7Disclaimer: I do not own any of Tamora Pierce's wonderful characters. This is just my tribute to her amazing work!
Kitchen Disaster
Numair was hot, sweaty, and exhausted. He was working on an important project that involved several tricky components and precise conditions. He was performing his experiment in the palace kitchens.
The intricate working was actually preparing the spread for tonight's welcome home party. Daine was returning with Onua and the ponies for the new Rider trainees and Numair had been planning a small get together to celebrate their return and the trainees' first day with their equine counterparts. The real reason behind the gathering though was to hold a party in honor of Daine and the tenth anniversary of her new life in Tortall. After all, with her many friends and respected position as the Wildmage, she was one of the most loved "people" in the palace. She was a far cry from the Giftless bastard child she had once thought of herself as and Numair wanted her to know and be reminded of it.
Unfortunately, so far, it was a disaster. The cooking station that the kitchens master had kindly allowed Numair to use was a complete and utter mess and Numair was running out of time before Daine's arrival. He would have to hurry to finish and clean up if he was to greet her.
"Chirp?" Kit cocked her head and looked at Numair questioningly.
Panting, "Alright, Kit, lets try one more time," Numair replied with a resigned sigh.
They were nearly out of ingredients and would not be given any more from the palace stores. Grabbing the last mixing bowl, Numair began to combine the remaining supplies from the now memorized recipe.
"I thought the supplies I bought this morning would have been enough, even accounting for mistakes and accidents," he joked.
Kit chirped in agreement as she finished consuming the remains from their last attempt. Impatiently, she had removed the spice cakes from the oven prematurely and the second interlude in the oven had left them burnt and dry.
Hopefully this final attempt would end in success and Numair would be able to simply cast his spell to keep the refreshments moist and warm so that they would be fresh that evening. They had been a particular favorite of his as a child and he wished to introduce them to his friends and hopefully the menu options of the palace's kitchen staff. Now he just wished he had paid more attention as a little boy and helped his mother more instead of simply watching the cakes bake and enjoying the batter left in the bowl.
Anxiously, he waited as the pastries slowly rose in the tray's lightly greased cups. "Maybe I could speed up the process a little?" he thought to himself, "They'll need time to cool so I can add the chocolate icing and I haven't finished my preparations yet, Daine is due back any minute now."
The thought of Daine's impending arrival made Numair's decision for him and spurred him into action. He was running out of time and not being ready was unthinkable. The sparkling black fire of his Gift surrounded the oven as he quickly stood up.
"Kit, please watch the oven for me while I fetch the chocolate from the cold room," he instructed, "Remember, they'll be done when they are fully risen and a rich golden brown. Take them out with your dragon magic so they don't tear since they'll be solid. You can test them by sticking in a toothpick and seeing if it comes out clean."
As Numair hurriedly retrieved the thick chocolate icing from the cold room, he feverishly began to worry, thinking of his previous mistakes in the kitchen. Instead of its proper smooth, rich texture, the first batch had had the consistency of thick mud due to Kit's spilling the ingredients in her enthusiasm. The next attempt had burned and stuck to the pan because he had forgotten to grease it. The third had been rock hard since it was missing the eggs. As the dishes piled up from the many failures, Numair's confidence had deteriorated and he had become more and more nervous. Finally, when he had thought the modest confections had turned out perfectly, he had forgotten to use oven mitts, burned his hands and clothes, dropped the cakes, and sent the piles of bowls and kitchenware crashing to the ground as he rushed to relieve the pain. Kit had tried to help him and had thrown a basin of cold water at him, effectively soaking him and the cakes that he had still hoped to save. At the moment, he just hoped Kit hadn't riddled the current batch of cakes with toothpick holes.
Reaching the oven, he groaned inwardly. The cakes weren't even done yet and he had forgotten the knife!
Dropping the bowl, Numair turned and twisted wildly, frantically searching for something, anything, to spread the icing with. In that moment, two things happened simultaneously.
The kitchens master walked into the alcove where Numair was working and called out, "Numair, are you finished yet? It's late afternoon and we need this area so we can prepare dinner!"
That was when he slipped on the still wet floor. His falling and Kit's shriek didn't cause the loud noise and commotion though.
BOOM!
The still frozen bowl had just made contact with the super-heated oven and both had exploded.
"NUMAIR!" the kitchens master roared in rage.
Numair winced as flying pottery from the shattered bowl cut his cheek.
"You are never setting foot in my kitchens again!"
It looked like the supplies master wasn't Numair's only enemy in the palace. He pilfered supplies and now he had blown-up an oven. Yet another personal grudge to be held against him had just been made.
Cringing and dodging shrapnel, Numair tried vainly to apologize.
"I'm so sorry! Here, I can use my Gift to fix it. I'll pay for everything if you want!"
Ignoring Numair's appeals, the kitchens master chased Numair and Kitten out of the kitchens.
The bedraggled pair decided to return to their rooms so that they could make the most of the situation by at least being on time to greet Daine.
Refreshed and feeling slightly less dejected, Numair and Kit rushed to the stables.
"Oomf!"
They had just crashed into the Wildmage. Nothing was going as Numair had planned today.
"Numair! Kit! I'm so glad to see you! I need to go get cleaned-up, how have you been?" Daine exclaimed ecstatically.
Numair's voice and expression were pained, "You don't want to know."
A/N: Yes! I've been wanting to write a TP fic for a while now and I finally did it! Please review and tell me how I can improve my writing, I'm sorry there wasn't much dialogue. Numair has a knack for offending palace staff though, doesn't he? I'm glad I didn't have to experience his anguish in that kitchen scene!