head bowed. Levana moved her head to face her.
"Inform our little hacker of our new target." She sneered at the name emitting from her lips. "Cinder Linh."
To Smile: thanks! And Guest, here it is!
Keep it up guys! Thank you all for reading and reviewing! The poll is still up!
Okay, there's one more thing. Some of you have really good memory and can recall that in Cinder's first letter to Peony (Chapter 6) we wrote that Kai's mother died when he was two. However, Kai said her remembers her death, so we changed it. Sorry!