Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. You wouldn't get anything even if you did. hides my DBZ tapes

Warnings: implied violence, mentions of hostile actions

quotes -- talking

italics -- thoughts or flashbacks

previously Bulma was escorted back to the palace and left in her room to rest. She lays on the bed and conks out immediately considering how stressful of a day it had been already, and the day wasn't even half over yet.

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The Cooking Torture...errr...test

Not even an hour after Bulma had laid down, a guard enters her room and pulls her up out of the bed. He pulls her down the halls and rolls his eyes at her whining and complaining. "Shut up woman before the King hears you and has you executed for being a total pain in the rear end." Bulma quiets down immediately and notices the royal emblem on the uniform. From her little chat with Vegeta, she realized this must be one of the elites he spoke of. She looks the guy over as they walk down the hallways and finds nothing wrong. The guy was well built, very handsome, black spiky hair, deep black eyes, and a face that had a serious expression. Had the guy been smiling, he would have had girls all over him in an instant. Bulma quickly snaps out of her thoughts since she wasnt chasing this guy and looks at their surroundings. They had entered an extremely large, galley style kitchen. To the right was a series of ovens and stoves. To the left was a series of cabinets for storage and countertops that clearly were meant for chopping. They were made of a metal she had never seen before and appeared to be scratch and dent resistant. In the middle of the kitchen was a huge grill type thing for cooking meats. It was already red hot and made the kitchen very warm.

Bulma blinks a moment and takes in the place. "Wow, this place is huge. I'm guessing this is where all the palace meals are made?" The guard nods a moment then shows her a list of foods she was to prepare along with some recipes that she had to make. "You are to have all this done in 5 hours. You will be allowed to ask for the help of one, and I do mean ONE, of the people who works here in the kitchen. Anything not done...well...you don't want to know what will be done to you. The King is not a very happy person when things are not finished properly so be sure it's finished." The guard leaves just as a couple of the kitchen people comes in. Bulma glances at the girls standing there and accepts the help of a young girl who apparently had alot of experience cooking in this kitchen. She takes a quick look at the list of food she had to prepare and asks the girl what all was in each item. As soon as she finds out, she starts chopping and grilling. She was only an hour into the test when she gets company in the kitchen to see how things were going.

King Vegeta himself walks in and looks at the food being prepared. He glances at the way the meat was cut and the way the vegetables were prepared. He nods slightly then looks at the different glazes Bulma was setting up that he didn't recognize. "Ok, what are these?" Bulma glances at each of the glazes then at the King. "Well, each of the recipes called for a sweet glaze, but it didn't specify what kind so I made some of my own. This one is a honey and sugar glaze, this second one is mango and honey, and the third is a honey mustard type glaze. Each one is going on a different part of the meal. The mango and honey is going on some of these unusual vegetables you all have. These things that look like carrots have a sweet taste already, so I figured the mango and honey would go best on those." The King listens to her explanations then looks at her surprised. "Very well then, but if they don't come out right, you'll be the first to know." He glares a moment before exiting the kitchen and heading back up the hallway.

Bulma turns and looks at the girl who was helping her in the kitchen. "What was that about?" The girl looks at the door a moment then at Bulma. "The King is very particular. He's also particular about who becomes Queen. He's already made it very clear that he does not want you to be Queen. He's hoping you'll fail so he can execute you and force his son into a marriage that is more suitable to himself. To sum it up, the King doesn't want a HUMAN female to be Queen. Personally, I see nothing wrong with a human woman being Queen, but the King doesn't want to risk having a Prince or King in the future being a halfblood. He feels it would...contaminate...the royal saiyan line. The only way he would change his mind about a halfblood or less, is if that person managed to become supersaiyan somehow. Only then would he accept it." Bulma sighs and nods a moment. "I almost figured something like that was going on, but I wasn't sure. He's been making obvious signs even towards me that he doesn't want me here. I heard rumors though, about a harem. What's that about?"

The girl pales considerably but continues chopping up stuff just like Bulma continued to do so. "Well, only the King is technically allowed to have a harem. He is bound to none of the girls in the harem, and those girls have no say in it either. Most of them are either girls he found very pretty, or that he feared may one day become Queen because of their popularity or intelligence. They undergo a brain scramble before they go to the King. The only things they can do after that are basic bodily functions. They can't speak, can't think for themselves, and are only good as sex toys for the king. If you've been hearing rumors, then clearly the King sees you as a threat to the throne. He will do everything he can to make sure you fail. Once you do, you're his. He will send you down to the medical wing for a routine examination, or at least that's what he calls it. Once there, they do the exam, but they also scramble your brain. You don't come out the same way you went in, in any sense of the word. Pray that you continue to pass the tests, otherwise you may not make it off this planet alive." She finishes up the chopping and starts dipping stuff into the glazes then starts cooking it up. Bulma by this time was very pale and had gotten very quiet. She quickly busies herself with the cooking so she could occupy her mind a bit. The talking ceased as they got busy with cooking the meat and vegetables and making sure it was all cooked totally and presented well. By the end of the 5 hours, she had everything done and ready to be sent out. She puts it onto a cart and follows the guards out to the dining hall where the King was to test the food for this test.

She glances around as they enter the spacious dining hall and notices paintings on every wall of the Kings of old. One picture behind where the King was sitting depicted him and Vegeta when he was only a young boy. She brings the cart over and bows politely to the King then starts serving the dishes to him one at a time like she had been told she would have to do. She waits patiently as the King tests each one and was a nervous wreck by the time he finished with the last one. He lets out an aggrivated growl for a split second then looks up at Bulma. "Well done, you pass the cooking test. Be grateful girl. Very few have ever impressed me like this. Your use of these glazes as you call them was a very bold move and made the dishes that much better. You may now eat and rest for the remainder of the day. Be ready by 9am tommorrow morning for your next test." Bulma nods and wanders off to the kitchen to get her own meal set up then takes it back to her room. She eats it quickly, gets a quick bath, then goes to bed after that very long, stressful day.

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Theres the next chapter. I had to put quite a bit of thought into this one so I hope you like it. Please review and let me know what you think.